Born in Glasgow, the son of Adam Ferrie and Rachel Campbell, he came to Montreal from Scotland in 1824 to work in his father's new wholesale and forwarding company.

According to an article in The Spectator from Jan. 21, 1947, "The old York street trail was selected by several prominent citizens of Hamilton as the site for their fine new homes.

At York and Queen streets was West Lawn, the home of Colin C. Ferrie, Hamilton's first mayor."

Ferrie was a major player in local commerce and was a founding member of the Hamilton Board of Trade that was formed in 1845.

He arranged civic financing from the Gore Bank and tried to prepare the city for an anticipated wave of poor and sick Irish immigrants fleeing the Great Famine of Ireland.

1850s: After his mayoral term, he ran into financial problems after a series of setbacks that included two vessels carrying company goods sinking in Lake Ontario.