Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
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Description area
Dates of existence
History
William Machin Stairs, third child of John and Joanna (Stayner) Stairs, was born at Halifax on 21 January 1789 and lived at Philadelphia until the death of his mother in 1793. He returned to Halifax with his siblings where they were raised by their uncle, John Stayner. William attended the Halifax Grammar School and shortly after worked as a clerk for merchant William Kidston. In 1810 he formed a partnership with Henry Austen under the name Austen and Stairs, hardware merchants. The firm was dissolved in 1816. Stairs continued the business without a partner until 1841 when he and his son formed a partnership under the name William Stairs and Son (later William Stairs, Son and Morrow when his son-in-law, Robert Morrow joined the firm in 1854). William served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia, 1840-1843, mayor of Halifax, 1847-1848, and member of the Legislative Council, 1850-1854. He co-founded the Union Bank and served as its first president until his death on 25 November 1865. He married Margaret Wiseman (1793-1851) on 23 May 1814. They had nine children: Catherine Mary, Joanna Stayner, William James, John George, John, Margaret Wiseman, Helen Sophia, Frances Mary, and Anna Marshall.