A Pioneer

J.-A.-I. Craig

Despite his English-sounding surname, J.A.I. Craig came from a French-speaking family. His great-grandfather, a soldier in a Scottish regiment, had settled near Chambly around 1800, married a French Canadian and raised a family. J.A.I. Craig was a prosperous furniture manufacturer in MontrĂ©al. Fascinated by Jablochkov's arc lamp, which he had seen at the Paris World Fair, he began to construct arc lamps and incandescent lights himself. He founded a business under the name "Craig et Fils" and tried to make a place for himself in the street lighting market, but his business—like so many others—was soon absorbed by the powerful Royal Electric Company.