Fonds
John Wardrop Ross was born in Montreal in 1870. He studied at the Montreal Business College and then travelled in Europe before settling permanently in Montreal, where he became a partner in the prestigious accounting firm of P.S. Ross & Sons. The firm was run by his father, Philip Simpson Ross, who was also president and co-founder of the Association of Accountants of Montreal (which later became the Ordre des comptables agréés du Québec). In 1896, John Wardrop Ross also began working for the Association, serving as secretary-treasurer from 1899 to 1901 and as president in 1905 and 1906. He was elected a Fellow of the Dominion Association of Chartered Accountants in 1902.
During a career lasting over 50 years, Ross held directorships in a number of organizations and was elected president of the Montreal Board of Trade in 1923, 1932 and 1933. He was also involved in a number of charitable organizations, notably the Canadian Patriotic Fund, the Montreal YMCA and Canada's Victory Loan campaign, holding key positions usually associated with fiscal management.
An amateur photographer, Ross was a founding member of the YMCA Camera Club in 1898 and served as the first vice-president.
He died in Montreal in 1946.
Scope and Content
This fonds covers the various charities, social organizations and aid campaigns in which John Wardrop Ross was involved, mainly as an accountant. A significant contribution to the social history of Montreal and Canada, these archives primarily document Ross' activities at the Canadian Patriotic Fund, the YMCA and Canada's Victory Loan campaign, three organizations that played an important role in the mutual aid movement of the First World War. Various administrative documents and minutes, correspondence, financial statements, lists of employees, committees and subscribers, activity reports, promotional documents and scrapbooks trace the administration of these organizations, their fiscal management and their fundraising campaigns.
The fonds also chronicles the fundraising campaigns of various Montreal hospitals and charities through correspondence, lists of contributors and subscribers, promotional documents, communications plans, activity reports and press clippings.
Photographs illustrating fundraising campaigns, posters and billboards complete this collection.
Classification Scheme
P217 John
Wardrop Ross
P217/A Canadian Patriotic Fund
P217/A1 Administration
P217/A2 Finances
P217/A3 Fundraising activities
P217/A3,1 Patriotic
campaign in Montreal
P217/A3,2 Other
fundraising activities (1914-1919)
P217/A4 Communications
P217/A4,1
Correspondence
P217/A4,2 Advertising
posters
P217/A4,3 Press
clippings
P217/A4,4 Scrapbooks
P217/B YMCA
P217/B1 Administration
P217/B2 Finances
P217/B3 Fundraising activities
P217/B4 Communications
P217/B4,1
Correspondence
P217/B4,2 Promotional
documents and publications
P217/B4,3 Press
clippings
P217/B4,4 Scrapbooks
P217/C Victory Loans
P217/D Hospitals
P217/E Other Charitable and
Not-for-Profit Organizations
P217/F Philanthropy
P217/G Photographs
Source of title proper: Title based on the creator of the fonds.
Conservation: Some fragile press clippings have been photocopied.
Immediate source of acquisition: The fonds was donated to the McCord Museum by John Wardrop Ross.
Language: The documents are primarily in English, but several texts are in French.
Finding aids: An inventory was produced in 2014.
Associated material:
Concordia University: YMCA of Montreal Fonds (P145)
LAC: Canadian Patriotic Fund Association Fonds (R2848-0-4-E / Former archival reference no. MG28-15)
Archives of Ontario: War posters series (C 233-2)
Last update: February 25, 2019
Information about the objects in our collection is updated to reflect new research findings. If you have any information to share regarding this object, please email reference.mccord@mccord-stewart.ca.Information about rights and reproductions is available here.
This project is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Azrieli Foundation and Canadian Heritage.