Alexander Duncan McRae
Encyclopedia
Alexander Duncan McRae, C.B.
, (November 17, 1874, in Glencoe, Ontario – June 26, 1946, Ottawa
, Ontario
) was a successful businessman, a Major General
in the Canadian Army in First World War, a Member of Parliament
, a Canadian Senator
and a farmer.
. His father was Duncan Alexander McRae and his mother was Mary (Mahwhinney) McRae. His cousin and longtime business partner, Andrew Davidson (b. May 18, 1853) came from the same area. The two of them each went on to study at a Business school in Chatham, Ontario
.
. The Davidsons had started in Little Falls, Minnesota
, working for a railway company and moved into banking. Andrew had become mayor and they were involved in the business of buying, marketing and financing railway land to homesteaders. Minnesota made Andrew an Honorary Colonel. Their banking business spread through the region. In 1892, at 18 Alexander McRae joined them in Duluth and learned under Andrew.
McRae's first business venture on his own account started when his father put up $1,500 and McRae became a partner with the Davidsons in a company that insured grain elevator
s. The Davidson-McRae company sold fire and liability insurance and surety bonds. By the 1890s they had invested in various businesses and McRae became vice president of First National Bank of Hibbing. By age 25 he had $50,000 of his own earnings accumulated. He invested in other businesses including a granite quarry.
He married Blaunche Latimer Howe, of Pennsylvania who was the daughter of wealthy a forest industry father. They married in Minneapolis
on February 23, 1900. They would eventually have three daughters, Blanche, Lucile, and Margaret ("Peggy").
As McRae and the Davidsons saw Minnesota land go up in price and farmers moving west for more land, they realized the Canadian prairies
were an opportunity. They formed the Saskatchewan Valley Land Company headquartered in Winnipeg.
In 1899 land in what later became Saskatchewan
was $1 per acre. By 1902 they had 5 million acres (20,234.3 km²) worth $20 per acre.
and Saskatoon had been surveyed in 1882. Railway companies were entitled to a grant of land to compensate them for railway construction. The railway companies rejected much of the land between Regina and Saskatoon as unfit for settlement and court proceedings began. McRae and the Davidsons thought otherwise. They bought land reserved for the Qu'Appelle, Long Lake and Saskatchewan Railway first. Their first purchases amounted to close to a million acres (4,000 km2) for $1.53 an acre. They bought a further 100000 acres (404.7 km²) from the Saskatchewan Western Railway. They then went to Canadian Government
and negotiated the purchase of a further 250000 acres (1,011.7 km²) of land to fill in the gaps at $1 per acre. They agreed to terms that required them to actively seek settlers for the land. By the time they were done these and other purchases, their syndicate and the various companies it consisted of owned about 5 million acres (20,234.3 km²) of land.
In the summer of 1902, Davidson and McRae organized two promotional train tours from Minneapolis through to Prince Albert
. Each of these journeys saw eight Pullman cars plus dining and baggage cars traveling through hundreds of miles of unbroken and uninhabited prairie lands. The passengers were wealthy investors from the United States. The promotion was a success. Large tracts were purchased and word spread in the business communities leading to further investment. The company developed a network of land agents to sell land to settlers which advertised and maintained sales offices in many locations. In 1901 the population of the North West Territories (which then included Alberta
, Saskatchewan
and most of Manitoba
) was 158,940. In five years it had grown to 443,175. In the course of that expansion, McRae became a very wealthy man.
The purchases of railway reserves required approval of the government. Those approvals and the purchases from the government were negotiated secretly with the Minister of the Interior, Clifford Sifton
. A raging controversy arose in the House of Commons
but the opposition was unable to make much of it even though McRae and his colleagues made a staggering profit in the transactions because the land had stood empty for years (the railway companies didn't want it), the government had insisted on terms that required the settlement of these vacant lands and overall the effort succeeded in rapidly filling vast areas of vacant land with settlers at a time when there was concern about American expansion into the territory.
