Donald Smith , 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal Donald Alexander Smith , 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal , GCMG , GCVO , PC , DL ( 6 August 1820 – 21 January 1914 ) was a Scottish - born Canadian who became one of the British Empire ' s foremost builders and philanthropists . He became commissioner , governor and principal shareholder of the Hudson ' s Bay Company . He was president of the Bank of Montreal and with his first cousin , Lord Mount Stephen , co - founded the Canadian Pacific Railway . He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba and afterwards represented Montreal in the Canadian House of Commons . He was Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 1896 to 1914 . He was chairman of Burmah Oil and the Anglo - Persian Oil Company . He was chancellor of McGill University ( 1899 - 1914 ) and Aberdeen University . He lived in Montreal ' s Golden Square Mile . In 1895 , he purchased an estate in Scotland , building and living at Glencoe House . In 1905 , he purchased the Island of Colonsay including Colonsay House , where his descendants still live . He kept a house in London and after his appointment as Canadian High Commissioner leased Knebworth House from 1899 until his death . His funeral was held at Westminster Abbey , where a memorial stands to his memory . In reference to his reputation as a magnanimous philanthropist , King Edward VII called him " Uncle Donald " : his will was valued at $ 5 . 5 million . During his lifetime , and including the bequests left after his death , he gave away just over $ 7 . 5 million plus a further £1 million ( not including private gifts and allowances ) to a huge variety of charitable causes across Canada , the United Kingdom and the United States . He personally raised Lord Strathcona ' s Horse , who saw their first action in the Boer War . He funded the building of Leanchoil Hospital . He and his first cousin , Lord Mount Stephen , purchased the land and then each gave $ 1 million to the City of Montreal to construct and maintain the Royal Victoria Hospital . He endowed the Lord Strathcona Medal and donated generously to McGill University , Aberdeen University , the University of Manchester , Yale University , the Prince of Wales Hospital Fund and the Imperial Institute . At McGill , he started the " Donalda Program " for the purpose of providing higher education for Canadian women , building the Royal Victoria College on Sherbrooke Street for that purpose in 1886 . He also built the Strathcona Medical Building at McGill and endowed it ' s chairs in pathology and hygiene . Early life . Born 6 August 1820 , on Forres High Street , in Moray , Scotland . He was the second son of Alexander Smith ( 1786 - 1841 ) and his wife Barbara Stuart , daughter of Donald Stuart ( b . c . 1740 ) of Leanchoil , Upper Strathspey , descended from Murdoch Stewart , 2nd Duke of Albany . His father , whose family had lived at Archiestown Cottage as crofters at Knockando , became a saddle r at Forres after trying his hand at farming and soldiering . He was also a first cousin of the successful and notably philanthropic Grant brothers of Manchester , immortalised as the " Cheeryble Brothers " in Charles Dickens ' book , Nicholas Nickleby . Donald ' s mother was the sister of the Canadian explorer John Stuart , partner of the North West Company and Chief Factor of the Hudson ' s Bay Company . Smith was educated at Anderson ' s Free School and on leaving at age sixteen he was apprenticed to become a lawyer in the offices of Robert Watson , Town Clerk of Forres . By the age of eighteen , Smith was ambitious for a more exciting career path : The Cheeryble Grants offered him entry into mercantile life at Manchester ; another connection offered him a career in the Indian Civil Service , while his well - known uncle John Stuart , who had by then returned to live near Forres , offered him a junior clerkship in the service of the Hudson ' s Bay Company . Smith chose to follow his uncle ' s career and sailed to Montreal that year . Hudson ' s Bay Company . He emigrated to Lower Canada in 1838 to work for the Hudson ' s Bay Company ( HBC ) , becoming a clerk for the organization in 1842 . He was given administrative control over the seigneury of Mingan ( in modern Labrador ) in late 1843 , where his innovative methods met with the disapproval of HBC governor Sir George Simpson . The Mingan post burned down in 1846 , and Smith left for Montreal the following year . He returned in 1848 , and remained in Labrador until the 1860s , administering the fur trade and salmon fishing within the region . In 1862 , Smith was promoted as the company ' s Chief Factor in charge of the Labrador district . He travelled to London in 1865 , and made a favourable impression on the HBC ' s directors . In 1868 , he was promoted to Commissioner of the Montreal department , managing the HBC ' s eastern operations . That same year , Smith joined with George Stephen , Richard Bladworth Angus , and Andrew Paton to establish the textile manufactory , Paton Manufacturing Company , in Sherbrooke . In 1869 , Smith was sent to the Red River Colony in present day Manitoba by the Canadian government to negotiate with Louis Riel , leader of the Red River Rebellion . Smith ' s offers , including land recognition for the Métis , led to Riel calling a Council of 40 representatives for formal negotiations . Smith succeeded in gaining clemency for some prisoners within the region ; he was not , however , able to prevent the execution of Thomas Scott by the provisional government . Smith returned to Ottawa in early 1870 , and was appointed President of the HBC ' s Council of the Northern Department ( effectively becoming