Alfred Savage (1812-1889)

He was born at Huddersfield in England, the son of George Savage (1767-1845), with whom he came to Montreal in 1818, and the brother of Joseph Savage, of Savage & Lyman, Jewellers & Silversmiths. He served his apprenticeship as a druggist in Quebec before moving to Montreal where he went into business for himself near the Court House on Notre Dame Street. He subsequently went into partnership with Henry Lyman. After several years, he recommenced business for himself as the senior partner in Alfred Savage & Son, oil merchants, and he was said to have been the pioneer in several branches of the drug and ice-cutting businesses. During the Rebellion of 1837 he served with the Montreal Rifles. He was a Deacon of the Old Zion Church before associating himself with the Emmanuel Church, and while he avoided politics, he was "the genial head of a bright and sunny family and social circle." In 1835, at Montreal, he married Jean, the only daughter of Captain Donaldson, of St. Stephen's, New Brunswick, and formerly of Greenock in Scotland. In about 1860, he built "The Elms" on Upper Peel Street, where he lived with his wife and their five children - two sons and three daughters.