The G. W. MacFarlane Engineering Works of Paris, Ontario, was in business before World War I and expanded considerably during the war as they manufactured iron and steel items for the war effort. The business was incorporated in 1920, as G. W. MacFarlane Engineering, Ltd., with a hefty $500,000 of capital. Ads appeared in 1921 and we find passing mentions of them as late as 1924, e.g., in a report from Ontario Hydro, but apparently the firm had a short life. During that time they manufactured machinists' vises, floor hoists and cranes, winches, and performed general foundry work.

Information Sources

• January 1920 Buffalo Live Wire, page 6: an ad for N. A. MacDonald and Company, an investment banking firm in Buffalo, NY, lists among their directors, "Richard Thompson, President Hawthorne Mills, Carleton Place, Ont.; Director MacFarlane Engineering Works, Paris, Ont."
• 1920-05-20 The Iron Age, in a column on Canada.

  The G. W. MacFarlane Engineering, Ltd., Paris, Ont., has been incorporated with a capital stock of $500,000 by George W. MacFarlane, Pairs; Edward H. Ambrose, John R. Marshall, Hamilton, Ont., and other to manufacture machinery, castings, tools, etc.

• 1920-05-27 The Iron Trade Review, in the "Business in Canada" column.

  PARIS, ONT.—The G. W. MacFarlane Engineering, Ltd. has been incorporated to manufacture iron, etc., with $500,000 capital, by George W. MacFarlane, Paris, Ont.; Edward H. Ambrose and John R. Marshall of Hamilton, Ont.

• 1920 Canada Department of Trade and Commerce's Commercial Intelligence Journal, page 1051.

  G. W. MacFarlane Engineering, Limited. Incorporators: George William MacFarlane, Paris, manufacturer; and Edward Herbert Ambrose, barrister-at-law; and others—all of Hamilton. Capital $500,000, divided into 5,000 shares of $100 each. Chief place of business, Paris.

• 1920-12-16 The Iron Age, page 1659.

  The MacFarlane Engineering, Ltd., Paris, Ont., will build an addition to its plant at a cost of $40,000.

• 1921 Annual Report of the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario.

  G. W. MacFarlane Engineering Company, Paris
  Metering Equipment—In order to meter the power delivered to the G. W. MacFarlane Engineering Company at 550 volts, a metering equipment was installed at their plant. A graphic wattmeter was purchased from the G. W. MacFarlane Company and a graphic reactive volt-ampere meter, two 160/5-ampere current transformers, and two 500/100-volt potential transformers were purchased from the Canadian Westinghouse Company. This equipment was put into service on July 9, 1920.

• 1921-03-17 The Iron Age.

  The Toronto Scale Co., has leased a portion of the building occupied by the MacFarlane Engineering Works at Paris, Ont., and will establish a factory there.

  The MacFarlane Engineering Works, Paris, Ont., plans to extend its line which have not hitherto been manufactured in the Dominion.

• Canadian Machinery, Vol. 25, No. 13, 31 Mar. 1921, Pg. 63.
• 1967 book Brant County: A History, 1784-1945, by Charles Murray Johnston, page 124.

  In the early weeks of 1915, the tooling-up for war was well under way. The labour surplus of 1914 was changed into a severe shortage as humming plants and foundries absorbed most of the available skilled labour in the area. Plant facilities in nearly every instance expanded beyond expectations. Profits soared, and wages rose, the latter in some cases to the unprecedented level of eight or ten dollars a day. The major industries affected by the boom were the MacFarlane Engineering Company, of Paris, the Steel Company of Canada Works, the Waterous Engine Works, and the Ker & Goodwin Company and Motor Truck, Ltd., all of Brantford.