Career
He represented Ottawa in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1898 to 1902 as a Liberal member. He was born in New Edinburgh, the son of John Lumsden, and educated at the Ottawa Collegiate Institute. He worked for lumbermen Joseph Merrill Currier and James MacLaren before going into business on his own in 1881.
Lumsden acquired timber limits in the Temiskaming region and also owned lumber mills and a fleet of steamships in that region.