Career
He was the second president of the Bank of Montreal. In 1841, he acquired the seigneuries of Lanaudière and Carufel. Gerrard was born in Ireland at Gibbstown House, County Meath.
The Gerrards were a prosperous Anglo-Irish family who had held Gibbstown, an estate of some 1,270 acres, since the mid 17th century, and previous to that were seated at nearby Clongill Castle.
Samuel was probably a younger brother of the John Gerrard (d1838) who was High Sheriff of Meath in 1818. By 1785, at the age of eighteen, Samuel Gerrard was established at Montreal as a merchant concerned with the fur trade from Timiskaming.
Gerrard acted as the firm"s accountant, receiving a quarter of the profits.