Lord Beaverbrook

The Early Years

William Maxwell Aitken was born May 25, 1879, in Maple, Ontario. “Max” as he was called, was the third son, and the fifth member of a family of ten children, whose patriarch, William Cuthbert Aitken, was a Presbyterian minister.

The family moved to Newcastle, New Brunswick in 1880, where Max grew into a bright but “idle” boy (according to biographer David George Boyce). This particular statement was one that Max relished later in life. He attended Harkins Academy in Newcastle. At an early he not only delivered newspapers but also began publishing his own newspaper.

After failing his examination for Dalhousie University in 1895 because of his refusal to sit the latin and greek papers, he moved to Chatham where he became the local correspondent of The Montreal Star and an agent for Great West Life Insurance Company. He then moved to St. John where he worked full-time as an insurance agent. 

In 1900 he moved once again, to Halifax, Nova Scotia. While there, he befriended and began an apprenticeship with John Fitzwilliam Stairs, a financial expert and highly successful businessman.  With the help of Stairs he began investing, buying and selling stocks on the world’s market.

By his own evaluation, Aitken stated that in 1906 he was worth approximately $700,000. He had a talent for manipulating the markets and creating mergers, thus increasing his monetary worth.

On the 29th of January 1906, he married Gladys Henderson Drury who was well liked, and universally thought beautiful. Their first child, Janet, was born on 9 July 1908, followed by two sons, Max and Peter.

World War I

Max Aitken, who had made himself into a powerful man in finance and newspapers, soon began mingling with the world of politics in both Canada and England. In 1910 he moved his family from Canada to London where he set about becoming a prominent part of the British Empire.

One of his many influential contacts was Andrew Bonar Law, leader of the Conservative Party. As pointed out in David George Boyce’s biography of Aitken, “The two men got on well, despite their very different individual temperaments, both had Scots-Canadian connections, both were sons of the manse, both were businessmen”.

He propelled himself into Parliament, as well as acquiring the majority shareholding in the Daily Express and the Evening Standard. He became known as a fearless political fixer, and he was one of only three men to serve in cabinet during both wars.

H.G. Wells was reported to say “If ever Max gets to Heaven, he won’t last long.  He will be chucked out for trying to pull off a merger between Heaven and Hell after having secured a controlling interest in key subsidiary companies in both places, of course.”

August 1914, at the outbreak of the First World War, Aitken became honorary Lieutenant-Colonel and was selected to assist the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force. He was instrumental in the creation of the Canadian War Records Office in London, and arranged for stories about Canadian forces in newspapers. In January 1916, Aitken published the first volume of “Canada in Flanders”.

During World War I the new Prime Minister of England, David Lloyd George granted him peerage as Lord Beaverbrook in 1917. In New Brunswick, it is said that he had fond memories of his days in Newcastle and recalled fishing at a place called “Beaver”, and chose the name Beaverbrook accordingly. In the U.K. however, it is said that he chose the name at random by pointing to the map of New Brunswick and choosing whatever name his finger landed on. Canadians, especially New Brunswicker’s, prefer their own version.

He was also appointed Minister of Information, responsible for Allied propaganda in Allied and neutral countries. Being well versed on the subject of media, Lord Beaverbrook immediately began a coordinated British propaganda program.

Beaverbrook cleverly used contacts to commission a series of poster campaigns designed by famed artists of the period. Successful authors including Rudyard Kipling, H.G Wells and Sir Henry Newbolt wrote pamphlets and newspaper articles with Beaverbrook’s encouragement.

Beaverbrook also pioneered the design and use of photographic posters for recruitment purposes and introduced cinema newsreels.

Beaverbrook’s wife Gladys passed away in 1927.

Later Inititives

After the war, Beaverbrook concentrated on his Daily Express newspaper business, which soon grew to have the largest circulation in the British Isles. Well known historian, A.J.P. Taylor, was quoted as saying about Aitken “He had a gift for making you feel when you were with him that you were the most important person in the world.  Of course, I know he forgot about me the moment I left the room but it was magical all the same.  Max Beaverbrook well knew how to steal the hearts of men.”

After a meeting with Winston Churchill, in early 1940, Beaverbrook threw all his energy behind the war effort. Churchill appointed Beaverbrook Minister of Aircraft Production, knowing how good Beaverbrook was at inspiring and driving staff. It was around this time that Beaverbrook introduced the idea/slogan of “Pots and Pans for Britain’s Planes“. This became a unifying call to all Britains’ and was a huge success. British Spitfire planes became a force to be reckoned with. During WWII he served as Minister for Aircraft Production (1940-41), Minister of Supply (1941-42), Minister of War Production (1942) and Lord Privy Seal (1943-45).

After the Second World War he remarried to Lady Marcia Dunn, the widow of Canadian Steel Magnate Sir James Dunn and turned to philanthropy, with the chief beneficiary being his home province of New Brunswick.

In Fredericton he donated an Art Gallery, with a million dollar endowment and 300 paintings, a number of buildings at the University of New Brunswick, an ice rink in honor of his first wife and in conjunction with his second wife, donated the Playhouse, which is still used as a cultural arts center.

On the Miramichi, some of the items donated include former Town Halls in Chatham and Newcastle, the Enclosure park, the Old Manse Library, The Lord Beaverbrook Arena, The Sinclair Rink and the Town Square Park.

He also created scholarships for schools around the province a well as endowing churches, service and many other charities.

Lord Beaverbrook died on June 9, 1964 just two weeks after his eighty-fifth birthday. His ashes are in the plinth a bust of his likeness by Oscar Nemon which is located in Newcastle Town Square.

Max Aitken Academy, established in 2016 and located in Newcastle, was named in Lord Beaverbrook’s honour.