James Ross

Who was James Ross?

James Ross was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec.

He was born in Fearn, Ross & Cromarty, Scotland, son of Alexander Ross and Christian Ross and emigrated to Quebec City in approximately 1829. In the 1830s, he worked in a mercantile house in Quebec and was captain of a ship trading to the West Indies. On 10 May 1838, he married Marianna Browne of Quebec City, with whom he had fourteen children. He and his family subsequently relocated to the Eastern Townships and in 1845 he founded the village of Gould, Quebec, where he manufactured pearl ash, ran a general store and served as the village's mayor. He spoke four languages – English, Gaelic, French and Spanish – and contributed poetry to newspapers such as the Sherbrooke Gazette.

Ross was heavily involved with the politics of the Sherbrooke region and is recorded as having moved the resolution for the organization of the County of Sherbrooke in May 1848. He was named in a local newspaper as one of several likely candidates for election to the legislature of the Province of Canada in 1857.