He knew from his business ventures in the prairies that there was a shortage of lumber there for building. Working with his partner, Davidson, Senator Peter Jansen
of Nebraska, the Swift Brothers (meat packing), William Mackenzie
and Donald Mann
, he took over a sawmill and a company town
3 miles (5 km) upstream from New Westminster at a place called Millside at Fraser Mills (now part of Coquitlam). Once he persuaded the government to dredge the Fraser River
to permit reliable passage of ocean going freighters to the mill, he reorganized it as Fraser River Mills (after 1910 known as the Canadian Western Lumber Company) with several large investors and a capitalization of $20 million. The plant and its yards covered 80 acres (323,748.8 m²) and took 1,030 men to run. With an investment of $500,000 in new equipment and the acquisition or formation of related companies such as The Canadian Tugboat Company and the Comox Logging and Railway to transport timber from the 75000 acres (303.5 km²) of timber the company controlled between Comox
and Campbell River
on Vancouver Island
, the company became the largest lumber and wood manufacturing company in the world. The normal capacity of the mill was 750000 board feet (1,769.8 m³) of lumber a day. In 1912 the mill produced 175000000 board feet (412,954 m³) of lumber, enough to fill 42 rail cars a day. The mill ran around the clock. In the years after McRae's involvement, it eventually, in 1954, was acquired by Crown Zellerbach, and, with further acquisitions became Fletcher Challenge
Canada Limited in 1987. By 1911 he had purchased canneries on Princess Royal Island
, at Rivers Inlet
and at Smith's Inlet. He introduced mechanized canning to the fish packing industry.
By 1914, when World War I began, McRae was also president of Anacortes Lumber and Box Company, vice-president of Columbia River Lumber Company Ltd of Golden BC which became a subsidiary of Canadian Western, vice-president of Canadian Collieries (Dunsmuir) Ltd. of Victoria BC and president of Wallace Fisheries.
, McRae volunteered with the 6th Regiment "The Duke of Connaught's Own Rifles" as an honorary lieutenant colonel
. When World War I
broke out, McRae went to Europe where his first responsibility was the purchase of horses for the army. He reorganized the Remount Commission and was responsible for the purchase of 8,000 horses. He took over a department known for corruption and dysfunction and has been credited for turning it into a business like organization. Rumours led nevertheless to charges about the conduct of these acquisitions resulting in a royal commission
under Quebec Chief Justice Sir Charles Peers Davidson
. The commission cleared McRae of wrongdoing and commended him for his performance.
He carried on as director of supplies and services and, when Hughes fell into disfavour in 1916, McRae continued to advance. He was promoted the rank of Major General and in 1917, was made a member of the Order of the Bath
. Later in the war effort, he was seconded to the British Government to organize Ministry of Information assisting Britain's Minister of Information, Lord Beaverbrook
. For his services, it has been said that the British crown offered McRae knighthood, which he declined, although McRae himself never confirmed or denied that this happened.
He left the army in 1918 two months after the end of the war. Afterwards he had little involvement in the military although, in 1934, addressing the Senate, he predicted correctly that another war would erupt in Europe after touring Europe and interviewing various prominent men in France, Germany and Austria. In World War II
his involvement was limited to helping raise financial support for the Canadian Legion and the YMCA
. In his later careers he was sometimes an advocate for returned veterans and in 1942 he donated his Vancouver mansion to the federal government for use as a hospital for wounded veterans.
After McRae settled in Vancouver in 1907 he proceeded to build a mansion for his family, to become known as Hycroft Manor, in Shaughnessy, an exclusive suburb of Vancouver
. The home was built on the brow of a hill on 5.5 acres (22,257.7 m²) of land. The land upon which the 30 room, 3 story mansion was built cost $10,000 and the construction, completed in 1911 cost $100,000. The house was designed by Vancouver architect Thomas Hooper. After the death of his wife Blanche in 1942, McRae donated Hycroft Manor and the adjacent Hycroft Tower to the government of Canada. Hycroft Tower was to be used as a hospital for wounded veterans. Once converted, it housed 130 beds. In recent years, Hycroft Manor has become the home of the University Woman's Club, and is home in that capacity to a variety of high-society driven charity balls and other events. The French Olympic Team used the building during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. It is also heavily used by Vancouver's film and television production industry as a set.
dissidents he called the Committee of 100 which became the Provincial Party of British Columbia
. The party sought freight rate equalization, cooperation with the federal government in the development of a northern railway, the elimination of Oriental labour, abolition of patronage, hiring of veterans and the elimination of income tax which had been introduced as a temporary measure during the war.
