Donald Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal
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.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.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 person in charge of HBC's nominal head office in Montreal was Smith, and he was asked by the Governor-General to investigate and write a Royal Commission report.Smith's offers, including land recognition for the Métis, led to Riel calling a Council of 40 representatives, drawn half-and-half from the Metis and the HBC settlers, for formal negotiations.Smith returned to Ottawa in early 1870, and communicated the Royal Commission on the North-West Territories,[8] which effectively made his name in Canada and London.He was appointed that year to the office of President of the HBC's Council of the Northern Department (effectively becoming administrator of the Northwest Territories, including Manitoba).[citation needed] Politicians were allowed to serve in both the provincial and federal parliaments in this period of Manitoba history, and Smith was elected to the House of Commons of Canada for the newly formed riding of Selkirk in early 1871.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.His business ventures increasingly dominated his labours, and he formally resigned as land commissioner in early 1879, though he remained a leading figure in the HBC's operations for another 30 years.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.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[4] at Craigellachie, British Columbia to complete the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway rail line.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.[19] He received the honorary degree Doctor of Civil Law (DCL) from the University of Oxford in October 1902, in connection with the tercentenary of the Bodleian Library.Strathcona also made a major donation to McGill University in Montreal, where he helped establish a school for women in 1884 (Royal Victoria College).[22] In 1910, Strathcona deposited in trust with the Dominion Government the sum of $500,000, bearing an annual interest of 4%, to develop citizenship and patriotism, for example in the Royal Canadian Army Cadets movement, through physical training, rifle shooting, and military drill.She was presented to King Edward 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.Robert Howard and Lady Strathcona had the following children:[citation needed] His Montreal home was located in the Golden Square Mile.Lord Strathcona is commemorated in Montreal by several McGill University buildings; he gave freely of his time to this institution, and a great quantity of his wealth.Owned by the Dominion Line, Lord Strathcona was bound from Wabana, Newfoundland to Sydney, Nova Scotia with iron ore when the vessel was torpedoed and sunk by U-513 on 5 September 1942.
The Right HonourableCanadian High Commissioner to the United KingdomCharles TupperWilfrid LaurierRobert BordenGeorge PerleyMember of ParliamentMontreal WestMatthew Hamilton GaultSelkirkThomas ScottForresLondonHighgate CemeteryBritish subjectMargaret Howard, 2nd Baroness Strathcona and Mount RoyalDriving the CPR's Last SpikeAlbert MedalBritish EmpireHudson's Bay CompanyBank of MontrealLord Mount StephenCanadian Pacific RailwayLegislative Assembly of ManitobaMontrealHouse of Commons of CanadaBurmah OilAnglo-Persian Oil CompanyMcGill UniversityUniversity of AberdeenKing Edward VIIestateStrathcona's HorseSecond Boer WarLeanchoil HospitalCity of MontrealRoyal Victoria HospitalLord Strathcona MedalAberdeen UniversityVictoria University of ManchesterYale UniversityPrince of Wales Hospital FundImperial InstituteMcGillRoyal Victoria CollegechairspathologyhygieneScotlandLeanchoilUpper StrathspeyMurdoch Stewart, 2nd Duke of AlbanycroftersKnockandosaddlerManchesterCharles DickensNicholas NicklebyJohn StuartNorth West CompanyAnderson's Free SchoolTown ClerkIndian Civil ServiceLower CanadaseigneuryMinganLabradorSir George Simpsonfur tradesalmonGeorge StephenRichard Bladworth AngusAndrew PatonSherbrookeJohn A. MacdonaldRed River ColonyRupert's LandRoyal CommissionManitobaFort GarryLouis RielMétisOttawaNorthwest TerritoriesGarnet WolseleyAssiniboiaAdams George ArchibaldExecutive CouncilLeslie WardVanity FairManitoba's first general electionprovincial legislatureWinnipeg and St. JohnJohn Christian SchultzCanadian PartyWinnipegIndependent Conservativere-elected in 1872Hugh AllanTemporary North-West Councilassembly of the North-West TerritoriesPrime MinisterPacific ScandalConservativeCanadian general election of 1874LiberalAndrew G. B. BannatyneManitoba Free PressSt. Paul and Pacific RailroadAlexander Morrisgeneral election of 1878Winnipeg MayorLast Spike of the Canadian Pacific RailwayCraigellachie, British Columbialast spikeWilliam Cornelius Van HorneRoyal TrustMontreal TrustToronto GlobeWilliam Fisher LuxtonQuebecSt John's College, Cambridgeelection of 1891James CochraneThomas GreenwayManitoba school crisis