George Baptist (7 January 1808 – 11 May 1875) was a logging contractor, born 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 ...

and emigrated to Canada in 1832. Baptist first lived in Dorchester County, Quebec where he found employment in the sawmills there. These were owned by

Sir John Caldwell Sir John Caldwell ( bap. 25 February 1775 – 26 October 1842) was a businessman and politician in Lower Canada and the only son of Henry Caldwell, the receiver-general of Lower Canada from 1794. John grew up near Quebec City on the family esta ...

and gave him valuable experience for his future endeavours. In 1846, he bought a sawmill in the Saint-Maurice region; which had been owned by

Edward Greive Edward Greive (1797 – June 2, 1845) was a businessman and political figure in Canada East. He was also the brother-in-law of William Walker and son-in-law of Mathew Bell. He was a lumber merchant at Trois-Rivières and also acted as an agent t ...

, a member of the

2nd Parliament of the Province of Canada The 2nd Parliament of the Province of Canada was summoned in 1844, following the general elections for the Legislative Assembly in October 1844. It first met on November 28, 1844. It was dissolved in December 1847. All sessions were held at Mon ...

. Greive had died in 1845 and the mill was abandoned. Shortly after his purchase, the government became heavily involved in the timber industry. By 1852, a commission led by

Étienne Parent Étienne Parent (May 2, 1802 in Beauport, Lower Canada – December 22, 1874 in Ottawa) was a Canadian journalist and government official. He was editor of the newspaper ''Le Canadien'' and, as such, supported French Canadian journalism and wr ...

was proposing a policy of crown lands grants.

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

became the centre of this increased activity and George Baptist one of the important businessmen. Baptist brought innovation and prosperity to the lumber industry and it made him a prime example of the bourgeois class of Trois-Rivières.

External links

Biography at ''the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
1808 births 1875 deaths Businesspeople from Quebec Scottish emigrants to Canada {{Canada-business-bio-stub