James Baird (30 November 1828 – 30 May 1915) was Scottish born and came to Newfoundland at 16 and soon established himself as a prominent merchant.
He was an early steam yacht owner: GRIFFIN was built in 1865 for him by Aitken & Mansel, Whiteinch, Glasgow, Scotland.
By the mid-1880s, they had entered the fish export trade and survived both the St. John's fire in 1892 and the banking collapse a few years later.
It was a dispute over the location and operation of a lobster factory on land deemed to be assigned to the French.
In 1898 he was appointed to the Legislative Council of Newfoundland, a position he held for the remainder of his life.