Donald Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal

Who was Donald Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal?

Donald Alexander Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal, GCMG, GCVO, PC, DL was a Scottish-born Canadian who became one of the British Empire's foremost builders and philanthropists. He became commissioner, governor and principal shareholder of the Hudson's Bay Company. He was president of the Bank of Montreal and with his first cousin, Lord Mount Stephen, co-founded the Canadian Pacific Railway. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba and afterwards represented Montreal in the Canadian House of Commons. He was Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 1896 to 1914. He was chairman of Burmah Oil and the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. He was chancellor of McGill University and Aberdeen University. He lived in Montreal's Golden Square Mile. In 1895, he purchased an estate in Scotland, building and living at Glencoe House. In 1905, he purchased the Island of Colonsay including Colonsay House, where his descendants still live. He kept a house in London and after his appointment as Canadian High Commissioner leased Knebworth House from 1899 until his death. His funeral was held at Westminster Abbey, where a memorial stands to his memory.