James McGill
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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.
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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Categories: Canadian business biography stubs | 1744 births | 1813 deaths | Canadian Anglicans | Canadian philanthropists | Pre-Confederation Canadian businesspeople | McGill University | Members of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada | People from Glasgow | People from Montreal | Pre-Confederation Quebec people | Scottish immigrants to Canada
