Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-11-30
R. R.
CONTRADICTORY
CANADA DIES
Lord Mount Stephen Passes
Away at Country Home
In England.

London. Nov. 3O.-(By the Associ-
ated Press. Lord Mount Stephen.
pioneer railroad constructor in Cana
da and first president of the Canadian
Pacific railway company, died last
night at his country residence,
Brocket Hall, Hatfield, Hertfordshire.
He was 90 years old.
Son of Carpenter.
Lord Mount Stephen. George Ste
phen), first Baron Mount Stephen, was
born on June S, 1929, at Forres In
Banffshire, Scotland. the SON of. Will
liam Stephen, a carpenter.
The life story of Lord Stephen was
romance OF early struggles against
poverty. of rapid rise to eminence
after he came to Canada in 1850. or
pioneer work in railroad construction
which eliminated in the connecting of
the Atlantic and the Pacific by the Ca
madam Pacific railway. Of the acquisi-
ton Of a $6.o00.c00 fortune, much of
which he gave away to relatives, and
finally Of an old age spent as peer
in a historic home known as Brocket
Hall, Hertfordshire in England.
which had at times been occupied by
two prime ministers Of England, Lord
Melbourne and Lord Palmerston.
iAS d OOS, oISPlAcH pldy Gu D3TclOOt-
ed in the streets Of his native village,
was shepherd on the nearby bleak
moors and then a Diapers clerk.
Coming to Canada. he entered the
store Of an uncle in Montreal, a 'clotl,
merchant. whom he ultimately bought
out. He invested his savings in Bank
Of Montreal stock. becoming one. OF
tts lsyssst shareholders ' and finally h,
ip1S6dAtstlL~ Nsity
About this time Stephen came iyfto
| business relations with Donald Snit h,
a cousin, who afterwards became Lord
Strathcona. Smith interested him in
the construction of railway to the
Canadian west which he knew
through his association with it as resi-
dent governor of the Hudson's Bay
company.
Associated With Hill.
j Smith and Stephen Joined forces
with the late J. J. Hill, and the trio
acquired the St. Paul and Pacific rail
road, which had failed and had fallen
into the hands Of it's Dutch bondhold-
ers. The line was built through from
St. Paul to Winnipeg.
The Importance of this early ven
ture on the subsequent development
OF the Canadian west lay in the fact
that 1t made the building OF the Ca
madam Pacific possible. as supplies 70,
the construction gangs operating in
the otherwise inaccessible prairie Sec
ton passed over it. Acknowledge
ment of his part in the origination and
contamination Of the Canadian Pacific
came from the shareholders who
| elected Stephen the first president O,
the company, and from the king, who
on recommendation of the govern
ment Of Canada. conferred a baronet-
cy on him in 1885 and a peerage in
J 1891. He retired from the presidency
in 1883 and soon afterwards went tc
1 live in England. Before leaving
| Canada, Lord Mount Stephen idivid ed
his fortune among relatives in Mon.
treal, retaining enough to support him
for the rest Of his life. Previously l1e
had contributed 100000 to the
founding of the Royal Victoria hospi-
tai Of Montreal. ,.
| Lord Mount Stephen, whose title
becomes extinct at his death, married
in 1853 Annie Charlotte. daughter Of
Benjamin Kane Of Montreal. She
died in 1896. In 1897, he married
Clan. daughter Of Captain r. G. TUT
4; nell, r. N, of London.