Major General Sir Henry Mill Pellatt, CVO, DCL, VD, was The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada’s longest serving Commanding Officer and builder of Casa Loma, home of The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada Regimental Museum and Archive which occupies a major part of the third floor of Casa Loma. Henry was born in Kingston, Ontario, on January 6, 1859. After high school, he joined his father’s firm and volunteered in The Queen’s Own Rifles enlisting 2 November 1876 as a rifleman.
By 1892, Henry was in control of ‘Pellatt and Osler’ (his father having retired) and made a number of shrewd, very profitable investments. Henry had the means to see his dreams of owning a castle come true.
Casa Loma - “House on the Hill”, took three years and $3.5M to build. Sir Henry Pellatt filled Casa Loma with priceless artwork from Canada and around the world. With soaring battlements and secret passageways, it paid homage to the castles and knights of days gone by. Sir Henry Pellatt’s numerous business and military connections demanded entertaining on a large scale at Casa Loma.
The First World War had serious effects on Henry’s businesses. By 1924, many of his business ventures had collapsed. He was $1.7 million in debt and his wife’s health was quickly fading, (she died the following year). Broken and penniless, Henry turned over his beloved Casa Loma to the City of Toronto.
During the Second World War, Casa Loma was home to Station M, a secret manufacturing facility that tested and produced gadgets and covert material for the Special Operations Executive and Camp X.