Philip Ross

{{Short description|Canadian journalist, athlete, and sport executive (1858–1949)}}

{{for multi|the American submarine commander|Philip H. Ross|the television actor|Phillip Ross|the American baseball player|Phil Ross}}

{{Infobox person

| image = Philip Dansken Ross.jpg

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1858|1|1}}

| birth_place = Montreal, Canada East

| death_date = {{death date and age|1949|7|5|1858|1|1}}

| death_place = Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

| resting_place = Beechwood Cemetery, Ottawa

| education = {{plainlist|

}}

| occupation = journalist, publisher

| known_for = Stanley Cup trustee
Ottawa Journal owner

| relatives = Philip Simpson Ross (father)

| spouse(s) = {{married|Mary Little-John|1891|1949}}

| awards = Hockey Hall of Fame (1976)

}}

Philip Dansken Ross (January 1, 1858 – July 5, 1949) was a Canadian journalist, newspaper publisher, amateur athlete, and ice hockey administrator.

Early life

Philip Dansken Ross was born in Montreal to parents Christina Chalmers Dansken and Montreal accountant Philip Simpson Ross.{{cite news|title=P. D. Ross|date=July 5, 1949|newspaper=Lethbridge Herald|location=Alberta|page=2|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/obituary-clipping-jul-05-1949-1360250/}}{{free access}}

Ross studied at McGill University as a science major in 1875. At McGill, Ross played for the football and rowing clubs,{{sfn|Kitchen|2008|p=37}} later captaining the McGill football club to victory against Harvard University in the first Canada-U.S. international football game in 1878. He was provincial single sculling champion twice. He also played lacrosse and founded several golf clubs.{{cite web |url=http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?mem=B197602&type=Builder&page=bio&list=ByName#photo |title=Legends of Hockey Biography}} He graduated from McGill in 1875, with honours.

Career

Upon graduation, Ross worked for the Montreal Harbour Commission.{{sfn|Kitchen|2008|p=37}} He left the Commission and joined the staff at the Montreal Star in 1880. He joined the Toronto Daily Mail as a journalist.{{sfn|Kitchen|2008|p=37}} He returned to Montreal and joined the Montreal Star in 1885, eventually becoming its managing editor.{{sfn|Kitchen|2008|p=38}}

File:Lacrosse Game, Capitals vs Shamrocks Ottawa Ont October 13th 1914.JPG

In 1886, Ross became co-owner of the near-bankrupt Ottawa Evening Journal newspaper.{{cite book |author1=Laurel Zeisler |title=Historical Dictionary of Ice Hockey |date=December 19, 2012 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=9780810878631 |page=273 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bWYeAAAAQBAJ&q=Philip+Dansken+Ross&pg=PA272 |access-date=September 16, 2019}} In 1891 he bought out his partner and made it into a highly successful and respected paper. He served as its president for 60 years during which time he helped found the Canadian Press newspaper association.

He was a builder and sometimes player of the Ottawa Hockey Club, later to be known as the Ottawa Senators. With this club, he befriended the sons of Lord Stanley, the Governor-General of Canada. In 1892, Lord Stanley appointed him to be a trustee for his championship ice hockey trophy, known today as the Stanley Cup.{{cn|date=September 2019}} He helped found the Ontario Hockey Association in 1890.{{cn|date=September 2019}} He played in the first Ontario championship game in 1891 at the Rideau Rink in Ottawa, helping Ottawa win 5-0 over Toronto St. George's.{{cn|date=September 2019}}

Ross was one of the two original Trustees of the Stanley Cup named by Lord Stanley in 1894, and so served for 56 years until his death. He also served as trustee for the Minto Cup of lacrosse. He turned down the trusteeship for the Grey Cup of Canadian football. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1976.

=Politics=

He also went into politics. In 1912, Ross was nominated by the Civic Improvement League to be their mayoral candidate. This upset Wilson Southam, publisher of the Ottawa Citizen, who disliked that Ross and the League promoted "compulsory vaccination and elitism." Ross would end up losing in the election.{{cite journal |last1=Warfe |first1=Chris |title=The Search for Pure Water in Ottawa: 1910-1915 |journal=Urban History Review |date=June 1979 |volume=8 |issue=1 |page=96 |doi=10.7202/1019392ar |pmid=11633447 |url=https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/uhr/1979-v8-n1-uhr0896/1019392ar.pdf |access-date=September 16, 2019|doi-access=free }}

In 1928, Ross served as president of the Liberal-Conservative Association of Ottawa. On September 10, 1929, Ross was elected chairman of the Ontario Royal Commission on Public Welfare "to investigate provision of services in hospitals, prisons and other provincial institutions."{{cite web |title=Royal commissions and commissions of inquiry 1792-1991 |url=http://www.ontla.on.ca/library/repository/mon/27002/132991.pdf |website=ontla.on.ca |access-date=September 16, 2019 |pages=73}}

In 1931, he turned down the opportunity to be appointed lieutenant governor of Ontario. In 1933, he served as president of McGill's Graduate Society.{{cite book |author1=Stanley Brice Frost |title=McGill University: For the Advancement of Learning, Volume II, 1895-1971 |date=1980 |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press |isbn=9780773504226 |page=138 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_QzvEBNIxC8C&q=Philip+Dansken+Ross+queen%27s&pg=PA138 |access-date=September 16, 2019}}

Legacy and personal life

File:Philip Dansken Ross family grave.jpg

The Ontario Heritage Foundation erected a plaque commemorating Philip Dansken Ross 1858–1949 at the Journal Towers, Kent Street between Laurier and Slater, Ottawa. "A distinguished journalist widely admired for his candour of expression and depth of knowledge, P.D. Ross was publisher-owner of the Ottawa Journal and one of the founders of the Canadian Press".[http://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/Resources---Learning/Online-Plaque-Guide/Plaque-Information.aspx?searchtext=713 Ontario Heritage Foundation plaque]

Ross married Mary Littlejohn in 1891. Ross died on July 5, 1949, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He was interred at Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa.[http://ocfa.islandnet.com/ocfa-search.php Ontario Cemetery Finding Aid]

References

General

{{cite book |last=Kitchen |first=Paul |title=Win, Tie or Wrangle |year=2008 |publisher=Penumbra Press |location=Manotick, Ontario |isbn=978-1-897323-46-5 }}
{{cite book |title=The Ross Clan |last=Ross |first=John Alastair |year=1978}}
{{cite book |title=Canada's Who's Who |last=Roberts |first=Sir Charles |year=1938}}

Specific