Adam Ferrie (April 15, 1777 – December 24, 1863) was an early

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

businessman and political figure who lived much of his life in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Biography

Ferrie was born in

Irvine, Ayrshire Irvine ( ; sco, Irvin,
gd, Irbhinn, IPA: Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in 1777 and set up a cotton printing shop there in 1792. He moved to

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

in 1799. After expanding rapidly until around 1815. After that, his business declined due to failures of associates he invested in. To improve his sales in Canada and establish his sons, he set up an import-export firm with William Cormack in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. He moved to Montreal with his family in 1829 so that he could keep better control of the business. Ferrie opened a branch in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

; his sons,

Colin Campbell Colin may refer to: * Colin (given name) * Colin (surname) * ''Colin'' (film), a 2008 Cannes film festival zombie movie * Colin (horse) (1905–1932), thoroughbred racehorse * Colin (humpback whale), a humpback whale calf abandoned north of Sydney, ...

and Adam Jr., managed the operation there. Additional branches were opened in Preston,

Brantford Brantford (Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River (Ontario), Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by County of Brant, Brant County, but is politically separate with ...

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

and

Dundas Dundas may refer to: Places Australia * Dundas, New South Wales * Dundas, Queensland, a locality in the Somerset Region * Dundas, Tasmania * Dundas, Western Australia * Fort Dundas, a settlement in the Northern Territory 1824–1828 * Shire of ...

. Adam Ferrie played a central role in keeping the banks of the Clyde River open as a public right of way. He and four other people were awarded "The Reward of Public Spirit" for their efforts. Ferrie was a member of the Montreal Committee of Trade and helped form its successor, the Montreal Board of Trade, in 1842. He was appointed to the municipal council for Montreal in 1840 and, in 1841, to the

Legislative Council of the Province of Canada The Legislative Council of the Province of Canada was the upper house for the Province of Canada, which consisted of the former provinces of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East and later the province of Quebec, and Upper Canada, then known as ...

. Besides his involvement with politics, he also invested his time in the less fortunate members of the community, helping to aid victims of

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

, mainly new immigrants, and forming a cooperative bakery so that bread could be purchased at reasonable prices. Ferrie helped form the City Bank of Montreal and held shares in the Gore Bank at Hamilton. He left Montreal for Hamilton in 1853 and died there in 1863.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrie, Adam 1777 births 1863 deaths Members of the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada Anglophone Quebec people Scottish emigrants to pre-Confederation Quebec People from Irvine, North Ayrshire