The party nominated candidates in only one provincial election: the 1924 election
. In that election, McRae claimed the Conservative government of John Oliver
and the previous administration of Liberal Premier William John Bowser
, then the opposition leader, were corrupt. Many of his allegations were related to the funding of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway plan to reach Prince George
in the Northern interior of the province which was not achieved until many years later. He claimed that there were kickbacks, patronage and various wrongdoings. His allegations were never proven. He offered to pay for an independent audit of the books of the railway. His offer was declined.
Although the party achieved 24% of the popular vote in the 1924 election and took 3 seats, McRae was not elected. Both Bowser and Oliver lost their seats but Oliver continued to lead his conservative party as Premier of a minority government after the election.
McRae reconciled with his former Conservative allies after the election and went on to federal politics. The Provincial Party disappeared.
winning a seat in Parliament the 1926 election
representing the Vancouver North
district. He organized the first modern leadership convention of the Conservative party in 1927. At the same time, he organized the bid of R.B. Bennett
for the leadership. He went on to run Bennett's campaign in the 1930 election
leading to his election as the 11th Prime Minister of Canada
however McRae was defeated in his own constituency in that election. After a few months, Bennett appointed McRae to the Senate where he served until his death, at age 71 in 1946. He was active with his duties in the Senate until immediately before his last, brief, illness. He was interred at Ocean View Memorial Park in Burnaby, British Columbia
.
on Vancouver Island
. In 1934 he built a country home, constructed of logs, 200 feet (61 m) long and 50 feet (15.2 m) wide. The property and its development were significant relief for the local population in the depressed economy of the 1930s. The home, which Princess (later Queen) Elizabeth and her husband stayed at for a private visit in 1951 during their honeymoon during subsequent ownership, burned to the ground in 1969. McRae also took up farming with the purchase of 2,000 acres (8 km2) of land near Qualicum Beach. He employed about a hundred men in its operation for the 13 or 14 years that he owned it. He bred sheep and cattle.
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, (November 17, 1874, in Glencoe, Ontario – June 26, 1946, Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
) was a successful businessman, a Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
in the Canadian Army in First World War, a Member of Parliament
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
, a Canadian Senator
Canadian Senate
The Senate of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons, and the monarch . The Senate consists of 105 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister...
and a farmer.
Origins
Alexander Duncan McRae was born and raised on a farm in Ekfrid Township, Middlesex County, OntarioMiddlesex County, Ontario
Middlesex County is a primarily rural county in Southwestern Ontario. Landlocked, the county is bordered by Huron and Perth counties on the north, Oxford County on the east, Elgin County on the south, and Chatham-Kent and Lambton County on the west.The seat is the city of London, although the city...
. His father was Duncan Alexander McRae and his mother was Mary (Mahwhinney) McRae. His cousin and longtime business partner, Andrew Davidson (b. May 18, 1853) came from the same area. The two of them each went on to study at a Business school in Chatham, Ontario
Chatham, Ontario
Chatham is the largest community in the municipality of Chatham-Kent, Ontario. Formerly serving as the seat of Kent County, the governments of the former city of Chatham, the county of Kent, and its townships were merged into one entity known as the Municipality of Chatham-Kent in 1998.Located on...
.
Early career
In search of opportunities, at age 18 he went to work for his cousins, the brothers Alexander and Andrew Davidson of Duluth, MinnesotaDuluth, Minnesota
Duluth is a port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Saint Louis County. The fourth largest city in Minnesota, Duluth had a total population of 86,265 in the 2010 census. Duluth is also the second largest city that is located on Lake Superior after Thunder Bay, Ontario,...
. The Davidsons had started in Little Falls, Minnesota
Little Falls, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 7,719 people , 3,197 households, and 1,899 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,232.5 people per square mile . There were 3,358 housing units at an average density of 536.2 per square mile...
