C.B.H.F.
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Class of 1984
Joseph Masson helped create one of Montreal’s foremost trading companies – The House of Robertson, Masson and Company. At 21, he went to work for the Robertson Company, importers of merchandise from Scotland and England. Hugh Robertson was so impressed with his young clerk’s initiative and firm grasp of business, that he put him in charge of Canadian operations, and made him a partner. Joseph knew what would sell and was anxious to expand the business by diversifying into new areas. The firm continued to prosper. To overcome increasing transportation costs, Masson convinced Hugh Robertson to buy their own ship.
Joseph Masson was one of the earliest stock holders in the Bank of Montreal and served as a Vice President in the days when it advertised Tuesdays and Fridays as ‘discount days’. He invested heavily in, and eventually acquired control of, the Montreal Gas Company, forerunner to Hydro Quebec.
Despite his commitments to business, Masson gave generously of his time and talent to better the community. Appointed to the Legislative Council of Lower Canada in 1834, Masson won acclaim for his role as mediator in an uprising of rebellious citizens, which eventually led to constitutional changes.