Molson On His Way in the World
Journal of the Voyages and Travels of John Hy.Robinson Molson, 1841

By the end of August the Molsons were once more heading for Liverpool and Halifax. This time Halifax was only a stopover. Instead of retracing their former route, the Molsons travelled on to Boston. Out of boredom or brazen foolishness, Jackey pulled a prank on the sailors before reaching the port. Jackey gave a cry to the sailors and scampered up the main mast. The chase was on! The sailors were quick to close in on him. Instead, Jackey outsmarted them by taking hold one of the braces from the fore top yard and slid straight as an arrow to the deck and safety. But not before the captain had a good heart-stopping view of the chase.

After a few days of visiting the principal sites in Boston, they headed north by train, coach and steamer to St. Jean-sur-Richelieu. Jackey finished off his voyage by boarding Canada’s first commercial rail, The Champlain and St Lawrence Railway with its terminus at Laprairie, opposite Montréal. With one more transfer, Jackey boarded the steam ferry, Princess Victoria and crossed the St. Lawrence River. This last leg of his journey would take only 20 minutes. On landing it was the last time Jackey had to throw his carpet bag into a waiting cart. He arrived home September 5, 1841, much to the relief of his Mother.

That Fall Jackey attended Dr. Edward Black’s boarding school in Montréal before taking in three terms at Upper Canada College, Toronto. After his apprenticeship at the brewery, papers were drawn up handing it over to him from his Uncle William and his father. Through various complex partnership agreements, John Henry Robinson retained control of the brewery for more than 50 years until his death in 1897. He saw the production of the brewery in the 1850’s from 150,000 barrels per season to a high of 725,000 barrels in 1888. With further trips to Great Britain in the 1850’s, Merrill Denison calls John Henry Robinson Molson, “the best technically trained brewer there had yet been in the Molson family.” (The Barley and the Stream: The Molson Story, McClelland and Stewart Ltd., 1955, p. 222)

 

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