Scottish-born fur trader, merchant, politician, and philanthropist whose fortune and property established McGill University in Montreal.

McGill emigrated from Scotland to Canada, where he became involved in the fur trade. From 1775 he made his headquarters at Montreal and soon became an important figure in the fur trade.

McGill represented the west ward of Montreal in the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada (now Quebec) in 1792–96 and 1800–04; in 1793 he was appointed a member of the Executive Council of the province. During the War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain, he was an honorary colonel of the Montreal Infantry Volunteer Regiment. He bequeathed much of his estate to the founding of McGill University.