George Simpson (administrator)
Encyclopedia
Scots-Quebecer
The Scot-Quebecers , are Quebecers who are of Scottish descent.-Background:Few Scots came to Quebec before the Seven Years War. Those who did blended in with the French population...
and employee of the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
(HBC). His title was Governor-in-Chief of Rupert's Land
Rupert's Land
Rupert's Land, or Prince Rupert's Land, was a territory in British North America, consisting of the Hudson Bay drainage basin that was nominally owned by the Hudson's Bay Company for 200 years from 1670 to 1870, although numerous aboriginal groups lived in the same territory and disputed the...
and administrator over the Northwest Territories
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...
and Columbia Department in British North America
British North America
British North America is a historical term. It consisted of the colonies and territories of the British Empire in continental North America after the end of the American Revolutionary War and the recognition of American independence in 1783.At the start of the Revolutionary War in 1775 the British...
(now Canada) from 1821 to 1860.
Early years
George Simpson was born in DingwallDingwall
Dingwall is a town and former royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It has a population of 5,026. It was formerly an east-coast harbor but now lies inland. Dingwall Castle was once the biggest castle north of Stirling. On the town's present-day outskirts lies Tulloch Castle, parts...
, Ross-shire
Ross-shire
Ross-shire is an area in the Highland Council Area in Scotland. The name is now used as a geographic or cultural term, equivalent to Ross. Until 1889 the term denoted a county of Scotland, also known as the County of Ross...
, Scotland, the only son of George Simpson, Sr., a writer in Dingwall. He was raised by his father, assisted by Sir George's grandmother Isobel Mackenzie and her two daughters Jean and Mary, in Dingwall. He was most likely born in early 1792, as he was a schoolfellow of his "relative," Aemilius Simpson, also born in 1792.
Career
At age sixteen, in 1808, he went to London and was trained in businessBusiness
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
at his uncle Geddes Mackenzie Simpson's sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
company, Graham and Simpson. His skills interested partner Andrew Colville
Andrew Colville
Andrew Wedderburn Colvile was a London governor of the Hudson's Bay Company. His son, Eden Colvile was appointed Governor of Rupert's Land.-External links:*...
(also known as Andrew Wedderburn Colvile), who was also a high ranking HBC executive. Colvile encouraged Simpson to join the London office of the HBC, and by 1821, Simpson became the Governor of Rupert's Land
Rupert's Land
Rupert's Land, or Prince Rupert's Land, was a territory in British North America, consisting of the Hudson Bay drainage basin that was nominally owned by the Hudson's Bay Company for 200 years from 1670 to 1870, although numerous aboriginal groups lived in the same territory and disputed the...
and the Columbia District
Columbia District
The Columbia District was a fur trading district in the Pacific Northwest region of British North America in the 19th century. It was explored by the North West Company between 1793 and 1811, and established as an operating fur district around 1810...
of the Hudson's Bay Company. Simpson oversaw the merging of the HBC and the North West Company
North West Company
The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what was to become Western Canada...
in 1821, and sought to streamline the company by closing competing fur trade
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
posts. He was instrumental in establishing Fort Vancouver
Fort Vancouver
Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading outpost along the Columbia River that served as the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company in the company's Columbia District...
on the Columbia River
Columbia River
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...
, the headquarters of HBC's Columbia District
Columbia District
The Columbia District was a fur trading district in the Pacific Northwest region of British North America in the 19th century. It was explored by the North West Company between 1793 and 1811, and established as an operating fur district around 1810...
. Not willing to remain in London to oversee operations, he maintained homes during his tenure in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
and the Red River Settlement. He was an avid traveler and visited fur trade posts across North America. A stern taskmaster, he pushed his traveling crewmen to extremes in order to travel as quickly as possible from post to post.
In recognition of his work with the HBC, Simpson was knighted by Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
in 1841. The Simpson River
Simpson River
Simpson River is a river of Chile located in the Aisén Region. The river originates east of the Andes mountains. It forms the western boundary of the city of Coihaique, which is bordered on the north by the Coihaique River, a tributary of the Simpson. In its inferior course, the river flows through...
in British Columbia and Simpson Pass
Simpson Pass
Simpson Pass, el. , is a mountain pass on the border between the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, in the area of the Ball Range. It is the prominence col for Mount Ball on the Continental Divide in the vicinity of Sunshine Village ski resort...
in what is now the Sunshine Village
Sunshine Village
Sunshine Village is a Canadian ski resort, located within Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. It is one of three major ski resorts located in the Banff National Park. The Sunshine base area is located Southwest of the town of Banff, Alberta. By car, it is about one hour and thirty minute drive...
area of Banff National Park
Banff National Park
Banff National Park is Canada's oldest national park, established in 1885 in the Rocky Mountains. The park, located 110–180 kilometres west of Calgary in the province of Alberta, encompasses of mountainous terrain, with numerous glaciers and ice fields, dense coniferous forest, and alpine...
were named in his honour as he was one of the first Europeans to travel through the region on his around the world journey in 1841.
He set off from London on May 3, 1841, and was traveling fifty miles a day on horseback and up to one hundred miles a day by canoe. Along the way, in the Red Deer Hills of present day Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, Simpson caught up with the Sinclair
James Sinclair (fur trapper)
James Sinclair was a trader and explorer with the Hudson's Bay Company. He was the son of Hudson's Bay Company factor William Sinclair, from Eastaquoy in Harray, and his Cree wife, Nahovway. He was a brother of William Sinclair. James was born in Rupert's Land and educated in Scotland at Edinburgh...
expedition of settlers he had ordered to the Columbia District
Columbia District
The Columbia District was a fur trading district in the Pacific Northwest region of British North America in the 19th century. It was explored by the North West Company between 1793 and 1811, and established as an operating fur district around 1810...
