Sir Charles Rose, 1st Baronet

Sir Charles Day Rose, 1st Baronet (23 August 1847 – 20 April 1913) was a British-Canadian businessman, race horse breeder, yachtsman, and Liberal politician.

Member of parliament for Newmarket and President of the Royal Aero Club, he has been suggested as the inspiration for Toad in The Wind in the Willows.

Biography

Born in Montreal, he was the second son of Sir John Rose, 1st Baronet. His father moved from Scotland to Canada, where he was successively Solicitor General, Minister of Public Works and Minister of Finance.

Rose was educated at the High School of Montreal and Rugby School. He was commissioned into the Montreal Garrison Artillery, and repelled the Fenian raid of 1870. He had completed the purchase of Hardwick House shortly beforehand.

At the 1900 general election, he stood as a Liberal candidate for the Newmarket constituency, but failed to unseat the sitting Conservative member and fellow horse breeder, Colonel Harry McCalmont.