Atholstan, Hugh Graham, Baron, 1848-1938 : Hugh Graham, 1st Baron Atholstan, 1848-1938, was a leading Canadian newspaper owner and publisher between the 1860s and 1920s. Born in Athelstan, Huntingdon County, Quebec, Graham was educated at the Huntingdon Academy. After finishing school at age 14, he served his apprenticeship under his uncle, E. H. Parsons, a journalist, who published the Commercial Advertiser, and afterwards the Evening Telegraph in Montreal. In 1865, he was appointed Secretary-Treasurer of the Montreal Gazette and in 1869, along with George Lanigan and Marshall Scott, founded the Montreal Star, a one-cent daily. Graham acquired full control of the paper a few years later. Graham also acquired control of the daily Montreal Herald and established the weeklies, Family Herald and Weekly Star, which enjoyed a wide national circulation in rural areas. As his publishing business prospered, he became one of the most powerful and influential newspaper men in Canada.
Through his newspapers, he launched crusades in Montreal for social causes like smallpox vaccination, clean drinking water, and milk pasteurization, among others. A staunch imperialist and supporter of the British connection, his newspaper editorials influenced the federal government's decision in 1899 to send troops to fight in the Boer War, and he personally, and anonymously, underwrote the insurance on the first contingent of men to sail for South Africa. In 1905, Graham expanded his publishing business with the creation of the Montreal Standard newspaper. In 1908, he was knighted, largely for his support of Great Britain in the Boer War, and awarded an honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Glasgow. Graham was a key supporter of the Conservatives in the Borden years but his support was not consistent. He remained neutral in the 1908 election but strongly opposed reciprocity and was a powerful force for the Conservatives in the 1911 election. In May 1917 he was created Baron Atholstan by the British Government for his staunch support of the Empire and advocacy of conscription for overseas service in the First World War. His elevation to the peerage was controversial in Canada, viewed by many as a reward for his Conservative party election fund-raising. The controversy contributed to the tabling of the Nickle Resolution in the House of Commons to restrict the use of the British system of honours in Canada. Graham's outspoken advocacy of conscription led to a bomb attack on 9 August 1917 that caused extensive damage to his home but harmed neither him nor his family. He chaired the Canadian organizing committee of the Second Imperial Press Conference in 1920, served as a member of the Governing Board of McGill University, and supported many philanthropic causes. In 1925, the 77-year-old Graham sold his publications to John W. McConnell but remained active in their management.
Hugh Graham married Annie Beekman Hamilton in March 1892 with whom he had a daughter, Alice Hamilton Graham, born in 1893. Because Hugh Graham had no male issue, on his death in 1938 the Barony of Atholstan became extinct. Alice Graham married Bernard Marsham Hallward in 1925.
