More Info →Charles McIntosh Ross

C M Ross (1852-1924) was born in Scotland at Tain in Ross-shire. He worked as a draper for four years in London at Marshall and Snelgrove, before leaving for New Zealand in 1878 on the ‘Leucadia’ He was first employed in Wellington by Turnbull Smith and Co. Ltd before establishing a drapery store in Palmerston North in 1882. In 1883 he bought the 'Bon Marche' store on The Square and later traded as C M Ross & Co. He worked for the business, which stayed in the family until 1959, until his death. When the business built a big new department store on the same site in 1927 (now the City Library) it became known as Roscos. Charles Ross is the namesake of the Roslyn suburb, Rosemount shopping centre and Roslyn Intermediate School.