Sir George Simpson | |
|---|---|
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:Sir_George_Simpson,_1792%E2%80%931860_(cropped).jpg) Simpson in a portrait by Stephen Pearce | |
| Governor-in-Chief of Rupert's Land | |
| In office 29 March 1821 – 7 September 1860[a] | |
| Preceded by | William Williams |
| Succeeded by | William MacTavish |
| Charter | Hudson's Bay Company |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Unknown date, c. 1792[1] Dingwall, Ross-shire, Scotland |
| Died | (aged 68) Lachine, Province of Canada |
| Resting place | Mount Royal Cemetery |
| Spouse | Frances Ramsay Simpson |
| Children | 11 |
| Relatives | Thomas Simpson (nephew) |
| Awards | Knight Bachelor (1841) |
| Signature | &sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:Signature_of_George_Simpson_(c._1792_%E2%80%93_1860).png) |
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:Manoir_Simpson,_1888,_Sir_George_Simpson,_Lachine.jpg)
Sir George Simpson (c. 1792 – 7 September 1860) was a Scottish explorer and colonial governor of the Hudson's Bay Company during the period of its greatest power. From 1820 to 1860, he was in practice, if not in law, the British viceroy for the whole of Rupert's Land, an enormous territory of 3.9 millions square kilometres corresponding to nearly forty per cent of modern-day Canada.[3][4]
His efficient administration of the west was a precondition for the confederation of western and eastern Canada, which later created the Dominion of Canada. He was noted for his grasp of administrative detail and his physical stamina in traveling through the wilderness. Excepting voyageurs and their Siberian equivalents, few men have spent as much time travelling in the wilderness.
Simpson was also the first person known to have "circumnavigated" the world by land, and became the most powerful man of the North American fur trade during his lifetime.[5][6]
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- ^ Raffan 2007, p.26.
- ^ À la découverte de l'ensemble conventuel des Soeurs de Sainte-Anne à Lachine, un lieu de tradition éducative / recherche et rédaction, Marie-Claude Ravary et quatre autres, p. 4-5
- ^ Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Simpson, Sir George
- ^ Canada's history, Rupert's Land
- ^ An Overland Journey round the World during the years 1841 and 1842, SIR GEORGE SIMPSON, 1847, The Private Collection of William S. Reese: Part Two, Christie's.
- ^ George Stewart Simpson, Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, National Park Service, August 14, 2020