Fonds

Originally from the United States, the Bagg family is one of the oldest English-speaking families on the island of Montreal, and one of the most influential. The biographies of some of its most famous members are summarized below.

Abner BAGG (1790-1852)
Son of Phineas Bagg (1751-1823) and Pamela Stanley (1760-1793?), he married Mary Ann Wurtele (1795-1827) in 1814. His second marriage, to Mary Ann MITTLEBERGER (1807-1896) in 1831, produced four children who lived to adulthood: Alfred, Mary Eliza, Margaret Pamela and Emily Caroline.

Abner Bagg moved to Laprairie, near Montreal, with his father and brother Stanley in the late 1700s. This merchant and landowner owned several stores and businesses that he ran with his brother, including a hat store in Montreal. He also exported lumber, sold lye and furs, and owned a woodlot north of Quebec City and a brewery in Laprairie. In 1821, he worked on the Lachine Canal construction project with his brother, as both contractor and supplier. A victim of the financial crisis, Abner Bagg went bankrupt in 1827. In 1837, he was appointed treasurer of the 1st Battalion Montreal Volunteer Militia.

Stanley BAGG (1788-1853)
Brother of Abner Bagg, in 1819 he married Mary Ann Clark (1795-1835), with whom he had one son: Stanley Clark Bagg.

Beginning in 1810, this businessman was involved in various contracts for the British Army, from which he built his personal fortune. Together with his father, he managed an inn commonly known as the "Mile End Tavern." As one of the primary contractors working on the Lachine Canal construction project, Stanley Bagg gave his father-in-law John Clark (1767-1827) the mandate to supply the canal workers with meat. In 1831, he was one of the founding stockholders of the City Bank of Montreal. He also participated in the politics of Lower Canada, running as a candidate in the 1832 by-election in the West Ward of Montreal.

Stanley Clark BAGG (1820-1873)
Son of Stanley Bagg and Mary Ann Clark, in 1844 he married Catharine MITCHESON (1822-1914), with whom he had six children: Mary Ann Frances, Robert Stanley, Katherine Sophia, Amelia Josephine, Mary Heloise and Helen Frances.

Upon his mother's death, Stanley Clark Bagg inherited an unprecedented parcel of land for mid-19th Montreal. The Bagg family's property was bordered by Sherbrooke Street to the south, the Des Prairies River to the north, St. Lawrence Boulevard to the east and Parc Avenue to the west. During the 1837-1838 Rebellions, he took part in the Battle of St. Eustache and then remained associated with the Conservative Party of John A. Macdonald. After studying at McGill University, Stanley Clark Bagg became a notary (1842) and practised until 1856. Three years later, he was appointed justice of the peace in Montreal.

A great philanthropist, Stanley Clark Bagg played a prominent role in the English Workingmen's Benefit Society. He helped found the Numismatic and Antiquarian Society of Montreal and was its president in 1866.

Robert Stanley Clark BAGG (1848-1912)
The son of Stanley Clark Bagg and Catharine Mitcheson, he married Clara C. SMITHERS (1861-1946) in 1882, who was the daughter of Charles Francis Smithers (1822-1887), the president of the Bank of Montreal. The couple had three children: Evelyn St. Clair Stanley Bagg, Gwendolyn Catherine Stanley Bagg and Harold Fortesque Stanley Bagg.

Although he studied to become a notary, Robert Stanley Clark Bagg was better known as an infantry company commander in the 5th Battalion Canadian Volunteer Militia.

Amelia Josephine BAGG (1852-1943)
The daughter of Stanley Clark Bagg and Catharine Mitcheson, she married Joseph Mulholland in 1890, and John George Norton in 1902.

Evelyn St. Clair Stanley BAGG (1883-1970)
The daughter of Robert Stanley Clark Bagg and Clara C. Smithers, she married Huntly Ward Davis in 1910. The couple had one daughter: Clare Ward Davis.

Harold Fortesque Stanley BAGG (1896-1944)
The son of Robert Stanley Clark Bagg and Clara C. Smithers, he married New Yorker Katherine Louise Morse (1904-1939).

Harold Fortesque Stanley Bagg worked in the family real estate business after graduating from Lower Canada College. His poor health prevented him from joining the Canadian war effort, even though he had obtained a pilot's licence.

John RADIGER (1809-1883)
In 1838, he married Eleanor Jobson (1813-1881), with whom he had at least three children, including Charles William (1841-1897), who married Emily Caroline Stanley BAGG (1848-1920).

A lawyer by training, John Radiger became the officer in charge of the Commissariat House in St. John's, Newfoundland, in 1839. With his daughter Sophia Radiger (?-1927), his son Charles William, and the latter's wife, Emily Caroline Stanley Bagg, he later moved to Manitoba, opening the store CW Radiger & Brother in 1873.