Memorable Manitobans: Thomas Hutchins (?-1790)

HBC chief factor, naturalist.

He first joined the Hudson's Bay Company in 1766 as a surgeon at York Fort. In 1771 he observed and reported on an eclipse of the sun, and in 1776 published his findings on the congealment of mercury by cold. Later experiments gained him the Royal Society’s Copley Medal in 1783. After his retirement from the field he become corresponding secretary of the HBC. Much of the natural history attributed to him was actually written by Andrew Graham.

More information:

“Andrew Graham and Thomas Hutchins: Collaboration and Plagiarism in 18th-Century Natural History,” by Glyndwr Williams, The Beaver (spring 1978): 4-14.

Thomas Hutchins, Dictionary of Canadian Biography IV, 377-78.

Sources:

Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by John M. “Jack” Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.

Page revised: 10 March 2008

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations.

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