Isabella Frampton Hawken’s Story

Detail from Fire Insurance Plan of St. Catharines, 1916. Archives & Special Collections-10th Floor-Folio ; FC 3155.175 G62 1916; Plant of the Packard Electric Company. In C.M, Nichols, Special Souvenir Number of The Standard, St Catharines Standard, 1907, Vol. 1. Archives & Special Collections-10th Floor-Stacks ; FC 3155.45 I6 S598; Ad for Packard Lamps (1902) Norman Ball Ferranti-Packard Research Collection, 1877-1993, n.d. RG 844 Box 2, Folder 5.; “Pretty Double Wedding,” St Catharines Standard (7th May, 1908) pg 3. Community Newspapers on Microfilm Collection, reel 28. Brock Archives & Special Collections.

The many technological advancements of the 20th century gave room for individuals with entrepreneurial drive to shine. However, in history, it is apparent that the stories of successful male businesses have been pushed to the foreground while the history of innovative, resilient women have often been hidden in the background of history. My contribution to this exhibit challenges that narrative by researching a successful business ran by St Catharines’ very own Isabella Frampton Hawken.

Isabella Frampton Hawken was raised by her mother, Jemima Didham Frampton, and her father, Alfred Frampton. [1] She was born in St Catharines and is known for being a successful Canadian entrepreneur in the early 20th century, opening factories which specialized in the rewiring of incandescent light bulbs. [2]

Part of this display includes sheet 9 of the downtown St Catharines Fire Insurance Plan—found in the Brock Archives—where my search for Isabella F. Hawken began. The map was a reliable source of information for St Catharines Fire Department and included colours to distinguish the materials of each building: red means the building was made of brick, grey signals concrete and blue, stone. [3] Our focus for Isabella Frampton Hawken’s entrepreneurial story is the blue rectangle on the left lower side of the map, the building of the Packard Electric Company.

Isabella F. Hawken’s first business experience came from having an interest in her father’s work. [4] As a young woman, Isabella worked with Mr Frampton at the stone building of Packard Electric Co., where she would eventually become the forelady of the lamp department. [5] This exhibition includes a reproduction of an advertisement for the Packard Electric Company and was published in The Canadian Engineer in 1902.
Red Mills, a building previously owned by Sylvester Neelon was purchased, refurbished and rebranded as Packard Electric Co. in 1895. [6] The image of this building in this exhibition from 1907 comes from the St.Catharines Standard collection. 1907. [7] The Packard Electric Co., building is no longer on Geneva Street today. [8]

Isabella married James Hawken in 1908. However, the existence of Isabelle’s business, Dominion Electric Company (established in 1907), proves they have been in partnership at least a year prior to the marriage. [9] The “Pretty Double Wedding” article from the St Catharines Standard describes the double wedding Isabella (referred to as Bella in this article) and her sister Minnie had at the house of Mrs Frampton. Since Alfred Frampton was deceased at the time, it was their brother John (depicted as Jack in this paper) who gave them away to their husbands. [10]

Although her husband James was her business partner, Isabella was the head of the Dominion Electric company. [11] Since it was uncommon for women to be entrepreneurs at the time–especially in engineering fields– it is speculated that the couple established a partnership before the marriage to bring more validity to Isabella’s business. [12]

The inclusion of Isabella’s company within historical records and historical business records is difficult to find. Despite the lack of acknowledgement from newspaper publications, her company was supplying rewired light bulbs for fast-growing cities like Toronto, New York City and Montreal. [13]

Isabella eventually opened a second shop in 1925 named the Hawk Electric Company in Lockport to avoid import and export taxes. [14] The Canadian government caught wind of this and eventually shut the Hawk Electric Company down for tax evasion. This move was not a huge financial loss for I.F.H. as her lightbulb rewiring continued to remain in high demand across the Canadian and American border. With the steady flux of demands for her services, she was easily able to bounce back from this. [15]

Isabella F. Hawkens would lose her husband in 1923 and her mother nine years afterwards. [16] She renamed her company to Tungsten Lamp Factory in 1923 and continued her incandescent lightbulb business until she eventually died in 1948. [17] With such an illuminative legacy left behind it is clear that Isabella’s entrepreneurial drive lit up the pathway for women to successfully pursue their entrepreneurial endeavours.

-Text by Grace Ijiola Awolope (VISA 2P90)

*This image is part of the “Women, Water, and Words” exhibition that students in VISA 2P90 curated in the Winter 2024 semester.