Octavius and Joseph Seagram
Octavius and Joseph Seagram


Octavius Seagram was the eighth child of Edward Seagram of Bratton House. He fell in love with Amelia Styles, a village girl who was educated. Edward objected to their marriage as Amelia was five years older than Octavius, so in 1837 the lovers went to Ontario, Canada, where they married and had two sons, but Octavius then died. Amelia married again and had another child before she died.

Joseph, the eldest child, took a job as manager of a wheat mill in Canada and over the years bought out the three owners, marrying the daughter of the sister of one of the owners and then turned the mill over to be a distillery and started to produce Seagram’s Whisky. He built a second Bratton House in Canada, became a politician and a race horse owner, but he never owned a car. He was also a philanthropist, buying the land for the Grand River Hospital under the condition that it would be open to all regardless of race, colour or creed. The VO whisky blend which can still be bought today was first produced to celebrate the birth of one of his children in 1907.




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Bratton History Association.

The Bratton History Association aims to provide all those curious about local history with an opportunity to meet, exchange ideas, and discover more about the history of Bratton and Wiltshire. Activities include monthly meetings, talks by professional historians, visits to places of interest to historians, and our own local history project.

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