James W. Williams
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Template:Aubat:prod
 |
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please discuss this issue on the talk page or replace this tag with a more specific message. This article has been tagged since October 2006. |
James William Williams (1910-1999) was born to Mary Margaret Williams at a mining camp on Baffin Island (father unknown). He received no formal education, however he picked up the skills of the railroad quickly. He worked for the Canadian National Railways for 31 years, when, in April of 1958, he founded the Queen Elizabeth Hotel (La Reine Elizabeth) in Montreal, Quebec. He co-founded the hotel on the grounds of a defunct trading camp. The CNR had created many such establishments along its rails, but it wanted a more lavish and modern hotel, so James Williams was hired for the task. Even after plane and car travel made the railways obsolete, the Queen Elizabeth Hotel remained a prominent attraction in Montreal. It attracted such famous guests as John Lennon and Yoko Ono, who recorded "Give Peace a Chance" during their stay. Mikhail Gorbachev also visited and stayed in the Royal Suite, which was thought to be haunted by the spirits of French fur trappers who dwelled at the old trading post. As Mr. Williams recalled in later years, Gorbachev was in no way detered by the ridiculous tales of the ghosts. Williams retired in 1981. His personal life remains a topic of obscurity. All that is known is that he was married to Christelle Antoinette Williams, who died while giving birth to their one child, Stephan Williams. Stephan died in a terrible skiing accident at the age of fourteen. James Williams, distraught about the death of his young son, became very introverted, and spent the rest of his years on a ranch in British Columbia. He died peacefully in his sleep, with his two faithful collies at his side.
