Edwin Atwater

Edwin Atwater (September 14, 1808 – June 18, 1874) was a Canadian businessman, corporate director and municipal politician in Montreal.

The jury acquitted Jalbert, in spite of strong public opinion by the anglophone community in favour of a guilty verdict.

[2] He then started a business dealing in paints, varnish and plate-glass with his brother, Albert; they would become the first people to import glass into Canada.

[1] In 1838 Atwater was a juror in the trial of François Jalbert, who was accused of murdering a British officer named George Weir during the Lower Canada Rebellion.

[4] In 1846, Ignace Bourget, a Roman Catholic bishop in Montreal, wanted to start a bank in the city that would allow people to deposit small amounts of money and would be less likely to fail.

[6] Atwater did not oppose government investment into water infrastructure because he felt it would increase economic development in the city.

The bank's directors appointed Atwater to a three-person committee to create a plan to ensure that clients would continue to be able to withdraw their money.

[11] In 1872, Atwater purchased $2000 worth of stocks in the Montreal Colonization Railway, joining other businessmen with investing into the company.

The goal of the railway was to increase the transport of goods from the Ottawa Valley to Montreal, thereby reinforcing the city's status as a hub of commercial activity.

The City of Montreal named Atwater Avenue after him in 1871 in the Saint-Antoine ward that he represented as a municipal councillor.