Denis Robert Arthur Yale (November 11, 1860 – March 6, 1917) was a Canadian politician and businessman, who became one of the founders of Plateau-Mount Royal in Montreal.

He also acquired and gave his name to the Yale Islands on Rivière des Mille Îles, Saint-Eustache, located about 20 miles from downtown Montreal.

Sir George Simpson, the de facto Viceroy of Prince Rupert's Land, and resident of Montreal's Golden Square Mile.

His father was in the fur business along with his brothers, including Arthur's uncle, Major George Henry Yale, 1st mayor of Louiseville.

[23] Arthur Yale started his career working in the meat industry, first as a tallow merchant in the East End abbatoirs, then as superintendent.

[26][27][28] By 1892, at 32 years of age, he founded with Bayard and three others the North America Mining Company, with a capital stock of $200,000, or about 300 million dollars in 2024 money in relation to GDP.

A few years later, manufacturers were expanding their operations in Montreal on the east side of Mount-Royal, creating a growing demand for a city adapted to their needs.

With the advances in technologies, especially electricity, manufacturers didn't need to stay around the St-Lawrence river, and could locate their factories closer to their customers, lowering their cost of distribution.

[36] When came the time to incorporate the growing village known as DeLorimier, the town would elect Yale on January 12, 1895, as its first Secretary-Treasurer, being in charge of financial transactions such as raising capital through bond offerings.

[43] In 1898, Arthur Yale and Treffle Dubreuil founded a wholesale meat dealer enterprise named the North Western Live Stock Company.

[44] Yale's partner, Dubreuil, was an associate of banker Philorum Bonhomme on Saint Jacques Street, the cofounder of the first French-Canadian insurance company named 'La Sauvegarde'; an enterprise he cofounded with politician Henri Bourassa, Senator Raoul Dandurand, Montreal mayor Sir Hormidas Laporte, and Provincial bank president Guillaume-Narcisse Ducharme.

[62] In 1899, Yale is taking legal action against Ferdinand Bayard, Alderman of DeLorimier, on accusations of corruption and bribery with the Imperial Bank of Canada, hoping to have him removed from the city council.

[63] In 1901, Yale was made the representative of the Provident Trust and Investment Co., one of the foremost financial institutions at the time, dealing in real estate and mortgages, with a capital stock of $500,000 and Alphonse Desjardins, mayor of Montreal, as first board director.

[64][65][66] During his public office at DeLorimier, he was involved in inviting the manufacturers to establish themselves in the city, in exchange for tax reductions, fostering economic growth to the area.

Yale was an attendee at the banquet of the Montreal Club as well as of the first annual dinner of the Montreal Harbor Commissioners, along with Lt. Col. George Washington Stephens Jr., member of the League of Nations, Colonel William P. Anderson, Louis de Gaspé Beaubien, Manuel Carneiro de Sousa Bandeira, prussian Franz Coels von der Brügghen, and other consul generals and colonels.

[76] On a debate, Deguire was trying to take credit from Yale's work as alderman of the city, such as his aqueduct project and other developments for the greater good of Montreal.

[85][81] The first home was furnished by furnitures imported from Europe, such as a hand sculpted German piano, and with various European paintings, which had been transmitted in their family for generations.

[85] Claire Yale's manor on the island, which was extended over time, featured an indoor pool, 5 garages, 4 fireplaces, a servant or guest house, and other facilities.

E. Devitt, proprietor of Iron Cat Co., interior designers for Baron Hugh Graham, Maison Alcan and Upper Westmount clients.

[84][89][90][91] With the industrialisation of Montreal over the generations, the islands stopped being completely used as a secluded private summer retreat, and started to evolve to meet the growing demand in waterfront properties.

He was also a land speculator in Westmount and was in a partnership with industrialists William Strachan, cofounder of Her Majesty's Theatre, Senator Alfred Thibaudeau and mayor Raymond Préfontaine.

[109][110][111] One of the Yales was a member of the Real Estate Exchange under president Ucal-Henri Dandurand, an associate of Sir Herbert Samuel Holt, cofounder of Ritz-Carlton Montreal.