Donald Smith, Smith had joined with George…

Donald Smith, Smith had joined with George Stephen, Richard Bladworth Angus, and Andrew Paton to establish the textile manufactory, Paton Manufacturing Company, in Sherbrooke on September 25, 1868.

This same year he had been promoted to Commissioner of the Montreal department, managing the Hudson's Bay Company's eastern operations.

Born in Forres, in Moray, Scotland to Alexander Smith, a saddler, and Barbera Stuart, Smith had briefly apprenticed to become a lawyer in the town clerk's office after leaving school at the age of sixteen.

He had emigrated to Lower Canada in 1838 to work for the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), becoming a clerk for the organization in 1842.

He had been given administrative control over the seigneury of Mingan (in modern Labrador) in late 1843, where his innovative methods met with the disapproval of HBC governor Sir George Simpson.

The Mingan post burned down in 1846, and Smith had left for Montreal the following year.

Returning in 1848, he had remained in Labrador until the 1860s, administering the fur trade and salmon fishing within the region.

In 1862, Smith had been promoted as the company's Chief Factor in charge of the Labrador district.

He had traveled to London in 1865, and made a favorable impression on the HBC's directors.