James McGill

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James McGill
James McGill

James McGill (October 6, 1744 – December 19, 1813) was a Scottish-Canadian businessman and philanthropist. He was also a prominent member of the Château Clique.

Born in Glasgow, Scotland and educated at Glasgow University, he became one of the Montreal merchants involved in the fur trade south of the Great Lakes from 1770. He diversified his activities into land speculation and by 1810 had abandoned the fur trade altogether. Rumoured to be the richest man in Montreal, he left a great deal of money to charity, including an estate and 10,000 pounds to the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning to found McGill University.

He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada for Montreal West in 1792 and appointed to the Executive Council in 1793. He was elected again in 1800 and in Montreal East in 1804.

He was the first honorary Lieutenant-Colonel of the regiment The Canadian Grenadier Guards, which name is marked upon the replicated cairn that stands before the so-called Arts building of McGill University.

James McGill was buried in the old Protestant Dufferin Square Cemetery but in 1875 his remains were reinterred in front of the Arts Building on the university campus.

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