Rose, Sir John (1820-1888), was Canadian minister of finance from 1867 to 1869, during the first term of Prime Minister John A. Macdonald. As minister of finance, Rose proposed procedures that helped establish the national banking system of Canada.
In 1869, Rose moved to London, where he became a partner and British representative in the banking firm of Morton, Rose and Company. At various times, Macdonald asked Rose to serve as an agent of the Canadian government in the United Kingdom. Rose achieved great success in handling a number of diplomatic and financial matters for Canada. In 1869 and 1870, he helped the Canadian government acquire land in western Canada previously held by the Hudson’s Bay Company, a British fur-trading firm. Rose was knighted in 1870. During the 1880’s, he sold bonds and other securities in the United Kingdom to help provide financial aid for construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway across Canada. Rose was born on Aug. 2, 1820, in Turriff, Scotland, near Fraserburgh. He died on Aug. 24, 1888.
