John Redpath

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John Redpath
Redpath Library
Spouse(s)	Janet McPhee, Jane Drummond
Children	Peter Redpath (1821-1894), John James Redpath (1834-1884), Janet Redpath (1825-1828), George Drummond Redpath (1835-1877), Francis Robert Redpath (1846-1928), Augusta Elenaor Redpath (1850-1910), Harriet Ina Redpath (1855-1858), Mary Redpath (1823-1893), Helen Redpath (1827-1883)
Relatives	Sir George Drummond

John Redpath (1796 – March 5, 1869) was a

Early years

In 1796, John Redpath was born at

, the twenty-year-old Redpath emigrated to Canada.

In 1816, with limited funds for ship passage, the nearly penniless Redpath disembarked at

Rue Saint-Paul

.

Business career

A man of integrity with a prodigious work ethic and a keen business sense, within a few years Redpath was running his own sizeable construction business. He was involved in major projects such as the construction of the Lachine Canal and locks that proved key to future commercial development of the city of Montreal. Beginning in 1689, attempts were made by the French Colonial government and several others to build a canal that would allow ships to bypass the treacherous Lachine Rapids. After more than 130 years of failure, with funding from the recently formed Bank of Montreal, the consortium, of which Redpath was a major part, was successful in its construction and the new canal officially opened in 1825.

The Lachine canal substantially increased shipping, turning Montreal into one of the largest ports in North America. Because the land along the canal belonged to the

it remained unused for another twenty years until Redpath and other businessmen were finally able to purchase plots along the canal. As a result of the land being opened to development, on the canal's banks came the construction of large new manufacturing plants, drawn there because of the ready source of water from the canal that could be used in the production process and provide the steam power to drive machinery. It was these industries, including Redpath's construction of the first sugar refinery in Canada, that made Montreal the industrial metropolis of Canada and by the time of his death, John Redpath witnessed traffic go from 600 small vessels passing through the canal each year to more than 13,000 large ships.

John Redpath's success in building the Lachine Canal led to further major projects including his partnering with

.

The Redpath Sugar refinery proved to be a major Montreal employer, within a few years annually processing approximately 7,000 tons of raw sugar imported from the West Indies aboard Redpath-owned ships. Originally called the Canada Sugar Refining Co., after his son Peter (1821–1894) joined the business the company's name was changed to John Redpath & Son. Four years later in 1861, Redpath's son-in-law George Alexander Drummond (1829–1910) also joined the company.

In addition to his own industrial enterprises, Redpath invested in numerous businesses that greatly benefited the Montreal economy. In addition to his own cargo vessels to serve his sugar refinery, he had investments in the Montreal Towboat Company. He also helped finance the Montreal Telegraph Company and the Montreal Fire Assurance Company, serving as a director of both companies. He also committed substantial funds to develop the economies of Quebec's Eastern Townships, including investments in the Capel Copper operations, the Belvedere Mining and Smelting Company, Rockland Slate Company, Bear Creek Coal, and Melbourne Slate Co.

As a result of his business acumen, in 1833 Redpath was invited to serve on the board of directors of the

.

Coming from the Scottish working class Redpath had an inherent mistrust of the aristocratic power structure in England and did not view England as the mother country as other Canadians such as

of 1854.

Political career and philanthropy

Beyond business, charity and community service played a large role in Redpath's life. He was sat on

Redpath was also a director of such charitable institutions as the

Redpath Library

.

Redpath was first married, on December 19, 1818, in Montreal, Canada, to Janet McPhee, a native of Glengarry, Ontario, and they had seven children before her death in 1834. The following year, on September 11 in Kingston, Canada, he married 20-year-old Scottish-born Jane Drummond, and they had ten children. Redpath built a large family home overlooking Montreal on the slopes of Mount Royal, having purchased it from the Desrivières family who had lost a long court case against the trustees of what was to become McGill University. The area still carries the Redpath name: rue Redpath, croissant Redpath, place Redpath.

Following his death in 1869, Redpath was interred in the Mount Royal Cemetery in Montreal.

In May 2019, Toronto's

on Toronto's waterfront. The poem stirred controversy, and Redpath Sugar declined to have Moritz read it at the celebration ceremony because it touched on the sugar industry's early reliance on slave labour.

References

• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
• Terrace Bank, John Redpath's house in Montreal