George Alexander Drummond

Who was George Alexander Drummond?

Sir George Alexander Drummond, KCMG CVO was a Scottish-Canadian businessman and senator.

Born in 1829 at Edinburgh, he was a younger son of the entrepreneurial stonemason, building contractor and city councillor, George Drummond, by his wife Margaret Pringle. Drummond studied chemistry at Edinburgh University before coming to Montreal in 1854 to work for his brother-in-law, John Redpath, at Redpath Sugar.

He married John Redpath's daughter, becoming a co-director of the family business with Peter Redpath, John's son. After the death of his first wife in 1884 he re-married Grace Parker, widow of Rev. George Hamilton. Lady Drummond served as the first president of the Montreal National Council of Women of Canada as well as President and co-founding member of the Women's Canadian Club. She is most famously known for her work with the Red Cross.

In 1888, he was summoned to the Senate of Canada representing the senatorial division of Kennebec, Quebec. He served until his death in 1910. From 1887 to 1896, he was a vice-president at the Bank of Montreal and served as its president first as the de facto from 1897 and official starting in 1905.