I should know who this is....but I don't !!

.....
It came from a well known Montreal upper crust family.
I'm certain he's British or Canadian.
I'd guesstimate it's from the late 30's to mid 40's.

 

Hm, not sure about that signature. Maybe somebody else can get it. Looks kind of like Wholstan ... but I was thinking maybe his first initial is at the beginning followed by his surname. Thinking of it that way, I haven't come up with anything.

 

It think he is Sir Hugh Graham, 1st Baron Atholstan, who was the publisher of the Montreal Star newspaper. The signature, then, is Atholstan.

Look at this Wikipedia article about him. The photo is similar:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Graham,_1st_Baron_Atholstan

Longer (and very interesting) biographical sketch from the Dictionary of Canadian Biography:
http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/graham_hugh_1848_1938_16E.html

This one has a photo of him also:
https://books.google.com/books?id=gCE-AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA6-PA10&lpg=RA6-PA10&dq="atholstan"+montreal+star&source=bl&ots=LrehldHRWD&sig=XNrdzy6j_EN_UR0R2DCCWjqmiHU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=7_sLVcScBtOayATjvYKgCA&ved=0CDgQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q="atholstan" montreal star&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=I604AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA13-PA32&lpg=RA13-PA32&dq="atholstan"+montreal+star&source=bl&ots=Q8doaYGbdf&sig=cb2Tb8xa-5WMI9lFjloDbN6NOUY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=7_sLVcScBtOayATjvYKgCA&ved=0CD4Q6AEwBg#v=onepage&q="atholstan" montreal star&f=false

Here is a more recent article about the house where he lived. at the bottom it includes a photo of him as a young man. There are photos from 1910 and 2012 of the house. It's interesting how little it has changed:
http://mtltimes.ca/social-life/hugh-graham-house/


Fig

 

I notice that his title and rank in the peerage was granted to him later, and under the first link it says, "This granting of a peerage title to Graham was the final impetus for the drafting of the Nickle Resolution, which requested the Sovereign to cease granting knighthoods and peerage titles to Canadian subjects."

Fig

 

Fig...may your bushes flower
your trees bear fruit
and a warm spring breeze waft through your front porch !

& thank you !

 

You're welcome, komokwa -- I can use the spring weather! Today is really nice, but will be cooler on the weekend. I will think of warm spring breezes...