McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Crathern, James, 1831-1910
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
James Crathern was born on February 22, 1831, in Montreal, Quebec. He was a successful businessman and a great philanthropist. In 1954, he and John and Thomas Caverhill started the business of Crathern and Caverhill on Custom House square in Montreal. The business soon became one of the greatest hardware houses in Canada.
After retiring from the business in 1894, he continued his active work in the community. He was president of the General Hospital, a governor and honorary treasurer of the Alexandra Hospital, and a member of the Montreal Board of Trade. He was also president of the Royal Victoria Insurance Company, president of the Merchants’ Cotton Company, governor of McGill University, director of St. Lawrence Sugar Refining company, the Dominion Coal company, and the National Trust Company. He was also a governor of the Diocesan Theological College and represented the Anglican community on the Board of Trustees of the Mount Royal Cemetery Trust.
As an art connoisseur, he not only gathered one of the best private collections of paintings but he also directed the work of the Montreal Art Association and served on the council of the Art Gallery.
In 1857, he married Annie Bowie. He died on June 1, 1910, in Montreal, Quebec.