Lumsden, Hugh David

Hugh David Lumsden was born at Belhevie Lodge, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, September 7, 1844, the son of Colonel Thomas Lumsden and Hay Burnett. Lumsden was educated at the Bellview Academy in Aberdeen, and at the Wimbledon School, Surrey, England. He came to Canada in 1861 and became a Provincial Land Surveyor in 1866. In 1870, Lumsden became a Civil Engineer and had a long and successful career in the location and construction of railways across Canada. He was involved with the Toronto and Nipissing Railway; the Credit Valley Railway; the Toronto, Grey & Bruce Railway; the Northern Railway; the Georgian Bay Branch of the C.P.R.; The Ontario and Quebec Railway; various eastern extensions of the C.P.R.; and the Crows Nest Pass Railway to name a few. From 1904 to 1909 Lumsden was the Chief Engineer of the Eastern Division of the Transcontinental Railway. He held the presidency of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers in 1907. Lumsden was also involved in activities outside engineering. In 1870 he was the Reeve of Eldon Township, and also president of the Eldon Agricultural Society. He was involved in the military, having joined the 34th Regiment as a Lieutenant in 1867. He married late in life, to Mary Frederica Whitney, daughter of J.W.G. Whitney, in 1885. Hugh David Lumsden died in 1928.