Richard Bladworth Angus (28 May 1831 – 17 September 1922) was a Scottish-Canadian financier, banker and philanthropist.
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Angus was born at Bathgate, West Lothian, Scotland. Educated at Bathgate Academy, as a young man he was employed by the Manchester and Liverpool Bank. By 1857 he had secured a position with the Bank of Montreal. He emigrated to North America and represented the bank in its offices in Chicago and New York City, prior to moving to the bank's headquarters in Montreal, Quebec in 1864. He rose quickly through the ranks, and by 1869 had become its general manager, a position he was to hold until 1879. On July 22, 1910, Angus, although already in his eighties, rejoined the Bank of Montreal as president, a position which he held until November 1913.
Following this period, he relocated to St. Paul, Minnesota to represent the interests of a group of railway entrepreneurs that had acquired the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway. This group formed the nucleus of a syndicate including Angus, George Stephen, James J. Hill, Duncan McIntyre, John Stewart Kennedy, Donald A. Smith and Norman Kittson that was to subsequently oversee the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Although the construction was fraught with financial peril, the CPR, completed in 1885, was an immediate financial success and made Angus a very wealthy man. The Canadian Pacific main shops, which were located in Montréal were named in his honour.
Among the other commercial and financial institutions with which he was connected were the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, the Laurentide Paper Company, the Dominion Coal Company, the Dominion Iron & Steel Company, the Dominion Bridge Company, the Royal Trust Company, the Grand Falls Power Company, the Pacific Coal Company, the Canadian Salt Company, the Northwest Land Company and the London & Lancashire Assurance Company (England). Angus always took a deep interest in public institutions and was one of the chief promoters of the Board of Control in Montreal, which was founded in 1909.
Angus was one of the wealthiest men in Montreal and well known for his philanthropic activities and generous donations to the causes he allied himself to. He was a founder and governor of the Alexandra Contagious Diseases Hospital of Montreal; President of the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal; Vice-President to the Victorian Order of Nurses; Director of the Charity Organisation Society, which he funded; Governor of the Montreal General Hospital; Governor of the Fraser Institute Free Public Library and an honourary member of the Antiquarian and Numismatic Society of Montreal. He supported McGill University with a considerable sum and served as president of the Montreal Art Association, to which he gave substantial donations as well as purchasing a number of valuable paintings. In 1910 he was offered a knighthood, but declined the offer.
Richard Angus married Mary Anne Daniels (died March 13, 1913) on June 13, 1857. They had three sons and four surviving daughters, one who married Charles Meredith. His son, Duncan Forbes Angus, went on to serve as Chairman of the Standard Life Assurance Co., president of Guardian Life Assurance Co., and director of Bank of Montreal, Canadian Bag Company, B.C. Sugar Co., and the Royal Trust Company. The family lived on Drummond Street, Montreal, and he kept a country residence at Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec.
Mrs Mary Anne (Daniels) Angus, 1879
R.B. Angus House on Drummond Street, Montreal
R.B. Angus house at Ste Anne de Bellevue, Quebec
Socially Angus was a member of: the St. James Club, of which he was formerly chairman; the Mount Royal Club, of which he was a founder and of which he served as president; the Montreal Jockey Club; the Auto Club and Aero Club; the Forest and Stream Club, and the Winter Club. He also was also a member of the Rideau Club of Ottawa, the Toronto Club, the York Club of Toronto and the Manitoba Club of Winnipeg.
He died at his summer house near Senneville, Quebec on 17 September 1922. His remains were interred in Montreal's Mount Royal Cemetery.
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| Preceded by George Alexander Drummond |
President of the Bank of Montreal 1910-1913 |
Succeeded by Vincent Meredith |