Richard B. Angus
Encyclopedia
Richard Bladworth Angus (28 May 1831 – 17 September 1922) was a Scottish
-Canadian financier
, banker and philanthropist
.
, West Lothian
, Scotland. Educated at Bathgate Academy
, as a young man he was employed by the Manchester and Liverpool Bank. By 1857 he had secured a position with the Bank of Montreal
. He emigrated
to North America
and represented the bank in its offices in Chicago
and New York City
, prior to moving to the bank's headquarters in Montreal, Quebec
in 1864. He rose quickly through the ranks, and by 1869 had become its general manager
, a position he was to hold until 1879. On July 22, 1910, Angus, although already in his eighties, rejoined the Bank of Montreal as president, a position which he held until November 1913.
s that had acquired the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway. This group formed the nucleus of a syndicate
including Angus, George Stephen
, James J. Hill
, Duncan McIntyre, John Stewart Kennedy
, Donald A. Smith
and Norman Kittson
that was to subsequently oversee the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway
. Although the construction was fraught with financial peril, the CPR, completed in 1885, was an immediate financial success and made Angus a very wealthy man. The Canadian Pacific main shops, which were located in Montréal were named in his honour.
; Governor of the Fraser Institute Free Public Library and an honourary member of the Antiquarian and Numismatic Society of Montreal. He supported McGill University
with a considerable sum and served as president of the Montreal Art Association, to which he gave substantial donations as well as purchasing a number of valuable paintings. In 1910 he was offered a knighthood, but declined the offer.
. His son, Duncan Forbes Angus, went on to serve as Chairman of the Standard Life
Assurance Co., president of Guardian Life Assurance Co., and director of Bank of Montreal, Canadian Bag Company, B.C. Sugar Co., and the Royal Trust Company. The family lived on Drummond Street, Montreal, and he kept a country residence at Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec
.
Mrs Mary Anne (Daniels) Angus, 1879
R.B. Angus House on Drummond Street, Montreal
R.B. Angus house at Ste Anne de Bellevue, Quebec
Socially Angus was a member of: the St. James Club, of which he was formerly chairman; the Mount Royal Club, of which he was a founder and of which he served as president; the Montreal Jockey Club; the Auto Club and Aero Club; the Forest and Stream Club, and the Winter Club. He also was also a member of the Rideau Club
of Ottawa
, the Toronto
Club, the York Club of Toronto and the Manitoba Club of Winnipeg
.
He died at his summer house near Senneville
, Quebec
on 17 September 1922. His remains were interred in Montreal's Mount Royal Cemetery
.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
-Canadian financier
Financier
Financier is a term for a person who handles typically large sums of money, usually involving money lending, financing projects, large-scale investing, or large-scale money management. The term is French, and derives from finance or payment...
, banker and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
.
Early life
Angus was born at BathgateBathgate
Bathgate is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, on the M8 motorway west of Livingston. Nearby towns are Blackburn, Armadale, Whitburn, Livingston, and Linlithgow. Edinburgh Airport is away...
, West Lothian
West Lothian
West Lothian is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland, and a Lieutenancy area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Falkirk, North Lanarkshire, the Scottish Borders and South Lanarkshire....
, Scotland. Educated at Bathgate Academy
Bathgate Academy
Bathgate Academy is a secondary school in Bathgate, West Lothian, Scotland. Approximately 1,000 students are taught from ages 11–18, serving the needs of several communities including Blackburn and some communities outwith the catchment area such as Livingston....
, as a young man he was employed by the Manchester and Liverpool Bank. By 1857 he had secured a position with the Bank of Montreal
Bank of Montreal
The Bank of Montreal , , or BMO Financial Group, is the fourth largest bank in Canada by deposits. The Bank of Montreal was founded on June 23, 1817 by John Richardson and eight merchants in a rented house in Montreal, Quebec. On May 19, 1817 the Articles of Association were adopted, making it...
. He emigrated
Emigration
Emigration is the act of leaving one's country or region to settle in another. It is the same as immigration but from the perspective of the country of origin. Human movement before the establishment of political boundaries or within one state is termed migration. There are many reasons why people...
to North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and represented the bank in its offices in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, prior to moving to the bank's headquarters in Montreal, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
in 1864. He rose quickly through the ranks, and by 1869 had become its general manager
General manager
General manager is a descriptive term for certain executives in a business operation. It is also a formal title held by some business executives, most commonly in the hospitality industry.-Generic usage:...
, a position he was to hold until 1879. On July 22, 1910, Angus, although already in his eighties, rejoined the Bank of Montreal as president, a position which he held until November 1913.
Railway financier
Following this period, he relocated to St. Paul, Minnesota to represent the interests of a group of railway entrepreneurEntrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
s that had acquired the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway. This group formed the nucleus of a syndicate
Syndicate
A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies or entities formed to transact some specific business, or to promote a common interest or in the case of criminals, to engage in organized crime...
including Angus, George Stephen
George Stephen, 1st Baron Mount Stephen
George Stephen, 1st Baron of Mount Stephen , known as Sir Stephen, between 1778 and 1891.-Canadian Pacific Railway syndicate:...
