Hilary Weston - Background

Background

Born and raised in Ireland, she worked as a model before marrying Galen Weston in 1966. They moved to Toronto in 1974, and Weston became a Canadian citizen. They have two married children, Alannah and Galen, Jr., and four grandchildren: two girls, Maia and Lola with Alannah and her husband Alex, and two boys, Graydon and Griffin with Galen and his wife Alexandra.

Prior to her appointment as Lieutenant Governor, Weston spent over two decades working in business and in the fashion industry. As deputy chair of Holt Renfrew, she promoted Canadian design and merchandise. During the same time, she also served as director of Brown Thomas & Co. in Ireland, co-founded Torwest in the United States, and served as vice-chair and design director of the Windsor Club in Florida.

In 1979, Weston founded the Ireland Fund of Canada, a non-partisan, non-denominational organization that funds community projects in Ireland to promote peace. She continues to serve as an honorary patron of the organization.

An interest in early childhood education led Weston to serve as founding chair of the Mabin School in Toronto. She also co-founded and chaired the Canadian Environment Educational Foundation, and established the Winter Garden Show at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. Weston has explored her longstanding interest in homes and gardens as co-author of two best-selling books, In a Canadian Garden (1989) and At Home in Canada (1995).

Since her retirement as Lieutenant Governor, Mrs. Weston has spearheaded the most successful fundraising campaign in Canadian cultural history, which raised more than $250 million for the Royal Ontario Museum. She is patron of several organizations dealing with social issues, such as the Abbeyfield House Society, the Hospice Association of Ontario, the Landmine Survivors Network (later known as Survivor Corps), the Ontario March of Dimes and the Yonge Street Mission. Weston also devotes a significant proportion of her time, as well as her business and fashion expertise, to Selfridges, the London department store of which she is a director.