“Going to Winnipeg” as the TV commercial said, isn’t necessarily on everyone’s agenda. However, to view the non-digitized Hudson Bay Company records a trip to Winnipeg may be necessary. A small portion of the Hudson Bay Company records are digitized and online. Information on those records can be found at my blog Using the Hudson Bay Company Archives for Genealogy. Most of the records, however, are not digitized but must be view at the Archives of Manitoba in Winnipeg. There are options other than travel to Winnipeg t0 see them. You can interlibrary loan microfilms of the records or hire a genealogist to retrieve the records for you. A list of researchers can be found here. As I explained in my previous post, the Hudson Bay Company Archives is housed at the Archives of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The HBC records include Company Post Journals and Account Books that are digitized and Biographical Information Sheets, Post Maps, Name Indexes, and Ships’ Histories.
The Biographical Information Sheets contain more personal information on HBC the the year the contract was signed and for how long, the trading posts the employee worked at, residence when the contract was signed and other information such as wife and children. Some of them include birth or baptismal dates or marriage date and place. The Company Contract Index contains information on some employees who signed contracts with the company. They include information such as the date the contract was signed, how long it was for, and the trading posts the employee worked at. Not all the employee contracts are included in this database.
In my previous post on the online post journals, I mentioned Hugh Linklater. His name in the Contract Index tells us that in 1824, he signed a three-year contract as a mechanic with the company. His annual salary was 22 pounds sterling. He signed his contract in Sandwick, Orkney Islands, Scotland. There are several Linklaters from the Orkney Island who worked for the company. It would be interesting to research their relationships. Were the more recent ones influenced to work for the company by the those who were hired first. Although Hugh appears in the contract index, he does not have a biographical sheet. Another Linklater, Andrew, has a biographical sheet and appears in the contract index.
The biographical sheet for Andrew Linklater states that he was from the parish of Brick, Harra, Orkney and that he entered service on 14 April 1828. He worked as a middleman and sailor in the Moose District until 16 Oct 1839 when he sailed home on the ship the Prince of Wales. A middleman was a crewman in the middle of a boat or canoe who was an unskilled laborer. (https://www.hbcheritage.ca/classroom/glossary). A side note in the biographical sheet states that, in 1844, Andrew’s home parish was Knarston, Harray, Orkney and he was fishing for whales in the Davis Straits. Davis Straits is in the Atlantic Ocean between Greenland and Baffin Island. His service contract states he was of the Parish of Breck, Harra, Orkney Islands, Scotland. He signed on for 5 years in 1828 as laborer. It looks like her signed on for another 5 years since he didn’t go home until 1839. Orkney Island was the last stopping point for HBC ships sailing from England to Hudson Bay. The ships would arrive there and hire employees to work for the company. Contracts ran from 1 – 5 years.
The Post Maps and Ships’ Histories are what you would expect them to be; a map with the Hudson Bay Company posts located on them. Using the map, you can locate what area of Canada the trading post was in. The map shows the vastness of the Hudson Bay Company’s territory and in fact of Canada. Travel by freighter and light canoe was the mode of transportation for many years. The logistics of getting the furs to Montreal and then Britain are fascinating. Furs and supplies were relayed from one point to another. Canoes from the far west would travel to a certain point, drop off furs and load up supplies then return home. The furs they dropped off would then be shuttled to the next drop off point.
Hudson Bay Company records can be found at here. Enjoy your search.
