MHS Centennial Business: Hudson’s Bay Company

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The Hudson’s Bay Company is the oldest company in North America, and the second-oldest in the world.

In 1670, Charles II granted a charter to the “Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Tradeing into Hudson’s Bay.” Its initial post was at Rupert’s House in what is now Quebec, followed by posts at Moose Factory and Albany in present-day Ontario. Although as early as 1673 attempts had been made to establish a post at Port Nelson (near York Factory), conflict with the French interfered. In 1684 Radisson helped the Hudson’s Bay Company to establish York Fort at the mouth of the Hayes River, the first fort and the oldest permanent settlement in the province of Manitoba.

The achievements of Hudson’s Bay Company are too numerous to describe in detail. The fur trade dominated its first two hundred years when it acted as the governing body for the vast region known as Rupert’s Land. Gradually the retail trade developed which is now the focus of its operations. And although London, England was the headquarters for three centuries, the heart of its operations for a large part of that time was York Factory and later Winnipeg, Manitoba. Even though the headquarters now resides in Toronto, the importance attached to Winnipeg and Manitoba is reflected in its 1994 donation to this province of its museum collection and archives, the former to the Museum of Man and Nature and the latter to the Archives of Manitoba. Through the Hudson’s Bay History Foundation, set up with the tax savings from that donation, it is providing ongoing funding for these treasures as well as supporting The Beaver magazine and Canada’s National History Society, both based in Winnipeg. And, of course they are active retailers in Manitoba operating stores under the Zeller’s name and The Bay.

Memorial tablets honouring employees who lost their lives in the First World War and Second World War were originally located at Beaver House, the London (England) headquarters for the Hudson’s Bay Company since 1940. The tablets were donated to St. James Garlickhythe Anglican Church in London following the transfer of the HBC headquarters to Canada in 1970 and the demolition of Beaver House. The tablets are currently located in the church's tower.

In January 1999, an MHS Centennial Business Award was presented to the Hudson’s Bay Company by Judith Hudson Beattie.

Governors

Period	Governor
1670-1682	His Highness Prince Rupert
1683-1685	HRH James, Duke of York (King James II)
1685-1692	John, Lord Churchill (Duke of Marlborough)
1692-1696	Sir Stephen Evans
1696-1700	Sir William Trumbull
1700-1712	Sir Stephen Evans
1712-1743	Sir Bibye Lake
1743-1746	Benjamin Pitt
1746-1750	Thomas Knapp
1750-1760	Sir Atwell Lake
1760-1770	Sir William Baker
1770-1782	Bibye Lake
1782-1799	Samuel Wegg
1799-1807	Sir James Winter Lake
1807-1812	William Mainwaring
1812-1822	Joseph Berens Jr.
1822-1852	Sir John Henry Pelly
1852-1856	Andrew Wedderburn Colvile (?-1856)
1856-1858	John Shepherd
1858-1863	Henry Hulse Berens
1863-1868	Sir Edmund Walker Head
1868-1869	The Earl of Kimberley
1868-1874	Sir Stafford Northcote (Earl of Iddesleigh)
1874-1880	George Joachim Goschen
1880-1889	Eden Colvile (1819-1893)
1889-1914	Donald Alexander Smith [Lord Strathcona] (1820-1914)
1914-1915	Sir Thomas Skinner
1915-1925	Sir Robert Molesworth Kindersley
1925-1931	Charles Vincent Sale
1931-1952	SIr Patrick Ashley Cooper
1952-1965	William Johnston Keswick
1965-1970	Derick Heathcoat Armory
1970-1982	George Taylor Richardson (1924-2014)
1982-1994	Donald Scott McGiverin (c1924-1998)

Land Commissioners

Term	Land Commissioner
1879-?	Charles John Brydges (1827-1889)
?-1900	?
1900-1911	Jacob Lonsdale Doupe (1867-1952)
1911-1920	James Thomson (1859-1933)

Manitoba Employees Killed in the First World War

Name	Occupation	Service	Rank	Birth Date	Death Date
Osborne James Armstrong [Holy Trinity]	Grocery Clerk	5th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	10 May 1884	29 September 1916
Albert Ferguson Blackie [Next of Kin]	Clerk	16th Battalion, Highland Light Infantry	Captain	1880	17 April 1917
Thomas Booth	Checker	4th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	24 February 1877	30 September 1915
Cyril James Coleman	Bandsman	5th Siege Battery, Canadian Garrison Artillery	Gunner	12 March 1895	21 April 1917
William Foster [Next of Kin]	Warehouseman	8th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	12 April 1888	5 October 1917
Ewan Victor Gell	Merchant	27th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Lieutenant	7 January 1888	3 May 1917
William J. R. Gorman	Salesman	8th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	23 December 1892	7 February 1917
William Lester [Next of Kin]	Shipper	2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles	Private	5 January 1886	30 November 1920
Ewen Lawrence Bedson McLean [Next of Kin]	Advertising Manager	5th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Lieutenant	16 August 1883	9 April 1917
Charles Stobie McLean	Clerk	44th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	18 October 1894	22 October 1916
Alexander Scott Mitchell [Knox United]	Bookkeeper	Lord Strathcona's Horse	Private	23 November 1893	8 August 1918
Leslie Webster Page [Next of Kin, St. Philips Anglican]	Clerk	78th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	1891	30 December 1916
William Hodson Stewart [MacGregor]	Purser / Fur Trader	5th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	7 May 1888	25 September 1915
John Swanson [Next of Kin]	Clerk	27th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	3 July 1888	3 May 1917
Harold Wilfred Welstead	Clerk	27th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Sergeant	10 December 1886	4 April 1916
Norman John Westerberg [Next of Kin]	Teamster	27th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	16 February 1898	10 August 1918

See also:

MHS Centennial Business: Hudson’s Bay Company

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Hudson’s Bay Company Reserve (Assiniboine Avenue, Winnipeg)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Hudson’s Bay Company Building (450 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Hudson’s Bay Company Garage (115 Garry Street, Winnipeg)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Hudson’s Bay Company Wholesale Building / Gibraltar House (77 Main Street, Winnipeg)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Hudson’s Bay Company Steam Engine (Elphinstone, RM of Yellowhead)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Hudson’s Bay Company Store / Seven Sisters Post Office / Seven Sisters Falls School No. 2218 (Seven Sisters Falls, RM of Whitemouth)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Hudson’s Bay Company Cemetery (Norway House, Northern Manitoba)

Sources:

Company of Adventurers by Peter C. Newman, Viking Penguin Inc., Appendix 4.

Hudson’s Bay Company, www.hbcheritage.ca.

61st Battalion and 144th Battalion Souvenir booklets

We thank Darryl Toews and the St. James Garlickhythe Anglican Church for providing additional information used here.

Page revised: 4 May 2024