, working for a railway company and moved into banking. Andrew had become mayor and they were involved in the business of buying, marketing and financing railway land to homesteaders. Minnesota made Andrew an Honorary Colonel. Their banking business spread through the region. In 1892, at 18 Alexander McRae joined them in Duluth and learned under Andrew.
McRae's first business venture on his own account started when his father put up $1,500 and McRae became a partner with the Davidsons in a company that insured grain elevator
Grain elevator
A grain elevator is a tower containing a bucket elevator, which scoops up, elevates, and then uses gravity to deposit grain in a silo or other storage facility...
s. The Davidson-McRae company sold fire and liability insurance and surety bonds. By the 1890s they had invested in various businesses and McRae became vice president of First National Bank of Hibbing. By age 25 he had $50,000 of his own earnings accumulated. He invested in other businesses including a granite quarry.
He married Blaunche Latimer Howe, of Pennsylvania who was the daughter of wealthy a forest industry father. They married in Minneapolis
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
on February 23, 1900. They would eventually have three daughters, Blanche, Lucile, and Margaret ("Peggy").
As McRae and the Davidsons saw Minnesota land go up in price and farmers moving west for more land, they realized the Canadian prairies
Canadian Prairies
The Canadian Prairies is a region of Canada, specifically in western Canada, which may correspond to several different definitions, natural or political. Notably, the Prairie provinces or simply the Prairies comprise the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, as they are largely covered...
were an opportunity. They formed the Saskatchewan Valley Land Company headquartered in Winnipeg.
In 1899 land in what later became Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
was $1 per acre. By 1902 they had 5 million acres (20,234.3 km²) worth $20 per acre.
Land Speculation in Saskatchewan
Land in Saskatchewan between ReginaRegina, Saskatchewan
Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...
and Saskatoon had been surveyed in 1882. Railway companies were entitled to a grant of land to compensate them for railway construction. The railway companies rejected much of the land between Regina and Saskatoon as unfit for settlement and court proceedings began. McRae and the Davidsons thought otherwise. They bought land reserved for the Qu'Appelle, Long Lake and Saskatchewan Railway first. Their first purchases amounted to close to a million acres (4,000 km2) for $1.53 an acre. They bought a further 100000 acres (404.7 km²) from the Saskatchewan Western Railway. They then went to Canadian Government
Government of Canada
The Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...
and negotiated the purchase of a further 250000 acres (1,011.7 km²) of land to fill in the gaps at $1 per acre. They agreed to terms that required them to actively seek settlers for the land. By the time they were done these and other purchases, their syndicate and the various companies it consisted of owned about 5 million acres (20,234.3 km²) of land.
In the summer of 1902, Davidson and McRae organized two promotional train tours from Minneapolis through to Prince Albert
Prince Albert, Saskatchewan
Prince Albert is the third-largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is situated in the centre of the province on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River. The city is known as the "Gateway to the North" because it is the last major centre along the route to the resources of northern Saskatchewan...
. Each of these journeys saw eight Pullman cars plus dining and baggage cars traveling through hundreds of miles of unbroken and uninhabited prairie lands. The passengers were wealthy investors from the United States. The promotion was a success. Large tracts were purchased and word spread in the business communities leading to further investment. The company developed a network of land agents to sell land to settlers which advertised and maintained sales offices in many locations. In 1901 the population of the North West Territories (which then included Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
and most of Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
) was 158,940. In five years it had grown to 443,175. In the course of that expansion, McRae became a very wealthy man.
The purchases of railway reserves required approval of the government. Those approvals and the purchases from the government were negotiated secretly with the Minister of the Interior, Clifford Sifton
Clifford Sifton
Sir Clifford Sifton, PC, KCMG was a Canadian politician best known for being Minister of the Interior under Sir Wilfrid Laurier...
. A raging controversy arose in the House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
but the opposition was unable to make much of it even though McRae and his colleagues made a staggering profit in the transactions because the land had stood empty for years (the railway companies didn't want it), the government had insisted on terms that required the settlement of these vacant lands and overall the effort succeeded in rapidly filling vast areas of vacant land with settlers at a time when there was concern about American expansion into the territory.
