Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Skead, James

SKEAD, James, Canadian senator, b. at Calder Hall, Moresby, Cumberland, England, 31 Dec., 1817; d. in Ottawa, Canada, 5 July, 1884. He was educated in his native town, and, coming to Canada with his family in 1832, settled at Bytown (now Ottawa). Mr. Skead afterward engaged in the timber trade, and also in manufacturing. At the time of confederation in 1867 he was called to the senate. Early in 1881 he resigned, but he was reappointed on 24 Dec. of the same year. He represented Rideau division from 1862 till 1867 in the legislative council of Canada, and was an unsuccessful candidate for Carleton for the Ontario assembly in 1867. He was president of the Ottawa board of trade, of the Ottawa Liberal-Conservative association, of the Liberal-Conservative convention that met in Toronto, 23 Sept., 1874, of the Dominion board of trade, and of the Agricultural and arts association of Ontario, and was connected as president or director with various other financial or industrial institutions.