Hilary M. Weston

Early Life

Hilary Mary Frayne was born in Dún Laoghaire, Ireland and was the eldest of five children. Following her father’s death, she supported her family through modelling. In 1966, she married Galen Weston, the youngest son Willard Garfield Weston, and had two children, Alannah and Galen. (See also George Weston Limited; Loblaw Companies Limited.) In 1972, she and her family moved from Ireland to Toronto. (See also Irish Canadians.)

Career

Prior to her appointment as lieutenant-governor of Ontario, Hilary M. Weston had an extensive background in business and philanthropy. As Deputy Chair of Holt Renfrew for 10 years, she promoted Canadian designers and merchandise and helped to revitalize a business that has been a Canadian tradition since 1837. She also served as director of Brown Thomas & Co., a clothing retailer, and Selfridges Group, a department store chain. Weston also explored her interest in homes and gardens by co-authoring two books, entitled In a Canadian Garden (1989) and At Home in Canada (1995).

Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario

Hilary M. Weston was installed as Ontario's 26th lieutenant-governor on 24 January 1997 and was only the second woman to hold this position in the province. She focused much of her time as lieutenant-governor on celebrating the achievements of people across the province, especially those of volunteers, women and young people. In 1998, Weston introduced the Lieutenant Governor's Community Volunteer Award to recognize exceptional volunteers. In 2000, the Community Volunteer Award program was expanded to honour the voluntary work of students graduating from Ontario's 1,100 secondary schools.

To underscore her commitment to supporting young people, Weston established The Hilary M. Weston Foundation for Youth, toward which she donated her salary. The Foundation funded First Connection, a career development initiative launched in May 1998. The program placed 88 Grade 12 students from across the province as summer management interns with successful companies, allowing them to gain knowledge, experience and contacts.

Weston attended or hosted close to 1,500 events. She participated in events in 87 Ontario communities, from Sioux Lookout to Leamington and from Kenora to Cornwall. She introduced the concept of the Drop-in, in which a lieutenant-governor would visit Ontarians informally in the places they work, volunteer or are helped.

Weston continually explored new ways of making the vice-regal role contemporary, accessible and relevant to Ontarians. For the first time in history, the lieutenant-governor held key events away from Queen's Park, celebrating Canada Day in Thunder Bay, Sudbury, Stratford and Markham, and hosting the New Year's Levee in Kingston and in London. Her Farewell Levee was held at Queen's Park in January 2002. Weston and her husband, Galen, undertook international trips to represent Ontario abroad, at the Toronto Olympic Bid Presentation in Moscow, at the Passing of the World Youth Day Cross at the Vatican, and on a homecoming visit to Ireland.

To support Ontario artists, Weston invited several artists' organizations to install exhibitions of contemporary art in the Lieutenant-Governor's Suite. To provide greater accessibility, Weston made the Suite available to over 74,000 people who took part in public tours of Queen's Park and visited during the Canada Day Open House and Doors Open Toronto.

Weston's term as the 26th lieutenant-governor of Ontario ended in March 2002. She was replaced by James K. Bartleman on 7 March 2002. Weston wrote about her experience as lieuntenant-governor in No Ordinary Time: My Years as Ontario’s Lieutenant Governor (2007).

Philanthropy

In the late 1970s, Hilary M. Weston founded the Ireland Fund of Canada, a non-partisan, non-denominational organization which funded community projects in Ireland, many of which were designed to promote peace. (See also Irish Canadians.)

Through the W. Garfield Weston Foundation (now the Weston Family Foundation), she supported cultural projects, research into breast cancer and AIDS, and a number of not-for-profit organizations. She was also associated with The Hilary and Galen Weston Foundation (previously The Selfridges Group Foundation). According to a statement released by the Weston family, since 2021, the foundation “committed close to $150 million to innovative charities impacting healthcare, education, women, refugees and the environment.”

Hilary M. Weston also contributed to various arts and culture initiatives, She chaired the Renaissance ROM Campaign and was a founding member of the Aga Khan Museum’s board of directors (see Royal Ontario Museum). In 2011, Weston sponsored the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction (formerly the Writers’ Trust Non-Fiction Prize). This annual prize is awarded by the Writer’s Trust of Canada to a Canadian author. In 2023, the Weston International Award was inaugurated.

Honours and Awards

Hilary M. Weston was the recipient of numerous honorary degrees from universities in Canada and Ireland. In addition, she was awarded the following distinctions:

• Member, Order of Ontario (1997)
• Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee Medal (2002)
• Member, Order of Canada (2003)
• Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012)
• Commander Royal Victorian Order (2015)