Origins of the Hudson's Bay Company

Submitted on December 20, 2011 - 11:26am

The Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and is one of the oldest in the world. Today, what most people know HBC as is “The Bay”.

The company also owns several other chains like Zellers. It operates retail stores throughout Canada and has it’s headquarter in Toronto, Ontario.

However, when the company first came into existence, it was very much a fur trading business.

In 1670, the company was incorporated by British royal charter as The Governor and Company of Adventures of England trading into Hudson’s Bay.

The company actually functioned as a de facto government in parts of North America before Europe and the United States laid claim to those territories. De facto means in practice but not necessarily by law.

At one point, the HBC was the largest landowner in the world with Rupert’s Land owning about 15% of North America. The company controlled the fur trade in the British controlled North America for several centuries.

The company’s traders and trappers forged relationships with many groups of First Nations and Native American; creating a vast network of trading posts that is one of the reasons why the company was so successful. In the late 19th Century, when the Dominion of Canada was formed and the HBC territories became a vast component of it.

The company became the largest private landowner.

In the Historical Museum, we have many artifacts of the HBC. As soon as you walk through the door and look on the display case on the right, you will find a Hudson’s Bay coat that was awarded to the Winter Festival Queen and Princesses in 1926.

On the side of the arm there are four stripes which indicate it was worth four beaver pelts. We also have a display upstairs on the company with various things like blankets, lamps, buckets that the HBC sold and traded.

Don Wang

Addendum:
In researching other Hudson’s Bay Company history the following information was found on the Hudson’s Bay Company website:
The misconception persists that originally the points were an indication of the
blanket price in beaver pelts. This is false. From time to time, given market
forces, there was a congruence of prices and points - whereby a 2 pt. blanket
might "cost" 2 beaver pelts. But this was merely coincidental.
I believe this would be the same for the jackets; the point system was developed to show the size of the blanket.

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Prince Albert Historical Society

The Prince Albert Historical Society is one of the oldest historical societies in Western Canada, first established in 1886 by residents who realized that the previous generation and they themselves were making history by developing Prince Albert and the surrounding region. A fire in 1890 at the Nisbet Academy destroyed the artifacts and records that the Society had collected, which also put an end to the Society for a time. In 1923 Professor Arthur Morton, the City of Prince Albert and citizens interested in local history reorganized the Historical Society. The Society established a museum in the Nisbet church located in Kinsmen (then Bryant) park and an archive in 1932. The museum was moved to the Prince Albert Court House on Central Avenue in 1946. The Nisbet Church was again established as a museum in 1972 and operated until 1975. When the Fire Department vacated the original fire hall in 1975 the City of Prince Albert invited the Society to establish a permanent museum in that building. Since 1977 when the permanent museum opened to the public the Prince Albert Historical Society has been based at the appropriately historic original fire hall at 10 River Street East. The Bill Smiley Archives are named in honour of the man who has done more to preserve Prince Albert history than any other, having spent years collecting and organizing important historical items. Today over 15,000 photographs. 300,000 negatives and 15,000 documents are kept at the Historical Museum. These records are a significant source for information on Prince Albert, the surrounding region and all of Canada. Access to the archives is available to the public and if you are interested in acquiring information please check our archives page. As of 2009 our Society is made up of 55 members and 14 member volunteer board of directors. Membership fees are $ 10.00 per year. We hold many annual events including the spring Crocus Tea, participate in the downtown Street Fair and host a Christmas Party. During the summer season a staff of 13 tour guides keeps the museums open while during the rest of the year the museums can visited accompanied with one of our dedicated volunteer members. The Prince Albert Historical Society is committed to preserving local history and being able to showcase it to local residents and visitors alike.

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