 He was born in Arnage, Aberdeenshire, Scotland in 1817, the son of John Leith Ross, was educated at Marischal College there and came to Upper Canada in 1836.He was reeve for Nichol township from 1854 to 1859 and warden for Wellington County from 1858 to 1859.He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada in an 1859 by-election in the North riding of Wellington and served until 1861.