George Sleeman

George Sleeman (August 1, 1841 – December 16, 1926) was a brewer, sports executive and politician in Ontario, Canada. He was mayor of Guelph from 1880 to 1882 and from 1905 to 1906.^[1]

The son of John Sleeman, an immigrant from England, and Ann M. Burrows, he was born in St. Davids, Upper Canada and was educated there and in Guelph. In 1859, he became general manager of his father's Silver Creek Brewery and six years later he became a partner. Sleeman took over the operation in 1868. In 1900, he incorporated his breweries as the Sleeman Brewing and Malting Company.^[1]

In 1863, Sleeman married Sarah Hill.^[1]

In 1876, he was elected to Guelph city council for the first time. In 1894, Sleeman set up the Guelph Railway Company, an electric streetcar company. He invested so much of his own money in the operation that the banks took over his house and his brewery. Sleeman set up a rival brewery and the banks eventually sold him back the original brewery. He was forced to shut down his breweries in 1916 when prohibition was introduced.^[1]

He had been a pitcher for the Guelph Maple Leafs baseball club and later became the team's financial backer and club president. He was the first team manager to import American players; at first, he paid them a share of the profits, but later he paid his players salaries. In 1869, his team captured the Canadian championship.^[1] In 1876, he helped form the first professional Canadian baseball league. In 1877, he helped establish the International Association, which contained both Canadian and American teams.^[2] Later, when Toronto and Hamilton entered teams, Sleeman's team started losing money and eventually was disbanded. Sleeman also was president of the Guelph Turf Club, the Guelph Bicycle Club and the Guelph Rifle Association. He helped establish the Royal City Curling Club. His brewery also sponsored an amateur baseball team called the Silver Creek Club.^[1]

Sleeman died in Guelph at the age of 85 after undergoing an operation for an obstructed bowel.^[1]

In 1999, Sleeman was named to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.^[3]

After being taken over by the Jockey Club Brewery in 1933, the Sleeman brand was discontinued and the brewery discontinued production six years later. In 1985, George Sleeman's great-grandson John Warren Sleeman reincorporated the brewery and began producing Sleeman’s Cream Ale using the original recipe.^[1]

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