John Redpath (1796 - 1869)

Born 1796 in Earlston, Berwickshire, Scotland

Husband of Janet (McPhee) Redpath — married 19 Dec 1818 in Montreal, Lower Canada

Husband of Jane (Drummond) Redpath — married 11 Sep 1835 in Montreal, Island of Montreal, Lower Canada

Descendants

Died 5 Mar 1869 at about age 73 in Montréal, Québec, Canada

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Biography

John Redpath is Notable.

John Redpath (1796 – March 5, 1869) was a Scots-Canadian businessman and philanthropist who helped pioneer the industrial movement that made Montreal, Quebec the largest and most prosperous city in Canada.

After he was orphaned, John Redpath lived for a time with his half-sister Elspeth Redpath Fairbairn. He later was apprenticed as a stonemason and lived with George Drummond's family, whose wife was Margaret Pringle.^[1] (His mother was Elizabeth Pringle, so that Margaret may have been John's aunt, but this is not verified.)

George Drummond was an expert stone mason and successful building contractor entrepreneur. He was a political presence on the Edinburgh City Council. Among his apprentices in stone masonry was his brother Robert. In 1816, Robert Drummond, along with this fellow apprentice John Redpath, went to Canada under the British Government's emigration scheme to occupy the returning veterans from the Napoleonic Wars. John's brother Robert and their nephew Peter, also stonemasons, joined them on their journey. The Redpath's initially settled in Montreal.^[1]

He was a mason working on canal systems, such as the Lachine and Rideau Canals, and later founded the Redpath Sugar Company. He was also involved in banking, real estate and politics.

In Nepean Township, Upper Canada, the area today known as Ottawa South (between the Canal and Rideau River) passed through several hands before it was acquired, in 1832, by John Redpath. Redpath’s brother-in-law, Thomas Fairbairn, built a house on the property to the east of Riverdale and in 1859 Thomas’s son, Peter, bought the property from his uncle. The register shows Redpath acquiring an interest in the property from R.D. Fraser in 1832 and selling it to Peter Fairbairn in 1859. ^[2]

Links

• Wikipedia - John Redpath
• Find-a-Grave - John Redpath

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Marr, Lucille. 2015 "Chapter 3: The Colleges and Missions; Jane Drummond Redpath". - in - J. S. S. Armour, Judith Kashul, William Klempa, Lucille Marr, Dan Shute. 2015. "Still Voices - Still Heard: Sermons, Addresses, Letters, and Reports The Presbyterian College, Montreal, 1865-2015. Wipf and Stock Publishers. 318 pages.
2. ↑ Ottawa-Carleton Land Registry Office, Ottawa, Nepean Township Register, RO, Concession C Lot letter L, Reel AR2.

• Richard Feltoe. A Gentleman of Substance: The Life and Legacy of John Redpath (1796-1869).
• "Rue Drummond". Fiche Descriptive (in French). Commission de toponymie du Québec. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
• Ville de Montréal, Les rues de Montréal, Répertoire historique. Éditions du Méridien. 1995, p. 151 (in French)
• Richard Feltoe (2004). A Gentleman of Substance - The Life and Legacy of John Redpath (1796-1869). Toronto: Natural Heritage/Natural History. ISBN 1-896219-92-6