Roderick Cameron
Sir Roderick William Cameron (July 25, 1825 – October 19, 1900) was a Canadian and American businessman noted for co-founding the "R. W. Cameron and Company" shipping line in New York City, as well as for his role as an official representative of Canada and Australia at several international exhibitions during the 1870s and 1880s. Early life. Cameron was born in Glengarry County, Upper Canada on July 25, 1825 to Duncan Cameron (c. 1764–1848), a prominent fur trader with the North West Company who represented Glengarry in the Upper Canadian House of Assembly during the 9th Parliament, and  Margaret MacLeod. His paternal grandparents were Alexander Cameron and Margaret (née McDonell) Cameron. His father, along with his grandparents, immigrated to Tryon County, New York in 1773. In 1785, following the Revolutionary War, the Loyalist Camerons moved to Williamstown, Ontario in Canada. He was tutored in Williamstown by Dr. John Rae and later at the district school at Kingston. Career. From 1839 to 1847, he was in business in Hamilton, Ontario, working as a clerk in a dry-goods business. In 1852, during the Australian gold rushes, Cameron chartered a ship to take supplies and passengers from New York to  Australia. Shortly thereafter, he added more ships and consolidated his business into a shipping company known as the Australian Pioneer Line. In 1870, he took on William Augustus Street as his partner, and the firm became known as "R. W. Cameron and Company". The company maintained success during the Panic of 1857, the American Civil War, and the boom of the Clipper. Cameron generally focused on trade routes between New York and Australia, linking with New Zealand, England, and certain areas in Asia, transporting kerosene and farm machinery as well as Australian wool. By the end of the 1800s, the  company no longer owned ships, instead they chartered them, leaving risk elsewhere. Thoroughbred racing. Roderick Cameron owned a estate, which he named Clifton Berley, in Rosebank, Staten Island. There, he established a stud farm which, according to his "New York Times" obituary, was "one of the most noted in the country." For his horse breeding operation, Cameron imported a number of stallions and broodmares from England, notably Leamington, the sire of Iroquois, which in 1881 became the first American horse to win England's prestigious Epsom Derby and St. Leger Stakes. Among the horses bred at Clifton Stud was Glenelg , the 1869 Travers Stakes winner and a four-time Leading sire in North America. The Canadian government recommended a Knighthood that was formally bestowed on Cameron on June 16, 1883. Society life. Cameron, although he never renounced his British citizenship, was prominent in New York and Newport society. In 1892, he was included in Ward McAllister's "Four Hundred", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in "The New York Times". Conveniently, 400 was the number of people that could fit into Mrs. Astor's ballroom. He was a member of the Knickerbocker Club, Metropolitan  Club, New York Yacht Club, and Down Town Association. Personal life. On August 6, 1845, he married Mary Ann Cumming, the daughter of George Cumming of Quebec. She died in 1858; they had no children together. In July 1860, Cameron was married to Anne Fleming Leavenworth (1840–1879), the daughter of Nathan Leavenworth of New York. Together, they were the parents of two sons and five daughters, including: In New York City, Cameron lived at 149 Second Avenue, in Staten Island, he lived at Rosebank, where he had Frederick Law Olmsted design his gardens, and in Canada, he has a home  in Tadoussac, Quebec, which had been owned by the former Governor General of Canada, the Marquess of Dufferin and Ava. In declining health, Roderick Cameron was visiting England when he died on October 19, 1900, at the Hyde Park Hotel. His body was returned to New York where funeral services were held before being sent to Williamstown, Ontario, Canada for burial. His estate was worth approximately $250,000 upon his death. The estate in Staten Island was inherited by his second son, Roderick MacLeaod Cameron. Descendants. Through his son Roderick, he was the grandfather of Roderick "Rory" William Cameron (1914–1985 ), an American travel writer who was a contributing editor of "L'Oeil". In January 1921, his granddaughter, the debutante Mary Cameron, was given a dance for 600 people at the home of Edith Kingdon Gould, the wife of George J. Gould, at 857 Fifth Avenue. In May 1921, she was married to Juan R. Mayer, the son of Charles W. Mayer, at St. Thomas's Church in New York.