James Kewley Ward

Who was James Kewley Ward?

James Kewley Ward was a Canadian lumber merchant and politician.

Born in Peel, Isle of Man, the third son of John Ward, Ward was educated at May's Academy in Douglas, Isle of Man. He emigrated to the United States in 1842 and worked as a clerk in Albany, New York. He then worked as a clerk in a lumber mill in Troy, New York and was put in charge of the mill. In 1853, he moved to the province of Quebec where he purchased a lumber establishment on the Maskinonge River. In 1863, he moved to Trois-Rivières and purchased a mill on the St. Maurice River. In 1873, he moved to Montreal and opened the Mona sawmills on the Lachine Canal. He retired from active business in 1900.

He was a member of the council of the municipality of Côte-Saint-Antoine and was mayor for nine years. A member of the Montreal Board of Trade, he was also a member of the Westmount School Commissioners for over thirty years and was chairman of that body for twenty years.

He unsuccessfully ran as the Liberal candidate for the Canadian House of Commons for the electoral district of Montreal West in the 1882 and 1887 federal election.