John Crawford was a wealthy financier of Irish origin. Born on February 25, 1814, he immigrated to Canada in 1829 at the age of 15. In 1842, he purchased the fief of Verdun, where he built a Victorian-style house called Verdun House and used Maison Nivard-De Saint-Dizier as a hunting camp.
John Crawford was a prominent Montréal businessman, who was the Vice-President of the Molson Bank, President of City Passenger Railway Company and Director of Montreal Gas Co. and Montreal Turnpike Trust. John Crawford subsequently headed the Montreal Hunting Club, 1868-1874, then 1876-1878 and again in 1888. On a regular basis, he invited the members of this association to the fief of Verdun. John Crawford also chaired the first public meeting of the municipality of Rivière Saint-Pierre and served as a Verdun City Councillor from 1894 to 1901. John Crawford died on April 5, 1903.
On September 28, 1837, he married Mary Elizabeth Molson, the niece of the renowned John Molson. They had 3 children together. In 1864, John Crawford then married Margaret Davidson Ellegood, with whom he had 4 children.
Today, the Crawford name is still ever-present on Verdun Borough territory. Crawford Park is a residential sector where rue Crawford is also located.
