Date Published:
July 2005

L’Encyclopédie de l’histoire du Québec / The Quebec History Encyclopedia

Horatio Gates

Gates, Horatio (1777-1834), merchant and banker, was born in Barré, Massachusetts, on October 30, 1777, the son of Captain Benjamin Gates, who had served in the army of the Continental Congress. Early in life he came to Canada, by way of Vermont, and founded in Montreal the firm of Horatio Gates and Co., importers of groceries and liquors. He was allowed to remain unmolested during the War of 1812, and in 1814 became a Canadian citizen. He was one of the founders of the Bank of Montreal, and from 1832 to 1834 was its president. Prom 1832 to 1834 he was also a member of the Legislative Council of Lower Canada. He died at Montreal on April 11, 1834. See A. Shortt, Founders of Canadian banking: Horatio Gates (Journal of the Can. Bankers' Association, 1922).

Source  : W. Stewart WALLACE, ed., The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. III, Toronto, University Associates of Canada, 1948, 396p., p.  12.