Fur trader, explorer.
Born on 23 June 1800 at New Brunswick House in present-day Ontario, the son of a fur trader and an Indian woman, he joined the Hudson's Bay Company in 1814 and served at Moose Factory from 1819 to 1834. He became a chief trader in 1836 and served at York Factory, Norway House (1836-41), Upper Fort Garry, and Oxford House before retiring to Port Hope, Ontario.
In 1857 he was called out of retirement to head a scientific expedition to explore the possibility of a route to Red River from Ontario. His associates, Henry Youle Hind and Simon James Dawson, were highly critical of his leadership, and he withdrew from the expedition in 1858. He died at Port Hope on 24 September 1863.
More information:
George Gladman, Dictionary of Canadian Biography IX, 319-20.
Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by John M. “Jack” Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.
Page revised: 18 June 2010
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