page_title: James Ross (Canadian businessman)
section_title: Private life
hierarchical_section_title: James Ross (Canadian businessman) / Private life
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Bâtiment de 1912 du Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal.
context_page_description: James Leveson Ross, of Montreal, was a Scottish-born Canadian civil engineer, businessman and philanthropist. He established his fortune predominantly through railway construction, notably for the Canadian Pacific Railway, of which he was the major shareholder, and advising Lord Strathcona on railway projects in Argentina and Chile. He oversaw the electrification of street railways in Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Saint John, Birmingham, Mexico City and São Paulo. He was president of the Dominion Bridge Company, the Mexican Power Company etc. He was Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel of the 17th Duke of York's Royal Canadian Hussars and Governor of McGill University and the Royal Victoria Hospital. He was an avid collector of the Old Masters and president of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. He owned several yachts including two named Glencairn and became the first Canadian to be made a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron. He funded the construction of the Ross Memorial Wing at the Royal Vic; the Ross Memorial Hospital and Nurse's Home at Lindsay, Ontario; and the Protestant Hospital for the Insane at Verdun, Quebec. He lived in the Golden Square Mile.
context_section_description: In 1892, architect Bruce Price completed a French Château-style mansion in Montreal's Golden Square Mile, on Peel Street for the Rosses. Between 1897 and 1912, the Maxwell Brothers expanded the house, adding an art gallery among other rooms. In 1910, their son, Jack Ross, had built his own home also on Peel Street, but after the death of his parents he moved back to his childhood home. He hired the firm Trowbridge & Livingston, again expanding and remodelling the house. When their son was declared bankrupt in 1928, the house was purchased by J.W. McConnell who donated it to McGill University, when it was renamed Chancellor Day Hall. In December 2017, representatives of the Clan Ross Association of Canada and members of the Faculty of Law of McGill University unveiled a plaque commemorating James L. Ross. The plaque is located near the main entrance of Old Chancellor Day Hall.
  Ross had a passion for art and became a significant collector. At the time of his death, he had amassed one of the largest and finest collections of Old Masters on the North American continent. Through this passion, Ross became president of the Montreal Art Association, leaving much of his collection to the Museum on his death.
  Ross' father had been a shipowner, and Ross too had become a keen sailor after settling in Montreal in 1888. He was made honorary Commodore of the Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Club. He was a member of the New York Yacht Club and the first Canadian member of the Royal Yacht Squadron and the Royal Thames Yacht Club, both in England. He owned several yachts during his lifetime, including the Glencairn, which won the coveted and prestigious Seawanhaka Corinthian Cup for half-raters in American waters, 1896. However his most famous yacht was the Liberty, purchased in 1912 from the deceased newspaper magnate Joseph Pulitzer. The yacht (which he renamed Glencairn after his previous vessel) required a staff of sixty-five and had a full auditorium, numerous state rooms, and first-class dining-rooms. He undertook a cruise around the world in the hope that it would restore his health, but died soon after returning to Montreal.
  Retiring from engineering and active investment, Ross sat on the boards of numerous companies including the Bank of Montreal and the Royal Trust Company. He was a member of both the American and the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers and appointed honorary Lieutenant-Colonel of the 17th Duke of York's Royal Canadian Hussars. He was a Trustee of Bishop's College School, Governor of the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal, and of McGill University, donating generously to all institutions. Ross was a member of several clubs not already mentioned, including the Constitutional Club in London; Manhattan Club in New York City and the Montreal Hunt, Jockey, Royal Golf and Racquet Clubs.
caption: Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
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