(died 15 July 1936, aged 79), cheesemaker. (James R. May, Jim May) Born in England. Parents: George May and his wife Elizabeth Brighton. James R. May came to Canada with his parents at age two. He trained as a cheesemaker, and worked at his trade at cheese factories in several parts of Ontario. In 1905, or a few years earlier, he bought the Burn Brae (name also given as Burns Brae) Cheese Factory at Martintown The factory burned on two occasions, but he rebuilt it. James R. May, who operated the factory personally as well as owning it, sold it in May 1936, or, as another account seems to hold, owned it till his death. He was also, in his earlier years, the operator of the King’s Road Cheese Factory in the Martintown area. James R. May was described in his obituaries as “one of the best known cheesemakers in Eastern Ontario.” He died at his home in Martintown. (children surviving him: 1) Member of United Church. Mason. He was buried at the North Branch Cemetery. He was married in Vermont in 1894 (the year before he came to Martintown) to Lily (Lillie) Niles (1873-1961). He was the brother of John Brighton May. See also Harvey MacMillan.

Standard Freeholder 17 July 1936, Glengarry News 31 July 1936 * gravestone * Rhodes Grant, ii, 61, 62 * “Cheese Factories in Martintown Area Sold to Kraft and Are Closed,” (clipping, evidently GN summer 1971) * Marilyn H. S. Light, “’In Living Memory’,” on Charlottenburgh Township Cheese factories, Glengarry Life 1977 * his cheese factory at Martintown burns, GN 21 July 1905