Redpath, Peter (1821 -1894)

Peter Redpath was born in Montreal, the son of a Scottish immigrant, John Redpath, a director of the Bank of Montreal, and a member of the Montreal City Council. Redpath worked in the family's sugar refinery and other businesses in Montreal. He was a member of the McGill University Board of Governors from 1864 until his death. He endowed a chair of Natural Philosophy at McGill in 1871 and established the Redpath Museum in 1880. He also founded the Redpath Library at the University in 1893, and donated about half a million dollars in money and books to McGill University. In 1847 he married Grace Wood, daughter of William Wood, a merchant and philanthropist of Manchester. In 1880 they moved to England, and took up residence at Manor House, Chiselhurst, Kent. After Peter Redpath’s death in 1894, Grace Redpath continued her husband’s philanthropy in Montreal.