View source for James Duncan McGregor

{{short description|Canadian politician}}

{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Honourable]]
| name             = James Duncan McGregor
| honorific-suffix = 
| image            = 
| caption          = 
| imagesize        = 
| office           = Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba 
| predecessor      = [[Theodore Arthur Burrows]]
| successor        = [[William Johnston Tupper]]
| term_start       = January 25, 1929
| term_end         = December 1, 1934
| order            = 11th
| monarch          = [[George V]]
| governor_general = [[Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon|The Earl of Willingdon]]<br>[[Vere Ponsonby, 9th Earl of Bessborough|The Earl of Bessborough]]
| premier          = [[John Bracken]]
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|1860|08|29}}
| birth_place      = [[Amherstburg, Ontario|Amherstburg]], [[Province of Canada|Canada West]]
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1935|03|15|1860|08|29}}
| death_place      = [[Winnipeg]], [[Manitoba]]
| nationality      = Canadian
| spouse           = 
| party            = 
| otherparty       = 
| relations        = 
| children         = 
| residence        = 
| alma_mater       = 
| occupation       = agricultural pioneer
| profession       = 
| religion         = 
| cabinet          = 
}}
'''James Duncan McGregor''' (August 29, 1860 &ndash; March 15, 1935) was a [[Canadians|Canadian]] agricultural pioneer and officeholder. He served as the [[List of lieutenant governors of Manitoba#Lieutenant Governors of Manitoba, 1870-present|11th]] [[Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba]] between 1929 and 1934.

McGregor was born in [[Amherstburg, Ontario|Amherstburg]], [[Canada West]] (now [[Ontario]]), and was educated at public schools in [[Windsor, Ontario|Windsor]] but did not attend college. He moved to Manitoba in 1877, and worked in his father's cattle business in [[Brandon, Manitoba|Brandon]].

McGregor was one of several pioneers to the [[Yukon]] following the [[Klondike Gold Rush]] of 1896, and served as Mine Inspector of the Yukon Territory<ref>{{cite book| url=https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/mcgregor_james_duncan_16E.html| title=McGregor, James Duncan| last=Hanlon| first=Peter| work=[[Dictionary of Canadian Biography]]| volume=16| year=2003| publisher=[[University of Toronto]] & [[Laval University]]| access-date=16 July 2021}}</ref> from 1897 to 1899. He subsequently bought a ranch near [[Medicine Hat, Alberta|Medicine Hat]] (now in [[Alberta]]), and owned 800&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> (200,000 acres) with 10,000 head of cattle and 2,000 horses. For ten years, McGregor also managed the British-owned Canada Land and Irrigation Company and helped build reservoirs and canal systems near [[Milo, Alberta|Milo]], in [[Vulcan County]], [[Alberta]]. [[McGregor Lake]], a {{convert|40|km|mi|adj=on}}-long irrigation reservoir in the [[Oldman River]] [[drainage basin]], was named for McGregor.

McGregor gained international fame for his pioneering efforts in stock breeding. He was the first farmer to cultivate [[alfalfa]] in the western provinces, thereby reducing the region's dependency on the wheat market. He also founded the Glencarnock stock farms of western Canada, and won a number of international livestock prizes.

McGregor never actually ran for public office, despite repeated entreaties. In 1915, he declined an appointment as [[Minister of Agriculture (Manitoba)|Minister of Agriculture]] in Manitoba. Two years later, he was appointed wartime leader of the Food Control Board in the western provinces, holding the position for a year.

When [[Theodore Arthur Burrows]] died in 1929, McGregor was called to succeed him as [[Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba|Manitoba's Lieutenant-Governor]] (a largely ceremonial position, though McGregor was significant in being the first non-politician to be so appointed). He held this position for five years, and died shortly thereafter.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/people/mcgregor_jd.shtml |title=Memorable Manitobans: James Duncan McGregor (1860-1935) |website=Manitoba Historical Society |last=Goldsborough |first=Gordon |date=20 September 2020 |access-date=16 July 2021}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20020127204141/http://www.mts.net/~agrifame/mcgregjd.html Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame profile]
* [https://www.manitobalg.ca/history/past-lieutenant-governors/the-honourable-james-duncan-mcgregor/  Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026052235/https://www.manitobalg.ca/history/past-lieutenant-governors/the-honourable-james-duncan-mcgregor/ |date=2020-10-26 }}

{{MBLG}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGregor, James Duncan}}
[[Category:1860 births]]
[[Category:1935 deaths]]
[[Category:Canadian people of Scottish descent]]
[[Category:Lieutenant governors of Manitoba]]
[[Category:People of the Klondike Gold Rush]]
[[Category:People from Amherstburg, Ontario]]