The History of the Hudson's Bay Company

Polar Record ◽  
1935 ◽  
Vol 2 (9) ◽  
pp. 54-60
Keyword(s):  
Fur Trade ◽  
Hudson Bay ◽  
Hudson's Bay Company ◽  
History Of ◽  
Charles Ii ◽  
Privy Councillor ◽  
Hudson’S Bay Company

Early in the reign of Charles II two Frenchmen—Radisson and Groseilliers—were unsuccessful in eliciting interest in their own country in a scheme for establishing a fur trade with Hudson Bay, whither they had penetrated a few years previously. They consequently made their way to Boston, where they met Sir George Carteret, Privy Councillor to Charles II, Vice-Chamberlain of the Household, Treasurer of the Navy, then on a commission to Massachusetts. Sir George took them with him to England and introduced them to the King and Prince Rupert, who were much interested in their scheme. Action was delayed temporarily owing to the war with Holland and because the command of the sea was held by the Dutch, but meanwhile Radisson and Groseilliers were housed in Windsor at the expense of the King.

Shoes, Canoes, and Lives in Unexpected Archives: Searching in Fur Trade Ledgers beyond the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacy Nation-Knapper
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
North American ◽  
Fur Trade ◽  
Economic Data ◽  
Hudson's Bay Company ◽  
Cultural Information ◽  
The North ◽  
History Of ◽  
Hudson’S Bay Company

This article illuminates the existence and utility of fur trade ledgers and account books held in repositories beyond those held in the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives. While the vast holdings of the HBCA are a phenomenal resource for researchers of the North American fur trade, many smaller repositories across the continent hold fur trade sources that can complement research conducted in other institutions. Such sources can, when examined with an eye to the cultural information they contain, reveal far more about the cultural history of North America than simply the economic data for which they were created.

Governor Samuel Wegg, intelligent layman of the Royal Society, 1753-1802

1978 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-199 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Royal Society ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Hudson Bay ◽  
Hudson's Bay Company ◽  
Natural Knowledge ◽  
Commercial Company ◽  
Early Exploration ◽  
Charles Ii ◽  
Christopher Wren ◽  
Hudson’S Bay Company

'The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge and the Hudson’s Bay Company, trading in Rupert’s Land, North America, might seem unlikely institutions to have engendered any close associations in the first several centuries of their existence. Yet, even before the commercial company was chartered by Charles II in 1670, the Society had shown keen interest in the reported happenings in Hudson Bay, and had listened to letters and short papers on the character of, and early exploration of the area. Their interest is even more understandable when one realizes that a significant cadre of Fellows of the Society were either founding Adventurers of the Company or were, in its early years, on its executive Committee. Leading this list was King Charles II himself; and others were Prince Rupert, the first Governor of the Company; Anthony Ashley Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury; George Monk, Duke of Albemarle; Robert Boyle, James Hayes, Sir Paul Neile, Sir Philip Carteret and Sir Peter Colleton; James, Duke of York, the second Governor of the Company and later King James II; Sir Christopher Wren, President of the Royal Society; and Sir William Trumbull, third Governor of the H.B.C. But no one, then or later, had a longer or closer association with the two institutions, or wielded more authority simultaneously than Samuel Wegg, Esq., Deputy Governor and Governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company, 1774 to 1799, and Treasurer of the Royal Society, 1768 to 1802. The career and the significance of Wegg are not well known to these respective institutions, and less so is their awareness of the part played by him in the other Company or Society.

Industrial Experiments in the Wilderness: A Sidelight in the Business History of the Hudson's Bay Company

1958 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 423-433
Author(s):  
Alvin C. Gluek
Keyword(s):  
Fur Trade ◽  
Business History ◽  
Trial And Error ◽  
American Continent ◽  
Hudson's Bay Company ◽  
North American Continent ◽  
The North ◽  
Industrial Experiments ◽  
History Of ◽  
Hudson’S Bay Company

Development of the North American continent was a halting process, characterized by use and misuse of latent opportunities. The Hudson's Bay Company, giant in fur trade and northern exploration, proved by trial and error experiments that abundant natural assets were not in themselves the magic key to wealth.

scholarly journals Shoes, Canoes, and Lives in Unexpected Archives: Searching in Fur Trade Ledgers beyond the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacy Nation-Knapper
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
North American ◽  
Fur Trade ◽  
Economic Data ◽  
Hudson's Bay Company ◽  
Cultural Information ◽  
The North ◽  
History Of ◽  
Hudson’S Bay Company

This article illuminates the existence and utility of fur trade ledgers and account books held in repositories beyond those held in the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives. While the vast holdings of the HBCA are a phenomenal resource for researchers of the North American fur trade, many smaller repositories across the continent hold fur trade sources that can complement research conducted in other institutions. Such sources can, when examined with an eye to the cultural information they contain, reveal far more about the cultural history of North America than simply the economic data for which they were created.

Trapped?

