CA-K554Economy & trade

Donald Smith, Lord Strathcona, and the CPR

Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal (Wellcome Collection). The RT. Hon. Lord Strathcona Wellcome L0040025 · Unknown photographer; Wellcome Collection, L0040025 · Photo source · Photo licence: CC BY 4.0. Resized for display; item previews may be cropped. The image remains under the licence shown.

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Donald Smith, born in Scotland, joined the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1838 and rose to be its governor in Canada. An MP for Selkirk who broke with the government over the Pacific Scandal, he joined his cousin George Stephen in the Canadian Pacific Railway syndicate and risked his fortune to see the line completed in 1885; he became Baron Strathcona in 1897.

Scope & context

Smith as described in his designation.

Sources behind this record

Sir Donald A. Smith (Lord Strathcona) National Historic Person ↗

Parks Canada (Directory of Federal Heritage Designations)

Importance; plaque text