Article

Sir James Hamet Dunn

Published Online May 28, 2008

Last Edited December 15, 2013

Sir James Hamet Dunn, financier, industrialist (b at Bathurst, NB 29 Oct 1874; d at St Andrews, NB 1 Jan 1956). Dunn attended Dalhousie Law School 1895-98 and, after stints as a lawyer in Edmonton and Montréal, turned to investment banking.

Sir James Hamet Dunn

Sir James Hamet Dunn, financier, industrialist (b at Bathurst, NB 29 Oct 1874; d at St Andrews, NB 1 Jan 1956). Dunn attended Dalhousie Law School 1895-98 and, after stints as a lawyer in Edmonton and Montréal, turned to investment banking. From the Montreal Stock Exchange, he graduated to the city of London, England, in 1905 and prospered in the arbitrage trade and in underwriting Canadian utilities and industries. In 1921 he was knighted for wartime services. In 1935 he gained control of the bankrupt ALGOMA STEEL INC, Sault Ste Marie, Ont. As principal and unchallenged owner, and assisted by his friend C.D. HOWE, Dunn used his position to control the value of the Algoma stock on the market and oversaw Algoma's emergence as a profitable company.