William Gibson Cleghorn
Inducted In
2009
W. G. Cleghorn was an important figure in early 20th century Berlin/Kitchener as an industrialist, politician, sportsman and civic-minded citizen.
He and partner Louis McBrine founded McBrine Luggage that became one of the world’s largest luggage manufacturing companies. The company employed thousands of people from 1905 until the 1960s.
When the Four Wheel Drive Company came to Kitchener in the early 20th century, Cleghorn served as treasurer on its board of directors and he was prominent on the local Board of Trade.
In civic life, Cleghorn served on the board of the Berlin-Waterloo Hospital for five terms. He was an alderman on city council during the rancorous era of the Berlin-to-Kitchener name change of which he was in favour and spoke eloquently about during the debate.
It was on the sporting field that he also made a major mark. Scotty Cleghorn, as he was known in Ontario Lawn Bowling circles, helped the Berlin/Kitchener club capture several provincial championships and his team represented Canada at the British Commonwealth Games in 1934. He was also one of the first to introduce curling to the community.