Banking on the World: The Hague Family

Type of resource
Author/collaborator
Title
Banking on the World: The Hague Family
Abstract
The story of the British-born banker George Hague (1825-1915), who emigrated to Montreal with his family in 1853 to oversee the construction of the Montreal & Bytown and the Brockville & Ottawa railroads. Following the bankruptcy of this venture in 1854, upon the death at sea of the company’s British director, James Sykes, who was on his way to Montreal with $250,000 of investors’ money on-board the SS Arctic when it sank off Newfoundland following a collision with another boat, Hague took a position with the newly created Bank of Toronto. He had risen to the position of chief executive officer of the bank when he retired in 1876. He was then enticed to takeover the running of Montreal’s Merchant’s Bank, founded by Sir Hugh Allan, which was floundering. Within five years, Hague turned the fortunes of the bank around, and he retired from Merchant’s Bank in 1902. The author notes that Hague was highly respected in banking and political circles, and in 1891 he was elected president of the newly created Canadian Bankers Association, but who is today mostly forgotten, meriting only mentions in other people’s stories.
Publication
Quebec Heritage News
Volume
Vol. 17
Issue
no. 4
Date
Fall 2023
Pages
26-27
Language
en
Citation
Graham, Joseph. “Banking on the World: The Hague Family.” Quebec Heritage News, Fall 2023.
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