James Ross was an Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

 farmer and political figure. He represented Wellington Centre

Wellington Centre

Wellington Centre was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1904. It was located in the province of Ontario....

 in the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

 as a Liberal

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

 member from 1869 to 1874.

He was born in Arnage, Aberdeenshire

Aberdeenshire (historic)

Aberdeenshire or the County of Aberdeen is a registration county of Scotland. This area is also a lieutenancy area.Until 1975 Aberdeenshire was one of the counties of Scotland, governed by a county council from 1890...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 in 1817, the son of John Leith Ross, was educated at Marischal College

Marischal College

Marischal College is a building and former university in the centre of the city of Aberdeen in north-east Scotland. The building is owned by the University of Aberdeen and used for ceremonial events...

 there and came to Upper Canada

Upper Canada

The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...

 in 1836. He was reeve for Nichol township from 1854 to 1859 and warden for Wellington County

Wellington County, Ontario

Wellington County is a county located in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The county seat is Guelph, a city which is politically independent, but Guelph's status as the seat means it houses the county's administrative offices...

 from 1858 to 1859. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada

Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada

The Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada was the lower house of the legislature for the Province of Canada, which consisted of the former provinces of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East and later the province of Quebec, and Upper Canada, then known as Canada West and later the...

 in an 1859 by-election in the North riding of Wellington and served until 1861. Ross also served as Crown Lands Agent. He was first elected to the federal parliament in 1869 after the death of Thomas Sutherland Parker

Thomas Sutherland Parker

Thomas Sutherland Parker was a physician and political figure in Ontario, Canada. He represented Wellington Centre in the Canadian House of Commons as a Liberal member from 1867 to 1868....

. He lived in Cumnock and later Guelph

Guelph

Guelph is a city in Ontario, Canada.Guelph may also refer to:* Guelph , consisting of the City of Guelph, Ontario* Guelph , as the above* University of Guelph, in the same city...

. Ross died in Guelph at the age of 77.