Thomas Dick was a United Kingdom/Canada citizen, who worked as a sailor, a ship's captain, who later bought and operated Toronto's most luxurious hotel.

[1][2] Dick was born in 1809 or 1810, and went to sea at 14 years old, and had earned his master's certificate, and become a ship's captain, by the time he was 23.

He commanded HMS Experiment during the Battle of the Windmill in 1838.

[3] However, by the 1850, railroads were starting to supplant water travel – at least along the shores of Lake Ontario.

[3] Dick moved his fleet to the Upper Lakes, and branched out into finance, real estate, and, eventually, running the Queen's Hotel, which he turned into one of Toronto's most luxurious hotels.