George Garden (c.1772 – October 15, 1828) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

-born businessman and political figure in

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...

. He represented Montreal West in the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada from 1820 to 1824. He came to Quebec from

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 1793 and became partner in a firm involved in importing and exporting goods. He also became an agent for the

Phoenix Assurance Phoenix Assurance or Phoenix Fire Office was a fire insurance company founded in 1680 in England.The Times, 27 June 1785 Classified Advertising The history of the company includes the nostalgia of red-coated attendants clattering to the fires ...

Company of London. Garden married Euphemia Forbes. He was one of the founders of the

Bank of Montreal The Bank of Montreal (BMO; french: Banque de Montréal, link=no) is a Canadian multinational investment bank and financial services company. The bank was founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1817 as Montreal Bank; while its head office remains in ...

and served as one of its directors and as a vice-president. Garden was also part of the group involved in the construction of the Lachine Canal. He served as a captain in the militia during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

; Garden was also a governor of the Montreal General Hospital and a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for

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 died in Montreal at the age of 56.

References

* * 1770s births 1828 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada Year of birth uncertain Directors of Bank of Montreal Canadian people of Scottish descent Canadian justices of the peace {{canada-business-bio-stub