James Baird (merchant)

James Baird, (30 November 1828 – 30 May 1915), was Scottish born and came to Newfoundland at 16 and soon established himself as a prominent merchant.

Baird, a brother, and later a nephew built up a business which included a large array of general merchandise and eventually branched into the fishery supply business. By the mid 1880's, they had entered the fish export trade and survived both the St. John’s fire in 1892 and the banking collapse a few years later. He was highly important in the founding and supporting of many industries.

Baird, despite his high profile and important business career, is best known in Newfoundland history for the famous "Baird et al. v. Walker" case. It was a dispute over the location and operation of a lobster factory on land deemed to be assigned to the French. Baird won a settlement in the Newfoundland Supreme Court. In 1898 he was appointed to the Newfoundland Legislative Council, a position he held for the remainder of his life.

External links

* [http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=7185 Biography at the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online"]
* [http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~melbaker/baird/baird.html "James Baird Biography"]