Memorable Manitobans: Robert Ross Scott (1857-1924)

Click to enlargeFruit merchant.

Born in Pickering County, Ontario on 27 July 1857, son of John and Grace Scott, he came to Winnipeg in 1881 and worked at various jobs until 1883 when he became a salesman and buyer for the wholesale fruit firm of A. C. McPherson & Company. He stayed with the company until 1892 when he went into business for himself. The next year the two companies merged to become the McPherson Fruit Company, with a branch at Calgary, Alberta. In 1900 he took over the business, renaming it the Scott Fruit Company. The business grew until it had branches at Brandon, Regina, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Calgary, Moose Jaw, Lethbridge, and Minneapolis, with headquarters at Winnipeg.

From 1909 to the time of his death, he was President of the Sovereign Life Assurance Company.

In 1892 he married Kate Matheson, daughter of Reverend Matheson of Qu’Appelle, North West Territories. They had four children: Roberta Maud Scott (b 1892), Jean Marguerite Scott (b 1892), Stewart MacPherson Scott (b 1896), and Margaret Helen Scott (b 1905). He was a members of the Masons, the Oddfellows, and the Carleton Club.

He died at his Winnipeg home, 29 Ruskin Row, on 17 August 1924 and was buried in Old Kildonan Cemetery.

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Scott Fruit Company Warehouse (319 Elgin Avenue, Winnipeg)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: R. R. Scott House (29 Ruskin Road, Winnipeg)

Sources:

Birth registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

A History of Manitoba: Its Resources and People by Prof. George Bryce, Toronto: The Canadian History Company, 1906.

The Leading Financial, Business & Professional Men of Winnipeg, published by Edwin McCormick, Photographs by T. J. Leatherdale, Compiled and printed by Stone Limited, c1913. [copy available at the Archives of Manitoba]

Death registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

“Robt. R. Scott dies after sudden seizure”, Manitoba Free Press, 18 August 1924, page 1. [Manitoba Legislative Library, Biographical Scrapbook B8]

Obituary, Manitoba Free Press, 19 August 1924, page 14.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 9 August 2011

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations.

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