Business career in British Columbia
When McRae arrived to live in Vancouver in 1907, he came intending to involve himself in business ventures as an active investor. Even before arriving to live on the west coast, he had invested in Canadian North Pacific Fisheries. In its first year, it made a half million dollars. In its second year the business failed. He moved on to invest in Wallace Fisheries and became its president.He knew from his business ventures in the prairies that there was a shortage of lumber there for building. Working with his partner, Davidson, Senator Peter Jansen
Peter Jansen
Peter Jansen was a Beatrice, Nebraska sheep rancher and Nebraska state representative and senator.-Russia:Jansen was born on 21 March 1852 in Berdiansk, a port city on the northern coast of the Sea of Azov in Tsarist Russia where his family had a grain exporting business...
of Nebraska, the Swift Brothers (meat packing), William Mackenzie
William Mackenzie (railway entrepreneur)
Sir William Mackenzie was a Canadian railway contractor and entrepreneur.Born near Peterborough, Ontario, Mackenzie became a teacher and politician before entering business as the owner of a sawmill and gristmill in Kirkfield, Ontario...
and Donald Mann
Donald Mann
Sir Donald Mann was a Canadian railway contractor and entrepreneur.Born at Acton, Ontario, Mann studied as a Methodist minister but worked in lumber camps in Ontario and Michigan before moving to Winnipeg, Manitoba...
, he took over a sawmill and a company town
Company town
A company town is a town or city in which much or all real estate, buildings , utilities, hospitals, small businesses such as grocery stores and gas stations, and other necessities or luxuries of life within its borders are owned by a single company...
3 miles (5 km) upstream from New Westminster at a place called Millside at Fraser Mills (now part of Coquitlam). Once he persuaded the government to dredge the Fraser River
Fraser River
The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Mount Robson in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia at the city of Vancouver. It is the tenth longest river in Canada...
to permit reliable passage of ocean going freighters to the mill, he reorganized it as Fraser River Mills (after 1910 known as the Canadian Western Lumber Company) with several large investors and a capitalization of $20 million. The plant and its yards covered 80 acres (323,748.8 m²) and took 1,030 men to run. With an investment of $500,000 in new equipment and the acquisition or formation of related companies such as The Canadian Tugboat Company and the Comox Logging and Railway to transport timber from the 75000 acres (303.5 km²) of timber the company controlled between Comox
Comox, British Columbia
Comox is a town of 12,000 people located on a small peninsula in the Georgia Strait on the eastern coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The warm dry summers, mild winters, fertile soil and abundant sea life attracted First Nations thousands of years ago, who called the area kw’umuxws...
and Campbell River
Campbell River, British Columbia
Campbell River is a coastal city in British Columbia on the east coast of Vancouver Island at the south end of Discovery Passage, which lies along the important coastal Inside Passage shipping route...
on Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
, the company became the largest lumber and wood manufacturing company in the world. The normal capacity of the mill was 750000 board feet (1,769.8 m³) of lumber a day. In 1912 the mill produced 175000000 board feet (412,954 m³) of lumber, enough to fill 42 rail cars a day. The mill ran around the clock. In the years after McRae's involvement, it eventually, in 1954, was acquired by Crown Zellerbach, and, with further acquisitions became Fletcher Challenge
Fletcher Challenge
Fletcher Challenge is a now defunct multinational corporation from New Zealand, formed in 1981 by the merger of Fletcher Holdings, Challenge Corporation and Tasman Pulp and Paper...
Canada Limited in 1987. By 1911 he had purchased canneries on Princess Royal Island
Princess Royal Island
Princess Royal Island is the largest island on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is located amongst the isolated inlets and islands east of Hecate Strait on the British Columbia Coast. At , it is the fourth largest island in British Columbia...
, at Rivers Inlet
Rivers Inlet
Rivers Inlet is a fjord in the Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, its entrance from the Dean Channel near that fjord's mouth, about southwest of the community of Bella Coola and about north of the northern tip of Vancouver Island and the western entrance of the...
and at Smith's Inlet. He introduced mechanized canning to the fish packing industry.
