Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Hudson's Bay Company fonds
General material designation
- Textual record
- Cartographic material
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
- Source of title proper: The title is based on contents of fonds.
Level of description
Fonds
Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
Physical description area
Physical description
4 cm of textual records & 4 cartographic records
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
The Hudson's Bay Company was formed as "The Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudsons Bay" on May 6, 1670. One of the partners was Prince Rupert, cousin to the King of England at the time, and to this company Charles II gave all the land whose rivers drained into the Hudson Bay, the land becoming known as Rupert's Land. As early as 1718, Cree traders from the Peace were making the long journey to Hudson's Bay with furs to barter for European goods. In 1788 the North West Company established Fort Chipewyan on Lake Athabasca, and at about the same time traders started building posts on the lower portions of the Peace River. Alexander Mackenzie made his famous trip up the Peace River in 1792-1793, and the North West Company founded Dunvegan in 1805 to serve local traders and act as a provisioning post supplying bison, moose and garden produce for their employees and traveling brigades. Fort Dunvegan was a substantial post for its time, surrounded by a stockade with corner bastions. The compound included a large officers' house, smaller houses for the men, an ice house, blacksmith shop, warehouse, trading shop, and powder magazine. Dunvegan also had value as a staging post for the North West Company's plans to develop the trade beyond the mountains in the interior of British Columbia (New Caledonia). In 1821, after a period of destructive competition, the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company joined forces, retaining the H.B.C. name. York Boats brought supplies into the Forts at Dunvegan and Ft. St. John from Eastern Canada. They came via the Churchill River, over the Methy Portage to the Clearwater River, then to the Athabasca River and up the Peace River. There was an amazing amount and variety of goods at a Fur Trade Post such as Dunvegan--everything from drugs to sewing materials to fancy clothing. Dunvegan was the trading centre for much of the Peace Region, the nearest other posts being at Ft. St. John and the Forks of the Smoky and Peace Rivers near Peace River Crossing. Chief Factors at the post kept daily journals and financial ledgers, recording accounts of purchases made and furs brought in by individual trappers and traders. The ledgers also recorded inventories at the post and goods transferred from one post to another. Although the Hudson's Bay Company records were kept in English, many of the traders were Métis, and French was their language of choice. When they could, they transcribed the hunters and trappers name in the native tongue (e.g. Testawitz). When the name was too gutteral to sound out, the traders would give them a descriptive name in French, such as L'Eau, Tranquille, and La Glace. Often trappers were identified by their relationship to other trappers (e.g. L'Eau's 2nd son), or by their occupation (e.g. L'Oeil Blanc, Voyaguer), nickname (e.g. Hofs alias Chocolat), nationality (e.g. Une Ois, Slave Indian) or dual names (e.g. Nesplatte 3rd Son, Ah neh thir say).
Custodial history
The records came in from a variety of sources. Accession 68.258-260 were found in the attic of an old building by Marvin Belcourt who gave them to Mrs. Philip Purves who gave them to Centre Street School. They made it into the hands of L.T. Vandermuellen, a school principal, who gave them to the Museum. Accession 72.501 belonged to the donor who did business with the HBC. Accession 84.1398 was found in the attic of the Harry Dewar house. Accession AR88.16 belonged to the Hudson’s Bay Company. Accession AR90.7 belonged to E. Glodek. Accession AR92.38 belonged to Vern Barrow.
Scope and content
The fonds contains material related to the operations of the Hudson’s Bay Company in the Peace River Region. It includes daybooks, receipts and maps.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
The records came in from a variety of sources. Accession
68.258-260 were donated by L.T. Vandermuellen. Accession AR88.16 includes items requested by/purchased from the Hudson’s Bay Company. The rest were donated by their owners as written in Custodial History.
Arrangement
Language of material
Script of material
Location of originals
The original records in accession AR88.16 are held by the Hudson’s Bay Company.
Availability of other formats
The ledgers in accession 68.258-260 have been microfilmed by the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives in Winnipeg, Manitoba. A copy of the microfilm and a digitized copy of the microfilm are also available at the Peace River Museum, Archives and Mackenzie Centre.
Restrictions on access
There are no restrictions.
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Please contact the Peace River Museum, Archives and Mackenzie Centre for information.
Finding aids
Associated materials
Accruals
No further accruals are expected.
Alpha-numeric designations
This fonds includes the following accessions: 68.258-260; 72.501; 84.1398; AR88.16; AR90.7 and AR92.38.