James
McGill made a bequest of 46 acres of land, resulting eventually in creation
of McGill University. He left a will
in which he bequeathed his 46-acre farm, “Burnside”, to four
trustees, on the condition that they establish, within 10 years of his death,
a university or college in his name.
He also left 10,000 pounds to the trustees for the expenses of setting up and maintaining the institution. If the university was not established, the property and funds would revert to his heirs.
From
Dictionary
of Canadian Biography:“Perhaps warned by deaths in his family
circle, of his brothers John and Andrew in 1797 and 1805 and of his sister
Isobel, probably in 1808, McGill made
his will in January 1811.The major assets were real estate in Lower
and Upper Canada and investments in the United Kingdom, the latter not specified
as to character or amount.”
Dictionary of Canadian Biography: Reverend John Strachan certainly encouraged the benefaction. He had joined the McGill circle in 1808 when he married Ann Wood, Andrew McGill’s widow.