By 1914, when World War I began, McRae was also president of Anacortes Lumber and Box Company, vice-president of Columbia River Lumber Company Ltd of Golden BC which became a subsidiary of Canadian Western, vice-president of Canadian Collieries (Dunsmuir) Ltd. of Victoria BC and president of Wallace Fisheries.
Military service
In 1912, as a recruit of Major General Sir Sam HughesSam Hughes
For other people of the same name see Sam Hughes Sir Samuel Hughes, KCB, PC was the Canadian Minister of Militia and Defence during World War I...
, McRae volunteered with the 6th Regiment "The Duke of Connaught's Own Rifles" as an honorary lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
. When World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
broke out, McRae went to Europe where his first responsibility was the purchase of horses for the army. He reorganized the Remount Commission and was responsible for the purchase of 8,000 horses. He took over a department known for corruption and dysfunction and has been credited for turning it into a business like organization. Rumours led nevertheless to charges about the conduct of these acquisitions resulting in a royal commission
Royal Commission
In Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...
under Quebec Chief Justice Sir Charles Peers Davidson
Charles Peers Davidson
Sir Charles Peers Davidson was a Canadian lawyer and judge.Born in Huntingdon, Lower Canada, the son of Capt. Alexander Davidson and Marion Peers, Davidson was educated at McGill University where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1863, a Master of Arts degree in 1867, a Bachelor of Civil...
. The commission cleared McRae of wrongdoing and commended him for his performance.
He carried on as director of supplies and services and, when Hughes fell into disfavour in 1916, McRae continued to advance. He was promoted the rank of Major General and in 1917, was made a member of the Order of the Bath
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
. Later in the war effort, he was seconded to the British Government to organize Ministry of Information assisting Britain's Minister of Information, Lord Beaverbrook
Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook
William Maxwell "Max" Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, Bt, PC, was a Canadian-British business tycoon, politician, and writer.-Early career in Canada:...
. For his services, it has been said that the British crown offered McRae knighthood, which he declined, although McRae himself never confirmed or denied that this happened.
He left the army in 1918 two months after the end of the war. Afterwards he had little involvement in the military although, in 1934, addressing the Senate, he predicted correctly that another war would erupt in Europe after touring Europe and interviewing various prominent men in France, Germany and Austria. In World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
his involvement was limited to helping raise financial support for the Canadian Legion and the YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
. In his later careers he was sometimes an advocate for returned veterans and in 1942 he donated his Vancouver mansion to the federal government for use as a hospital for wounded veterans.
Hycroft
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
. The home was built on the brow of a hill on 5.5 acres (22,257.7 m²) of land. The land upon which the 30 room, 3 story mansion was built cost $10,000 and the construction, completed in 1911 cost $100,000. The house was designed by Vancouver architect Thomas Hooper. After the death of his wife Blanche in 1942, McRae donated Hycroft Manor and the adjacent Hycroft Tower to the government of Canada. Hycroft Tower was to be used as a hospital for wounded veterans. Once converted, it housed 130 beds. In recent years, Hycroft Manor has become the home of the University Woman's Club, and is home in that capacity to a variety of high-society driven charity balls and other events. The French Olympic Team used the building during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. It is also heavily used by Vancouver's film and television production industry as a set.
British Columbia Provincial Party
In 1923 McRae organized a group of British Columbia Conservative PartyBritish Columbia Conservative Party
The British Columbia Conservative Party is a political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected as the government in 1903, the party went into decline after 1933...
dissidents he called the Committee of 100 which became the Provincial Party of British Columbia
Provincial Party of British Columbia
The Provincial Party of British Columbia was a political party in British Columbia, Canada.It was formed by a group of British Columbia Conservative Party dissidents known as the "Committee of 100", led and funded by the wealthy General Alexander McRae and political elements from the United...
. The party sought freight rate equalization, cooperation with the federal government in the development of a northern railway, the elimination of Oriental labour, abolition of patronage, hiring of veterans and the elimination of income tax which had been introduced as a temporary measure during the war.
The party nominated candidates in only one provincial election: the 1924 election
British Columbia general election, 1924
The British Columbia general election of 1924 was the sixteenth general election in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election was called on May 10, 1924, and held on June 20, 1924...
