Sir Herbert Brown Ames (June 27, 1863 – March 31, 1954) was a

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, philanthropist and politician. Ames was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

as the only son of Evan Fisher Ames (who founded the shoe manufacturer Ames, Holden & Company in 1856) and Caroline Matilda Brown. Ames inherited the family shoe company and later worked in insurance but used much of his fortune to help the poor and fight corruption. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Amherst College in 1885. He helped organize the Volunteer Electoral League and became alderman (City Councillor) in Montreal in 1898 and served until 1906. He became a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

in 1904 as a member of the Conservative Party of Canada, and served until 1920. In 1919 he served as a financial director for the

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. He is best known for his book ''The city below the hill: a sociological study of a portion of the city of Montreal, Canada'', which originally appeared in the form of newspaper articles in the ''

Montreal Star ''The Montreal Star'' was an English-language Canadian newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It closed in 1979 in the wake of an eight-month pressmen's strike. It was Canada's largest newspaper until the 1950s and remained the domi ...

'' in 1897. The book offered a sociological and statistical analysis of the conditions of the poor people in just south of downtown

, including

Griffintown Griffintown is a historic neighbourhood of Montreal, Quebec, southwest of downtown. The area existed as a functional neighbourhood from the 1820s until the 1960s, and was mainly populated by Irish immigrants and their descendants. Mostly depopulat ...

Little Burgundy Little Burgundy (french: La Petite-Bourgogne) is a neighbourhood in the South West borough of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Geography Its approximate boundaries are Atwater Avenue to the west, Saint-Antoine to the north, Guy Street ...

, and part of

Pointe-Saint-Charles Pointe-Saint-Charles (also known in English as Point Saint Charles, and locally as The Point, or "PSC") is a neighbourhood in the borough of Le Sud-Ouest in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Historically a working-class area, the creation of m ...

. Ames was an avid philanthropist and funded a 39 unit apartment housing complex on William Street between Shannon and Ann for the poor called Diamond Court (see image). It has since been demolished. He died in Montreal in 1954 and is buried along with his wife in the North Head Cemetery located behind the Anglican Church on Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick. The Herbert-Brown-Ames Park in Montreal is named in his honour. HBAmesDiamondCourt

References

Herbert Brown Ames
at

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available f ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ames, Herbert 1863 births 1954 deaths Amherst College alumni Canadian Knights Bachelor Canadian Anglicans Canadian philanthropists Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Montreal city councillors Businesspeople from Montreal