Mr. Ross was identified with many public interests and ranked with loyal Canadians whose efforts have been effective forces in promoting general progress.
He was a governor of McGill University, of the Royal Victoria Hospital, of the Alexandra Hospital and of the Protestant Hospital for the Insane at Montreal. He was likewise a trustee of Bishop’s College at Lennoxville, P. Q., and in 1900 he was appointed honorary lieutenant colonel of the Duke of York’s Royal Canadian Hussars. He took an active interest in yachting and was the owner of the Glencairn, which won the Seawanhaka-Corinthian cup for half raters in American waters in 1896. He subsequently bought the late Joseph Pulitzer’s large steam yacht, Liberty, of one thousand six hundred fifty tons, which he renamed the Glencairn, and in which he spent much of his vacation time in the Mediterranean. It might be interesting to note here that both the small half rater and the large steam yacht were named in memory of the large full-rigged ship Glencairn, which was owned and commanded by his late father, Captain John Ross, of Cromarty. Mr. James Ross was for many years commodore of the Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Club, and was honorary commodore for life, and was a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron.
Mr. Ross was well known in club circles, holding membership in the Mount Royal, St. James, Forest and Stream, Canada, Montreal Hunt, Montreal Jockey, Montreal Racquet and Montreal Curling Clubs of Montreal; Rideau Club of Ottawa; Manitoba Club of Winnipeg; Toronto Royal Canadian Yacht and York Clubs of Toronto; Union Club of St. John, New Brunswick; Halifax Club of Halifax, Nova Scotia; New York Yacht and Manhattan Clubs of New York; Royal C. B. Yacht Club of Sydney, Nova Scotia; and the Constitutional Club of London, England.
Following the demise of Mr. Ross the Gazette of September 22, 1913, said editorially: “The history of James Ross is to some extent the history of the financial and creative progress of Canada. He has been associated with many of our greatest enterprises and always in positions of prominence and leadership. In any list of citizens whose financial power must be reckoned with in predicting the course of supreme events in this country, the name of James Ross would have stood near the top. Many of his fellow citizens will think of him, however, as a generous and discriminating collector and exhibitor of art. At a time when Montreal had not many men who both appreciated and possessed the financial ability to purchase splendid specimens of the best art which the old world has produced, James Ross entered that field, and soon made his private collection one of the things of which Montrealers were proud. The public generally have had a chance to admire some of his treasures at Loan Exhibitions; and, in this fashion, the pleasure and benefit of his collection have been widely shared.”
Tributes of respect and regard were paid to Mr. Ross by people in every station in life. The high and the low, the rich and the poor did him honor. The following letter was received by his son, Mr. James K. L. Ross:
“The engineers on the S. and L. were much surprised and deeply grieved when we heard that your father had passed away. Our deepest sympathy goes out to you in your sad bereavement. We all feel that we have lost a good and true friend. No other man we have worked for gave our men the feeling of security in their position that he did. We always were satisfied that if we did what was right no other influence could hurt us or our families. When some of us were unfortunate enough to err in judgment and our error cost the company quite a lot, in the usual course of railways the officials had nothing to do but severely discipline us. Your father used his own position not to discipline our men but to give them a good man’s advice, which has helped our men and also the company which he then presided over. Acts like these are never forgotten by railway men and there were many sincere expressions of sorrow heard when the news of his death flashed over our road. They have also instructed us to convey to your sorrowing mother our deepest sympathy in her trying hour.
“On behalf of the S. and L. engineers, we are sincerely yours (Signed) D. W. Macdonald, chairman; Parker Holmes, secretary and treasurer; Hugh MacPherson, chief engineer.
“Glace Bay, Cape Breton, Canada, September 20, 1913.”
Another well merited tribute being from Principal Peterson of McGill University, who said:
“The other day we were greatly gratified to learn that a member of the board of governors, the late James Ross, had remembered McGill University in his will to the extent of one hundred thousand dollars. Mr. Ross was one of our friends. His connection with the administration of the university had given him many opportunities of appreciating the difficulty of carrying on an institution whose needs in the very nature of things, are always outrunning its resources; and his kindly thought of us has touched a chord in our hearts that vibrates with gratitude and appreciation.