John MacNider

Who is John MacNider?

John MacNider was a Scottish-Quebecer businessman who pioneered the settlement and development of the Seigneuries of Grand-Métis and Métis-sur-Mer, Quebec. He is remembered as a particularly enterprising and visionary Seigneur, "a man with the dreams and ambition to pursue its development and with the means to do so". From nothing, he developed a thriving Scottish community into which he willingly put more money in than he ever took out. Though MacNider died three years before its completion, he played a crucial role in persuading Governor Sir James Kempt to build the road that would connect Métis by land to the outside world. The road became a settlement magnet, and Métis quickly became the principal population centre for the Gaspé region. His second wife, Mrs Angelica MacNider, kept a diary recording early life at Métis, held at the National Archives of Canada. He was the grandfather of The Hon. Félix-Gabriel Marchand, 11th Prime Minister of Quebec.