administrator of the Northwest Territories , including Manitoba ) . Smith accompanied Col . Garnet Wolseley ' s military mission to Red River later in the year ; following the end of the rebellion , Wolseley illegally appointed Smith as the Acting Governor of Assiniboia pending Lieutenant Governor Adams George Archibald ' s arrival in the province . Smith stayed in the region after 1870 , and was responsible for negotiating the transfer of HBC land to the federal government ( as well as coordinating the transfer of several specific land claims in the region ) . Archibald appointed Smith to his Executive Council on 20 October 1870 , although this decision was subsequently overturned by the Canadian government , which ruled that Archibald had overstepped his legal authority . Political career . In Manitoba ' s first general election , held on 27 December 1870 , Smith was elected to the provincial legislature for the riding of Winnipeg and St . John , defeating long - time HBC nemesis John Christian Schultz by 71 votes to 63 . Smith was a supporter of Archibald ' s consensus government , and opposed Schultz ' s ultra - loyalist Canadian Party ; there was a riot among the Ontario soldiers stationed in Winnipeg following the announcement of Smith ' s victory . Politicians were allowed to serve in both the provincial and federal parliaments in this period of Manitoba history , and Smith was elected to the Canadian House of Commons for the newly formed riding of Selkirk in early 1871 . He sat as an Independent Conservative , and initially supported the government of Sir John A . Macdonald . Easily re - elected in 1872 , Smith was a strong defender of HBC interests in the House of Commons , and also spoke for issues concerning Manitoba and the Northwest . He helped create the Bank of Manitoba and the Manitoba Insurance Company during this period , assisted by banker Sir Hugh Allan . In 1872 Smith was appointed in the first group of members of the Temporary North - West Council the first governing assembly of Northwest Territories . Smith was one of the few people who served on two provincial / territorial legislatures and the federal parliament at the same time . Smith broke with Macdonald in 1873 , after the Prime Minister had delayed reimbursement for Smith ' s earlier expenses in Red River . Smith voted to censure the government in a motion over the Pacific Scandal , and was thereby partly responsible for the government ' s defeat . Smith remained an Independent Conservative , but his relations with the official Conservative representatives were often strained in later years . Manitoba abolished the " dual mandate " in 1873 , and Smith resigned from the provincial legislature in early 1874 ( the first person to do so ) . In the Canadian general election of 1874 , Smith defeated Liberal candidate Andrew G . B . Bannatyne by 329 votes to 225 . The " Manitoba Free Press " , at the time , suggested that Smith had encouraged Bannatyne ' s candidacy to prevent more serious opposition from emerging . In 1873 , the HBC separated its fur trade and land sales operations , putting Smith in charge of the latter . Smith had developed an interest in railway expansion through his work with the HBC , and in 1875 was among the incorporators of the Manitoba Western Railway . He was also a partner in the Red River Transportation Company , which gained control over the St . Paul and Pacific Railroad in March 1878 . His business ventures increasingly dominated his labours , and he formally resigned as land commissioner in early 1879 ( though remaining a leading figure in the HBC ' s Canadian operations ) . Smith faced a serious electoral challenge from former Manitoba Lieutenant Governor Alexander Morris in the general election of 1878 . Aided on this occasion by the " Manitoba Free Press " , Smith defeated Morris by 555 votes to 546 ; local Conservative organizers protested the result , and it was overturned two years later . On 10 September 1880 , Smith was defeated by former Winnipeg Mayor Thomas Scott , 735 votes to 577 . Corporate leader . In May 1879 , Smith became a director in the St . Paul , Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway Company , having control over 20 % of its shares . He was subsequently a leading figure in the creation of the Canadian Pacific Railway , although he was not appointed as a director of the organization until 1883 because of his lingering animosity with Sir John A . Macdonald ( who had again become Prime Minister in 1878 ) . During his tenure on the board , Smith had the honour of driving the last spike at Craigellachie , British Columbia to complete the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway rail line . Smith remained on the board of directors for several years , although he was by - passed for the company ' s presidency in 1888 , in favour of William Cornelius Van Horne . Smith became extremely wealthy through his investments , and was involved in a myriad of Canadian and American corporations in the later part of the 19th century . He was appointed to the board of the Bank of Montreal in 1872 , became its Vice - President in 1882 , and was promoted to the Presidency in 1887 . Smith was also involved in the newspaper industry during this period . His attempt to take over the " Toronto Globe " in 1882 was unsuccessful , though he took effective control of the " Manitoba Free Press " from William Fisher Luxton in 1893 . In 1889 , he was the principal shareholder of the Hudson ' s Bay Company and was elected as its 26th governor , holding this position until his death in 1914 . Later political career . Smith was re - elected to the Canadian House of Commons in 1887 , in the Quebec riding of Montreal West , and once