Letters from Rupert's Land, 1826-1840

by Hargrave, James

• ISBN13: 9780773535732
• ISBN10: 077353573X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-11-23
• Publisher: McGill Queens Univ

Summary

James Hargrave left an economically depressed Scotland in 1819, found work as a North West Company wintering clerk, and went on to survive the company's 1821 merger with the rival Hudson's Bay Company and subsequent downsizing to spend most of his forty years in the fur trade at York Factory on the desolate shores of Hudson Bay in the service of Governor George Simpson. A prodigious letter writer, Hargrave saved drafts of his business and personal correspondence in letterbooks. He wrote to family and friends settled in Beauharnois County on the south shore of the St Lawrence and in the Tweed valley in Scotland, as well as to his future wife, Letitia Mactavish, and members of her fur-trading family in Argyllshire on Scotland's west coast. His letters document the experiences of a "lowland" Scottish family in North America, as well as happenings at the administrative centre of the Hudson's Bay Company fur trade. He expresses his views on religion, history, politics, and literature, describes his romantic attachments, and makes clear his attitudes towards the company's Native partners in the fur trade. Rich source material for readers interested in migration literature, social history, religious studies, women's studies, and the history of the fur trade, the letters collected here make a significant addition to two earlier volumes - The Letters of Letitia Hargrave, and The Hargrave Correspondence 1821-1843.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments	p. vii
Illustrations	p. xi
Introduction	p. 3
Engagement Contract With The North West Company, 182O	p. 44
Selected Letters From The Letter books Of James Hargrave
3 January 1826-24 March 1827	p. 51
24 March 1827-1 December 1827	p. 87
2 December 1827-1 August 1828	p. 110
25 August 1828-11 July 1829	p. 138
13 July 1829-24 June 1830	p. 155
25 June 1830-7 July 1831	p. 182
8 July 1831-25 July 1832	p. 198
25 July 1832-19 July 1833	p. 230
20 July 1833-1 September 1834	p. 249
2 September 1834-13 July 1835	p. 269
14 July 1835-31 May 1836	p. 274
2 June 1836-13 March 1838	p. 284
15 March 1838-15 September 1838	p. 323
15 September 1838-25 July 1839	p. 343
26 July 1839-18 May 1840	p. 357
Journal Of 1828-1829	p. 373
Bibliography	p. 385
Index	p. 393
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.