His father immigrated to Canada around 1859 and resided in various towns in Ontario including Orillia, Guelph, and Paisley, until he settled in Toronto with his family.

[2] Fetherstonhaugh attended the Ryerson School in his youth, where he excelled academically, eventually winning a scholarship to the Toronto Collegiate Institute for two years.

1892) died on the eve of his fifth birthday when he was struck by a streetcar while crossing Spadina Ave in front of the family home near Harbord St.[6] His eldest son, James Edward Marion, would later attain the rank of major in the Canadian Army after serving in World War I and joined his father's patent business after the war as an engineering expert.

[7] Fetherstonhaugh began his career with the patent law firm Donald C. Ridout & Co, where he was a draftsman along with Charles Riches and James E. Maybee before his call to the bar in 1889.

[7] By the time of Fetherstonhaugh's death in 1945, several more offices had been established across Canada, including in Hamilton, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Halifax, and Saint John.

[10] During his career, Fetherstonhaugh was recognized as a leading expert in his field and was regularly consulted by Parliament regarding legislative amendments to patent laws and regulations.

In 1893,[note 1] Fetherstonhaugh unveiled a battery-powered "horseless carriage" at the John Dixon works factory on Bay Street in Toronto.

[13] The electrical and mechanical components of the vehicle were the result of 18 months' work by inventor William Joseph Still (who later developed the Still engine), for whom Fetherstonhaugh had obtained several automobile-related patents in Canada.

[14] The car was allegedly worth $500 at the time, but Fetherstonhaugh decided to keep it for himself as a personal vehicle with which he commuted to work and around the city.

[18] In 1993, a commemorative $100 gold coin designed by John Mardon was issued by the Royal Canadian Mint to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Fetherstonhaugh car.

[16] The success of this early electric automobile inspired a group of Toronto businessmen to form the Canadian Motor Syndicate, with William Still as an engineer and later its vice-president.

[20][21] Fetherstonhaugh also believed that airports would one day become obsolete as aircraft would be able to take off and land from flat rooftops of buildings.

It was built in a Queen Anne revival style, and it is believed that the building was designed during Sproatt's "independent period", completed before he began a partnership with Ernest Rolph in 1901.

Around 1910, a stone guest house was built on a point of land on the Mimico property known as "Thunder Head", which jutted out into Lake Ontario at the foot of Royal York Road.

[5] In the 1930s, the musician Horace Lapp lived in The Towers as a tenant for a period of time before moving into the boat house, to which he added a second floor with Fetherstonhaugh's permission.

[5] The gardener's cottage (at 2669-2673 Lake Shore Blvd W) remains the only surviving part of the Fetherstonhaugh estate, and was designated as a Heritage Property by the City of Toronto in 2011.