2021 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Ashley Riley Sousa
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Fur Trade ◽  
San Jose ◽  
Hudson's Bay Company ◽  
Trade Network ◽  
Central California ◽  
The North ◽  
White Settlers ◽  
Hudson’S Bay Company

This article re-evaluates the nature of Indigenous labor at Central California’s New Helvetia colony. The fur trade in Central California was not simply a vehicle for settler exploitation of Indigenous labor but a dynamic trade network shaped by Plains Miwok– and Valley Nisenan–speaking trappers and traders, Mission San José, the Hudson’s Bay Company, and white settlers. Analysis of the financial aspects of trade for the Indigenous trappers and ethnohistorical examination of their motives for engaging in the trade suggest that the fur trade was not a source of degradation and dependency, but a vehicle by which they creatively and purposefully engaged colonial forces and markets. This article orients the histories of Plains Miwok– and Valley Nisenan–speaking communities into the larger story of the North American fur trade and suggests New Helvetia and its fur trade can be better understood as what historian Lisbeth Haas calls “Indigenous colonial” creations.

A Critique of Milgrom and Roberts' Treatment of Incentives vs. Bureaucratic Controls in the British North American Fur Trade

2002 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary P. Spraakman
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
North American ◽  
Fur Trade ◽  
Profit Sharing ◽  
Hudson's Bay Company ◽  
Senior Managers ◽  
North West ◽  
Organization And Management ◽  
British North American ◽  
Hudson’S Bay Company

In their 1992 textbook, Economics, Organization and Management, Milgrom and Roberts used 19th century fur trading companies as examples of effective (the incentive-based North West Company) and ineffective (the bureaucratic-based Hudson's Bay Company) organizations. Findings from detailed examinations of both companies' archives suggest that Milgrom and Roberts were not completely accurate in their depictions of the two companies' incentives and bureaucratic controls. In response to complexities of intercontinental trade, both companies used bureaucratic controls for coordination as well as profit sharing to motivate senior managers. More generally, the findings raise questions about Milgrom and Roberts' relatively negative conclusions concerning the effectiveness of bureaucratic controls.

scholarly journals Bay Days: The Managerial Revolutions and the Hudson’s Bay Company Department Stores, 1912‑1939

2006 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Monod
Keyword(s):  
Business History ◽  
Scientific Management ◽  
American Business ◽  
Department Stores ◽  
Hudson's Bay Company ◽  
Large Measure ◽  
History Of ◽  
Business Structures ◽  
Marketing Methods ◽  
Hudson’S Bay Company

Abstract North American business history has long been dominated by a belief in the centrality of entrepreneurial innovation to corporate success. This paper looks at the history of the Hudson's Bay Company Stores Department and attempts to explain from within the traditional business-history framework the company's prolonged inability to create a profitable chain of department stores in Western Canada. During the interwar years the HBC was highly competitive in its marketing methods and up-to-date in its business structure. Indeed, the company's failure seems to have stemmed in large measure from these very factors, from its excessive reliance upon scientific management formulas and organizational theories. It was only during the Depression that the Bay was able to recoup its losses by moving away from the professional orthodoxies of the twenties, returning to older business structures, and deciding on a more consumer-oriented approach.

Chronological list of expeditions and historical events in northern Canada. V. 1790–1821

Polar Record ◽  
1971 ◽  
Vol 15 (99) ◽  
pp. 893-920
Author(s):  
Alan Cooke ◽  
Clive Holland
Keyword(s):  
Hudson Bay ◽  
Hudson's Bay Company ◽  
Historical Events ◽  
New Techniques ◽  
Northern Canada ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
Rupert's Land ◽  
New Policies ◽  
Hudson’S Bay Company

During the period covered by this instalment of our list, the accomplishments of the North West Company, both in geographical exploration and in the realization of profits were great. It consolidated its position in the fur-rich Athabasca district and, with a few posts along Mackenzie River, began to draw in the furs of that immense territory. Its traders invaded not only the western part of Rupert's Land but even Hudson Bay itself. The Hudson's Bay Company rose only slowly to the challenge of its formidable rival, but, gradually, it began to adopt new policies and new techniques and to meet the North West Company on its own grounds and on its own terms. Finally, after a bitter struggle that was almost the destruction of both companies, the Hudson's Bay Company, in 1821, effectively absorbed the North West Company in a coalition that gave the older company greater strength than ever and a wider monopoly than Prince Rupert had thought of.

Ruins of Eskimo Stone Houses on the East Side of Hudson Bay

1946 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 201-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. H. Manning
Keyword(s):  
East Coast ◽  
Hudson Bay ◽  
East Side ◽  
Hudson's Bay Company ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
Made In ◽  
Hudson’S Bay Company

Archaeological material obtained from Eskimos on the east side of Hudson Bay has been described by Mathiassen, Quimby, and Jenness, but no systematic excavations have been made in the area. Mathiassen was told by Mr. S. Berthfi of Reveillon Frdres that there were house ruins of turf and stone on the east coast of Hudson Bay at Kovik Bay, Mosquito Bay, and Cape Dufferin, and also on the Ottawa Islands; and by Mr. Perdy of the Hudson's Bay Company that there were house ruins at Cape Wolstenholme and many around Port Harrison. Obviously, Mathiassen concluded that these were regular houses of the Thule type. Quimby6 found only oval and rectangular tent rings on the Belcher Islands, and assumed that the semisubterranean houses characteristic of the Thule culture were lacking.

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