. Simpson told Sinclair that instructions had been left at Fort Edmonton
Fort Edmonton
Fort Edmonton was the name of a series of trading posts of the Hudson's Bay Company from 1795 to 1891, all of which were located in central Alberta, Canada...
as to how he was to cross the Rockies. Simpson wrote in his diary, "Each family had two or three carts, together with bands of horses, cattle and dogs. As they marched in single file their cavalcade extended above a mile long. The emigrants were all healthy and happy; living with the greatest abundance and enjoying the journey with great relish."
From Fort Vancouver
Fort Vancouver
Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading outpost along the Columbia River that served as the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company in the company's Columbia District...
, his journey across the Pacific led him to the Kingdom of Hawaii
Kingdom of Hawaii
The Kingdom of Hawaii was established during the years 1795 to 1810 with the subjugation of the smaller independent chiefdoms of Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lānai, Kauai and Niihau by the chiefdom of Hawaii into one unified government...
. In 1842, Simpson served as an envoy to Europe, to gain international recognition of the Kingdom. Along with Timoteo Haalilio and William Richards
William Richards (Hawaii)
William Richards was a missionary and politician in the Kingdom of Hawaii.-Family life:William Richards was born in Plainfield, Massachusetts on August 22, 1793. His father was James Richards and mother was Lydia Shaw. He was schooled under Moses Hallock in Plainfield, attended Williams College...
were commissioned as joint Ministers Plenipotentiary on April 8, 1842. Simpson, shortly thereafter, left for England, via Alaska and Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
, while Haalilio and Richards departed for the United States, via Mexico, on July 8, 1842. The Hawaiian delegation, while in the United States, secured the assurance of U.S. President John Tyler
John Tyler
John Tyler was the tenth President of the United States . A native of Virginia, Tyler served as a state legislator, governor, U.S. representative, and U.S. senator before being elected Vice President . He was the first to succeed to the office of President following the death of a predecessor...
on December 19, 1842 of its recognition of Hawaiian independence, and then proceeded to meet Simpson in Europe and secure formal recognition by Great Britain and France. On March 17, 1843, King Louis-Philippe of France recognizes Hawaiian independence at the urging of King Leopold I of Belgium
Leopold I of Belgium
Leopold I was from 21 July 1831 the first King of the Belgians, following Belgium's independence from the Netherlands. He was the founder of the Belgian line of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha...
, and on April 1, 1843, Lord Aberdeen
George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen
George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen KG, KT, FRS, PC , styled Lord Haddo from 1791 to 1801, was a Scottish politician, successively a Tory, Conservative and Peelite, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1852 until 1855.-Early life:Born in Edinburgh on 28 January 1784, he...
on behalf of Queen Victoria, assured the Hawaiian delegation that:
- "Her Majesty's Government was willing and had determined to recognize the independence of the Sandwich Islands under their present sovereign."
Personal life
Simpson fathered two sons, George Stewart 1827 and John Mackenzie 1829, with Margaret (Marguerite) Taylor. Soon after the birth of John Mackenzie, Simpson abandoned Margaret to marry his cousin, Geddes Mackenzie Simpson's daughter in 1830. Simpson shocked peers by neglecting to notify Margaret of his marriage or make any arrangements for the future of his two sons. Simpson fathered five children with Frances Ramsay Simpson: George Geddes 1832, Frances Webster 1833, Augusta D'Este 1841; Margaret Mackenzie 1843, and John Henry Pelly 1850 (named after his friend, Sir John Henry PellySir John Pelly, 1st Baronet
Sir John Henry Pelly, 1st Baronet, DL was an English businessman. During most of his career, he was an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company , serving as Governor of the HBC for three decades. He held other noteworthy offices, including Governor of the Bank of England...
). By other women he had five more children: Maria Louisa 1815, Isabella 1817, Maria 1822, and James Keith 1823. Descendants of these children have distinguished themselves in Canada in the fields of the fur trade, agriculture, medicine, politics, and the military.
Simpson’s life ended shortly after a visit by royalty. The Prince of Wales and his entourage visited Canada in the summer of 1860 and were entertained by Simpson on 29 August at the governor’s estate on Île Dorval, near Lachine. He arranged an exhibition featuring Iroquois bedecked with paint, feathers, and scarlet costumes. Nine days later Simpson was dead. He had appeared in good health during the celebrations, but on 1 September he suffered another attack of what was possibly apoplexy and on the morning of 7 September he quietly lapsed into a coma and died. Simpson is buried at Mount Royal Cemetery
Mount Royal Cemetery
Opened in 1852, Mount Royal Cemetery is a 165-acre terraced cemetery on the north slope of Mount Royal in the borough of Outremont, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The burial ground shares the mountain with the much larger adjacent Roman Catholic cemetery -- Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges...
.
Present day
A junior high school in St. AlbertSt. Albert, Alberta
St. Albert is a suburban city in Alberta, located northwest of Edmonton, on the Sturgeon River. It was originally settled as a Métis community, and is now the second largest city in the Edmonton area. St...
, Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, has been named after Simpson.
Further reading
- Cranny, Michael (1999). Horizons: Canada Moves West. Prentice Hall Gin Canada, p. 148-149. ISBN 0-13-012367-
- Peter C. Newman (2010). Mavericks: Canadian Rebels, Renegades and Antiheroes. HarperCollins Publishers, p. 45-78. ISBN 978-1-55468-420-5
- Lahey, D. T. (2011). George Simpson : Blaze of Glory. Publishers: Dundurn Press Limited. ISBN 9781554887736