again sat as an " Independent Conservative " . In the same year he received an honorary LL . D . from St John ' s College , Cambridge . He was re - elected in the election of 1891 , defeating his only opponent ( one James Cochrane ) 4586 votes to 880 . Smith remained interested in Manitoba politics , and attempted ( without success ) to broker a compromise between Thomas Greenway and the federal government during the Manitoba school crisis of the 1890s . High Commissioner . Prime Minister Sir Mackenzie Bowell wanted Smith to succeed him in 1896 , but Smith refused . The position of Prime Minister instead went to Sir Charles Tupper , who appointed Smith as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom on 24 April 1896 . Sir Wilfrid Laurier retained Smith as High Commissioner following the Liberal election victory of 1896 , although his powers were somewhat undercut . He was created Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal , of Glencoe in the County of Argyll and of Mount Royal in the Province of Quebec and Dominion of Canada , in the Peerage of the United Kingdom , on 23 August 1897 ( he had been made KCMG on 29 May 1886 and GCMG on 20 May 1896 and was further made GCVO in 1908 ) . He cooperated with Manitoba Liberal Clifford Sifton in opening the Canadian prairies to eastern - European immigration . He raised Strathcona ' s Horse , a private unit of Canadian soldiers , during the Second Boer War , and became one of the leading supporters of British imperialism within London . He was involved in the creation of the Anglo - Persian Oil Company , of which he became the chairman in 1909 . Lord Strathcona subsequently used his influence to make the company a major supplier of the Royal Navy . Philanthropy . Strathcona was a leading philanthropist in his later years , donating large sums of money to various organizations in Britain , Canada and elsewhere . His largest donations were made with George Stephen , donating the money to build the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal that opened its doors in 1893 . Strathcona also made a major donation to McGill University in Montreal , where he helped establish a school for women in 1884 . He was named Chancellor of McGill in 1888 , and held the largely ceremonial post until his death . He also bequeathed funds to the Sheffield Scientific School for a science and engineering building and to support two professorships in engineering . He had been awarded an honorary degree from Yale in 1892 . His Montreal home was located in the Golden Square Mile . In 1905 , he bought the island of Colonsay in the Inner Hebrides , which remains in the hands of his successors today . In 1910 , Sir Donald Alexander Smith deposited in trust with the Dominion Government the sum of $ 500 , 000 , bearing annual interest of 4 % , to develop citizenship and patriotism in the Royal Canadian Army Cadets movement through physical training , rifle shooting , and military drill . He is remembered today with the Lord Strathcona Medal . Lord Strathcona died in 1914 in London and buried at Highgate Cemetery . His seventy - five year tenure with the Hudson ' s Bay Company remains a record . Family . In 1853 , he married Isabella Sophia Hardisty ( 1825 - 1913 ) , daughter of Richard Hardisty ( 1790 - 1865 ) , Chief Trader of the Hudson ' s Bay Company , and Margaret Sutherland ( 1802 - 1876 ) , daughter of the Rev . John Sutherland , a native of Caithness who lived at Lachine , Quebec . Lady Strathcona ' s father was a native of London , England , and her mother was of Indian and Scottish parentage . Her brother was The Hon . Richard Charles Hardisty . She was presented to King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra , 13 March 1903 , and with her daughter donated $ 100 , 000 to McGill University in Montreal to erect a new wing to its Medical Building . The couple lived at 53 Cadogan Square , London ; Knebworth House ; Glencoe House , Scotland ; Colonsay House , Scotland and 1157 Dorchester Street , in Montreal ' s Golden Square Mile . They were the parents of one daughter , Hon . Margaret Charlotte Smith . By Royal permission , she became the 2nd Baroness Strathcona and Mount Royal . In 1888 , she married Robert Jared Bliss Howard ( 1859 - 1921 ) O . B . E . , F . R . C . S . , son of Robert Palmer Howard ( 1823 - 1889 ) , Dean of Medicine at McGill University . The Howards were the parents of Donald Howard , 3rd Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal . Memorials . Lord Strathcona is commemorated in Manitoba by the Rural Municipality of Strathcona and by three streets in Winnipeg : Donald Street and Smith Street in the downtown core , and Strathcona Street in the city ' s West End . In Alberta he is commemorated by the Calgary neighbourhood of Strathcona Park by the Edmonton neighbourhood of Strathcona , and by the municipality of Strathcona County . In British Columbia , the Vancouver neighbourhood of Strathcona takes its name from the Lord Strathcona School built in 1891 , and Mount Sir Donald in Glacier National Park is named after him . There are oil portraits of Lord Strathcona by many artists , but the Swiss - born American artist Adolfo Müller - Ury seems to have made a number of head and shoulder portraits of him from 1898 ( examples may be found at the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad offices , and in the Hudson ' s Bay Company [ this has a repainted background ] ) , and the artist also presented his 1899 bust - length charcoal and crayon drawing of Strathcona to McGill University in Montreal in 1916 . The Town of Fort Smith in the Northwest Territories is named after Donald Smith . There is a stained glass window memorialising him in Westminster Abbey .