Quinte Agricultural Hall of Fame > Wellington Boulter
WELLINGTON BOULTER
1839-1927
Wellington Boulter was a world pioneer in the canning industry. For a time he operated a farm north of Demorestville in Prince Edward County. In 1882 Mr. Boulter and Mr. George Dunning started the first commericially successful fruit and vegetable cannery in Canada. By the early 1880's twenty carloads of canned peas were shipped by rail across the Rockies. In 1885, Mr. Dunning left the company, but Wellington continued on adding commodities. The Picton, Demorestville, and Toronto factories shipped (under the "Lion" label) canned peas, tomatoes, corn, green beans, pumpkins, Damson plums, raspberries, strawberries, gooseberries, pears, peaches, Niagara grapes, currants, cherries, apples and pork and beans both domestically and to Europe, Australia, South Africa and elsewhere.
Mr. Boulter was the first President of the Canadian Goods Packers Association. This organization was formed to address the need for just and uniform prices, control of the size of the packs of the various foods, and standardization of quality and can size. He was a Director of the Prince Edward Mutual Insurance Company, Sophiasburg and Prince Edward Agricultural Societies, or of Picton for two terms, Chairman of the High School Board and Justice of the Peace. Because of Wellington Boulter's innovativeness, Prince Edward County became known as the "Garden Capitol of Canada".
Nominated by the Prince Edward County Federation of Agriculture Inducted 2008