Angus Bethune
| Angus Bethune | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1783-09-09 Carleton Island, New York |
| Died | 1858-11-13 Toronto, Ontario |
| Occupation | Fur trader; municipal politician |
| Father | |
| Mother | |
| Partner | |
Angus Bethune (9 September 1783 – 13 November 1858 (aged 75)) was a fur trader who served the North West Company and later the Hudson's Bay Company across western Canada, the Pacific coast, and the Great Lakes region during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and subsequently a municipal politician in Toronto.
Early life
Bethune was born on 9 September 1783 at Carleton Island, New York, in Lake Ontario. His father was the Reverend John Bethune, a loyalist clergyman, and his mother was Véronique Waddens, daughter of Jean-Étienne Waddens. The family relocated to Montreal and then to Williamstown, Ontario in 1787. Bethune entered the fur trade at an early age by joining the North West Company.[1]
Career with the North West Company
Bethune served the North West Company at the Whitemud River post in 1804–1805 and at Lake Winnipeg in 1806. In September 1810, he accompanied Alexander Henry the Younger to Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, where he subsequently assisted David Thompson's Rocky Mountain expedition in the autumn of 1810.[1]
Around 1812–1813, Bethune was assigned by the NWC to travel to China as a supercargo, part of the company's Pacific commercial strategy. He arrived at Fort Astoria in the autumn of 1813 alongside John George McTavish and witnessed the sale of the post from the Pacific Fur Company to the North West Company. Promoted to NWC partner in July 1814, he sailed aboard the Isaac Todd with Columbia River furs bound for Canton.[1]
He subsequently sailed to England and then in March 1815 boarded the NWC vessel Columbia as supercargo, returning to Fort Astoria — by then renamed Fort George. From there he conducted trading voyages to Monterey, California and Sitka, Alaska, and completed additional China round trips before departing Fort George in August 1816. The North West Company abandoned its own vessels for the China trade in 1816, contracting instead with the Boston firm J. and T. H. Perkins.[1][2]
Bethune left Fort George in April 1817 with an overland party that included Duncan McDougall, Joseph McGillivray, Alexander McTavish, and Ross Cox, whose later chronicle documented the hazards of the journey. Bethune separated from the group in June 1817 at the English River and reappeared unexpectedly at Fort George in November 1818.[1][3]
During the winter of 1819–1820, Bethune was stationed at Île-à-la-Crosse, where he received members of Captain John Franklin's overland Arctic expedition in February 1820. He faced strong opposition from Hudson's Bay Company officer John Clarke and lost considerable ground in the intensifying rivalry between the two fur trade concerns.[1]
Fort William and the merger
In July 1820, at Fort William — present-day Thunder Bay — Bethune and Dr. John McLoughlin were deputized by eighteen NWC wintering partners to travel to England and negotiate with the HBC, in defiance of the Montreal agents led by William McGillivray. They sailed to England in the autumn of 1820. The coalition agreement finalizing the merger of the two companies was signed on 26 March 1821; both Bethune and McLoughlin were named chief factors of the newly amalgamated company.[1][4]
Bethune sailed to New York with HBC director Nicholas Garry before proceeding to Fort William for the July 1821 meeting of chief factors. There he encountered considerable insult and social ostracism from former colleagues.[1]
Hudson's Bay Company service
Bethune's first posting as chief factor was at Moose Factory, in the HBC's Southern Department. By the summer of 1822 he had been appointed superintendent at Fort Albany; in 1824 he moved to Sault Ste Marie to manage a provision depot. He engaged in extended correspondence disputes with Southern Department Governor William Williams, and his department's persistent disorder contributed to Governor George Simpson's eventual amalgamation of the Northern and Southern departments. Simpson, in his 1832 character assessments, described Bethune in sharply unflattering terms.[1][5]
In the summer of 1832, Bethune received an appointment to Michipicoten, taking charge of the Lake Superior district. He returned reluctantly to Sault Ste Marie in June 1833, assuming responsibility for the Lake Huron district while Chief Factor John McBean was on furlough. During 1833, he became embroiled in a bitter dispute with Church of England missionary William McMurray at Sault Ste Marie. After a furlough in 1834, he returned to Michipicoten, took extended leave for health reasons in 1836, and managed the Lake Huron district from Fort La Cloche in 1837 before retiring from active service in 1839. His retirement was formally recorded in 1841.[1]
Personal life
Bethune married Louisa McKenzie, the mixed-blood daughter of Roderick McKenzie, with whom he had six children. He also fathered at least two children by Indigenous women during his years in the field.[1] In 1845, he reportedly met the painter Paul Kane, providing him accounts of HBC attitudes toward outsiders that nearly deterred Kane from undertaking his journey to the northwest coast.[6]
Later life and death
After settling in Toronto around 1839–1840, Bethune became a director of the Bank of Upper Canada. He entered municipal politics, winning election to Toronto City Council for St David's Ward in 1845 by defeating the incumbent alderman Dr. Alexander Burnside. During two terms on council, he clashed repeatedly with fellow alderman Henry Sherwood. He suffered from senility in his final years and died in Toronto on 13 November 1858 at the age of 75. His estate was valued above $56,000 and included two houses, stocks, mortgages, and 1,500 acres of land inherited from his father. His son, Dr. Dr. Norman Bethune, served as executor of the estate.[1][7]
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 Hilary Russell."Hilary Russell, "BETHUNE, ANGUS," Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 8."[website].Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 8 (University of Toronto/Université Laval).1985.University of Toronto/Université Laval.Link.(Rights: copyrighted | Access: open)
- ↑ Hilary Russell."The Chinese voyages of Angus Bethune."[newspaper].The Beaver, outfit 307.1977.spring 1977, pp. 22–31.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ Ross Cox."The Columbia River; or scenes and adventures during a residence of six years on the western side of the Rocky Mountains."[book].1957.Edited by E. I. and J. R. Stewart. Norman, Okla., 1957.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ Nicholas Garry."Diary of Nicholas Garry, deputy-governor of the Hudson's Bay Company: a detailed narrative of his travels in the northwest territories of British North America in 1821."[book].RSC Transactions, 2nd ser., vol. 6 (1900), sect. ii; new edition Toronto, 1973.Edited by W. J. Noxon.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ George Simpson."Character book."[book].Hudson's Bay Record Society Publications, vol. 30 (Williams), pp. 151–236.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ Paul Kane."Paul Kane's frontier, including wanderings of an artist among the Indians of North America."[book].1971.Edited by J. R. Harper. Toronto, [1971].(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ "British Colonist (Toronto)."[newspaper].1845.January 1845 – January 1846.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)