Canadian Confederation

People

John Ross

(March 10, 1818 - January 31, 1871)

John Ross, who had a high profile in the British financial world, accompanied George-Étienne Cartier and Alexander Tilloch Galt in 1858 when they presented Queen Victoria with a proposal to reorganize the British North American colonies.

Called to the Bar of Upper Canada in 1839, Ross settled in Belleville, Ontario, to practice law and manage his commercial and financial interests. In 1857, he moved to Yorkville, near Toronto, but maintained his law offices in Belleville.

A reformer, Ross supported the governments of Robert Baldwin and Francis Hincks. He was appointed solicitor general of Canada West in 1851 and attorney general of Canada West in 1853. After Francis Hincks withdrew from politics in 1854, Ross joined the Cabinet of the MacNab-Morin government. However, when Sir Allan Napier MacNab lost favour with moderate reformers, Ross supported John A. Macdonald, who appointed him receiver general, and George-Étienne Cartier, who made him minister of agriculture and president of the Executive Council. Ross resigned from government in 1862 in order to devote himself to business. He was named to the Senate in 1867.

Source

Cornell, Paul. -- "Ross, John." -- Dictionnaire biographique du Canada. -- Vol. X. -- Québec : Presses de l'Université Laval, 1972. -- P. 690-692.