James Henry Gundy (March 22, 1880 - November 10, 1951) 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 who co-founded Wood Gundy and Company, stockbrokerage in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

in 1905. He was born in

Harriston, Ontario Harriston (population 1,797) is a community in the Town of Minto in Wellington County, Ontario, Canada. In 1999, Harriston was amalgamated with the communities of Palmerston, Clifford, and Minto Township to form the Town of Minto. Harriston is lo ...

and at age eighteen moved to Toronto, where he was employed by Central Canada Loan and Savings Co., a company started by

George Albertus Cox George Albertus Cox (May 7, 1840 – January 16, 1914) was a very prominent Canadian businessman and a member of the Senate of Canada. Life and career He was born in Colborne, Upper Canada, in 1840. He began work as a telegrapher for the Mon ...

. In 1900 he joined the newly formed stock brokerage firm,

Dominion Securities RBC Dominion Securities was the brand used by Royal Bank of Canada for full service brokerage services, primarily in Canada, and formed part of RBC's Wealth Management and Capital Markets divisions. Today, RBC Dominion Securities is known as RBC Ca ...

In 1905 he and fellow Dominion Securities employee George Herbert Wood teamed up to go into the municipal and provincial bond underwriting business. They formed Wood Gundy and Company with offices on the corner of King and Yonge streets in downtown Toronto. Gundy became a successful and influential member of the Canadian financial community. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, he was chair of Special Subscriptions Committee - Victory Loans 1911-1918. He served as president of the Investment Dealers Association of Canada 1920-1921, was a Governor of the Investment Bankers' Association of America, and served on the board of directors of Canada Cement,

Massey-Harris Massey Ferguson Limited is an American agricultural machinery manufacturer. The company was established in 1953 through the merger of farm equipment makers Massey-Harris of Canada and the Ferguson Company of the United Kingdom. It was based in T ...

, Simpsons Ltd,

Dominion Steel and Coal Company The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire. "Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 19 ...

. Gundy donated the land for Serena Gundy Park in

, named in his first wife's memory. His son Charles Lake Gundy became president of Wood Gundy and served until his death in 1978. He died in 1951 and was buried in the

Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto Mount Pleasant Cemetery is a cemetery located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and is part of the Mount Pleasant Group of Cemeteries. It was opened in November 1876 and is located north of Moore Park, a neighbourhood of Toronto. The cemetery has k ...

References

* Filey, Mike. ''Mount Pleasant Cemetery'' (1990)

Firefly Books The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...

Wood Gundy history at the CIBC websiteBigwigs
Ayer Publishing, 1935 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gundy, James Henry 1880 births 1951 deaths Businesspeople from Ontario Stock and commodity market managers People from Old Toronto People from Wellington County, Ontario