, James J. Hill
James J. Hill
James Jerome Hill , was a Canadian-American railroad executive. He was the chief executive officer of a family of lines headed by the Great Northern Railway, which served a substantial area of the Upper Midwest, the northern Great Plains, and Pacific Northwest...
, Duncan McIntyre, John Stewart Kennedy
John Stewart Kennedy
John Stewart Kennedy was an American capitalist and philanthropist.-Biography:He was born near Glasgow in Scotland, received a scant education in school, studied in his spare moments as a clerk, and at 20 was sent to America by a London iron firm, in whose branch house in Glasgow he worked for...
, Donald A. Smith
Donald Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal
Sir Donald Alexander Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal, GCMG, GCVO, PC, DL was a Scottish-born Canadian fur trader, financier, railroad baron and politician.-Early life:...
and Norman Kittson
Norman Kittson
Norman Wolfred Kittson was variously a fur trader, steamboat-line operator, and railway entrepreneur.-Fur trader:...
that was to subsequently oversee the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
. Although the construction was fraught with financial peril, the CPR, completed in 1885, was an immediate financial success and made Angus a very wealthy man. The Canadian Pacific main shops, which were located in Montréal were named in his honour.
Further business associations
Among the other commercial and financial institutions with which he was connected were the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, the Laurentide Paper Company, the Dominion Coal Company, the Dominion Iron & Steel Company, the Dominion Bridge Company, the Royal Trust Company, the Grand Falls Power Company, the Pacific Coal Company, the Canadian Salt Company, the Northwest Land Company and the London & Lancashire Assurance Company (England). Angus always took a deep interest in public institutions and was one of the chief promoters of the Board of Control in Montreal, which was founded in 1909.Philanthropy
Angus was one of the wealthiest men in Montreal and well known for his philanthropic activities and generous donations to the causes he allied himself to. He was a founder and governor of the Alexandra Contagious Diseases Hospital of Montreal; President of the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal; Vice-President to the Victorian Order of Nurses; Director of the Charity Organisation Society, which he funded; Governor of the Montreal General HospitalMontreal General Hospital
The Montreal General Hospital is a hospital in Montreal, Canada, established on May 1, 1819 and an early teaching hospital. First located on the corner of Craig and St-Lawrence Streets with only 24 beds, it moved in 1822 to a new 72-bed building on Dorchester Street. It is currently situated on...
; Governor of the Fraser Institute Free Public Library and an honourary member of the Antiquarian and Numismatic Society of Montreal. He supported McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
with a considerable sum and served as president of the Montreal Art Association, to which he gave substantial donations as well as purchasing a number of valuable paintings. In 1910 he was offered a knighthood, but declined the offer.
Family life
Richard Angus married Mary Anne Daniels (died March 13, 1913) on June 13, 1857. They had three sons and four surviving daughters, one who married Charles MeredithCharles Meredith
Charles Meredith was a Canadian banker, President of the Montreal Stock Exchange, and the builder of Charles Meredith House, now part of McGill University, Montreal-Family:...
. His son, Duncan Forbes Angus, went on to serve as Chairman of the Standard Life
Standard Life
Standard Life plc is a long term savings and investment business, with headquarters in Edinburgh and operations across the globe. It has 1.5 million shareholders in more than 50 countries and over 6 million customers.-History:...
Assurance Co., president of Guardian Life Assurance Co., and director of Bank of Montreal, Canadian Bag Company, B.C. Sugar Co., and the Royal Trust Company. The family lived on Drummond Street, Montreal, and he kept a country residence at Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec
Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec
Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue is a town located at the western tip of the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is the second oldest community in Montreal's West Island, having been founded as a parish in 1703...
.
Mrs Mary Anne (Daniels) Angus, 1879
R.B. Angus House on Drummond Street, Montreal
R.B. Angus house at Ste Anne de Bellevue, Quebec
Socially Angus was a member of: the St. James Club, of which he was formerly chairman; the Mount Royal Club, of which he was a founder and of which he served as president; the Montreal Jockey Club; the Auto Club and Aero Club; the Forest and Stream Club, and the Winter Club. He also was also a member of the Rideau Club
Rideau Club
The Rideau Club is a noted social club in Ottawa, Canada. Founded in 1865, and located near the Parliament Buildings, it is the meeting place both of Canada's political elite, and the city of Ottawa’s social and business elite....
of 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...
, the Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
Club, the York Club of Toronto and the Manitoba Club of Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
.
He died at his summer house near Senneville
Senneville, Quebec
Senneville is a village on the western tip of the Island of Montreal. It is the wealthiest town on the West Island, closely followed by Dollard-des-Ormeaux and Baie D'Urfé...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
on 17 September 1922. His remains were interred in Montreal's Mount Royal Cemetery
Mount Royal Cemetery
Opened in 1852, Mount Royal Cemetery is a 165-acre terraced cemetery on the north slope of Mount Royal in the borough of Outremont, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The burial ground shares the mountain with the much larger adjacent Roman Catholic cemetery -- Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges...
.