. In that election, McRae claimed the Conservative government of John Oliver
John Oliver (politician)
John Oliver was a politician and farmer in British Columbia, Canada.Oliver was involved in local politics when he won a seat in the provincial legislature in the 1900 election, and became leader of the opposition. He lost his seat in the 1909 election...
and the previous administration of Liberal Premier William John Bowser
William John Bowser
William John Bowser was a politician in British Columbia, Canada. He served as Premier of British Columbia from 1915 to 1916....
, then the opposition leader, were corrupt. Many of his allegations were related to the funding of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway plan to reach Prince George
Prince George, British Columbia
Prince George, with a population of 71,030 , is the largest city in northern British Columbia, Canada, and is known as "BC's Northern Capital"...
in the Northern interior of the province which was not achieved until many years later. He claimed that there were kickbacks, patronage and various wrongdoings. His allegations were never proven. He offered to pay for an independent audit of the books of the railway. His offer was declined.
Although the party achieved 24% of the popular vote in the 1924 election and took 3 seats, McRae was not elected. Both Bowser and Oliver lost their seats but Oliver continued to lead his conservative party as Premier of a minority government after the election.
McRae reconciled with his former Conservative allies after the election and went on to federal politics. The Provincial Party disappeared.
Federal politics
McRae ran federally for the ConservativesConservative Party of Canada (historical)
The Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name.As a result of World War I and the...
winning a seat in Parliament the 1926 election
Canadian federal election, 1926
The Canadian federal election of 1926 was held on September 14 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 16th Parliament of Canada. The election was called following an event known as the King-Byng Affair...
representing the Vancouver North
Vancouver North
Vancouver North was a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1925 to 1949.This riding was created in 1924 from parts of Burrard and Comox—Alberni ridings....
district. He organized the first modern leadership convention of the Conservative party in 1927. At the same time, he organized the bid of R.B. Bennett
R. B. Bennett, 1st Viscount Bennett
Richard Bedford Bennett, 1st Viscount Bennett, PC, KC was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, politician, and philanthropist. He served as the 11th Prime Minister of Canada from August 7, 1930, to October 23, 1935, during the worst of the Great Depression years...
for the leadership. He went on to run Bennett's campaign in the 1930 election
Canadian federal election, 1930
The Canadian federal election of 1930 was held on July 28, 1930 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 17th Parliament of Canada...
leading to his election as the 11th Prime Minister of Canada
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
however McRae was defeated in his own constituency in that election. After a few months, Bennett appointed McRae to the Senate where he served until his death, at age 71 in 1946. He was active with his duties in the Senate until immediately before his last, brief, illness. He was interred at Ocean View Memorial Park in Burnaby, British Columbia
Burnaby, British Columbia
Burnaby is a city in British Columbia, Canada, located immediately to the east of Vancouver. It is the third-largest city in British Columbia by population, surpassed only by nearby Surrey and Vancouver....
.
Post-war business career
During his Senate years, he became involved in various business ventures. He was involved in Texas-Canada Oil Company and Pioneer Gold Mine in BC. He was involved in mining in Alaska including the Yukon Charlie mine.Eaglecrest Lodge
In the early 1930s McRae purchased 260 acres (1.1 km2) of ocean front bluff land in Qualicum BeachQualicum Beach, British Columbia
Qualicum Beach is a town in the Regional District of Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. As of the 2006 census, the town had 8,502 people.On the Strait of Georgia on the north-eastern coast of Vancouver Island in the shadow of Mount Arrowsmith, the community has been a popular tourist destination,...
on Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
. In 1934 he built a country home, constructed of logs, 200 feet (61 m) long and 50 feet (15.2 m) wide. The property and its development were significant relief for the local population in the depressed economy of the 1930s. The home, which Princess (later Queen) Elizabeth and her husband stayed at for a private visit in 1951 during their honeymoon during subsequent ownership, burned to the ground in 1969. McRae also took up farming with the purchase of 2,000 acres (8 km2) of land near Qualicum Beach. He employed about a hundred men in its operation for the 13 or 14 years that he owned it. He bred sheep and cattle.
External links
- Vancouver History: Hycroft Manor By Rebecca Bollwitt