James Ross

James Leveson Ross (1848 – 20 September 1913), 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 (England), 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.

Early life Ross was born in 1848 at Cromarty, Scotland. He was the eldest son of Captain John R. Ross (d. 1889), a merchant and shipowner, and his wife Mary B. McKeddie (1826–1896), daughter of Captain McKeddie of Newcastle-on-Tyne. In 1870, he was appointed engineer, then chief engineer, of the Ulster and Delaware Railroad. At the time of his death, he was still a director of the CPR and was said to have been the company's largest shareholder. Ross as general manager, Mann preparing and grading roadbeds, Mackenzie cutting the ties and organising timber work for trestles and bridges, and Holt laying track, general finishing, and clean-up work.

Advising on and constructing feeder lines north from the CPR mainline, the company completed early work on the Winnipeg and Hudson Bay Railway, and constructed both the Regina and Long Lake Railway and the Calgary and Edmonton Railway. After Jack Ross was declared bankrupt in 1928, the mansion was purchased in 1948 by businessman J.W. McConnell. He then donated it to McGill University, and the building was renamed Chancellor Day Hall (now called Old Chancellor Day Hall). It has been used since that time by the McGill University Faculty of Law. In December 2017, representatives of the Clan Ross Association of Canada and members of the McGill Faculty of Law unveiled a plaque commemorating 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. He undertook a cruise around the world in the hope that it would restore his health, but he died soon after returning to Montreal. During his lifetime he had donated generously to the Alexandra Hospital and the Royal Victoria Hospital, both in Montreal.