Angus Shaw

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Angus Shaw
Le Chat
Died1832-07-19
New Brunswick, New Jersey
OccupationFur trader, politician, militia officer
Partner

Angus Shaw (born Scotland; died 19 July 1832 in New Brunswick, New Jersey), also known as Le Chat, was a North West Company fur trader, colonial politician, and militia officer who spent much of his career in the western fur trade and later in the lower St. Lawrence region. He attended Fort William in 1810, 1811, and 1812, and served as justice of the peace for Indian Territory from 1810 to 1816.

Early career in the fur trade

Shaw entered the service of the North West Company by 1789. That year he established a trading operation at Moose Hill Lake in present-day Alberta with twenty men and four canoes. By 1792 he had become a wintering partner, holding two of forty-six shares in the company. Around that time he constructed Fort George on the North Saskatchewan River near present-day Lindbergh, Alberta, a post employing over one hundred men, followed by Fort Augustus (near present-day Fort Saskatchewan) in 1795. In partnership with Donald McTavish in the English River department, he established Lac la Biche in 1799.[1]

In 1802 the North West Company reassigned Shaw to manage the King's Posts on the lower St. Lawrence north shore and in the Saguenay region, with his base at Quebec. In 1803 he led an expedition of five canoes to James Bay to meet the ship Eddystone, and three posts were built in the region, though they were abandoned within a few years. James McKenzie joined him in 1806 as his assistant.[1]

Political and civic roles

Shaw served as member for Effingham in the House of Assembly of Lower Canada from April 1802 to June 1804. He was admitted to the Beaver Club in 1796 and was also a member of the Beef-Steak Club at Quebec and the Canada Club in London.[1]

Fort William and the War of 1812

Following the 1806 reorganization of McTavish, Frobisher and Company into McTavish, McGillivrays and Company, Shaw became a partner in the new firm. He attended Fort William in 1810, 1811, and 1812 as part of the company's annual rendezvous at that post.[1] He was appointed justice of the peace for Indian Territory in 1810, a role he held until 1816, which encompassed the territory surrounding Fort William.[1]

During the summer of 1812 Shaw participated in the capture of Michilimackinac from American forces. On 3 October 1812 he was appointed major in the Corps of Canadian Voyageurs.[1]

Later fur trade career

In November 1814 the partnership of McTavish, McGillivrays and Company was reorganized. Shaw transferred his shares in May 1814 but continued to receive income from two of nineteen shares. He was later described by John McDonald as "an excellent trader, a man who managed his men and the Indians well."[1]

During the intensifying rivalry between the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company, Shaw was at Red River in 1815, where he was alleged to have helped disrupt Lord Selkirk's settlement. In March 1816, Selkirk instructed Colin Robertson to have him arrested. In 1818–19 Shaw operated in the Athabasca country. On his return journey in the spring of 1819, HBC governor William Williams arrested him at Grand Rapids, fearing that he would incite unrest, and had him transferred first to York Factory and then to London.[1]

His wife Marjory McGillivray died on 27 March 1820.[1]

Personal life

Shaw had at least three unions. His first, a country marriage with an Indigenous woman, produced a daughter, Anna, who was baptized on 17 October 1797 at the age of nine. On 30 November 1802 he married Marjory McGillivray at Christ Church, Montreal; their son William was born on 29 May 1802 and baptized on 4 November. In October 1823 he married Julia Agnes Rickman in Milford, Connecticut, and they had a daughter, Isabella.[1]

Death

After the 1821 merger of the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company, Shaw retired to the United States. He died of a pulmonary complaint on 19 July 1832 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. At his death he held shares in the Bank of Montreal and the Hudson's Bay Company, as well as properties in Montreal, Quebec, and the United States. George McDougall was appointed trustee of his estate in August 1832.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named dcb

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

[27]

[28]

[29]

[30]

[31]

External links

  1. ↑ Gratien Allaire."Gratien Allaire, "Shaw, Angus," Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 6."[website].Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 6 (University of Toronto/Université Laval).1987.University of Toronto/Université Laval.Link.(Rights: copyrighted | Access: open)
  2. ↑ "ANQ-M, CC1, 3 août 1832; CE1-63, 30 nov. 1802; CE1-126, 17 oct. 1797; CN1-29, 25 mars 1799, 29 nov. 1802, 18 mai 1810; CN1-185, 16 mars 1810."[record].Archives nationales du Québec, Montréal.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
  3. ↑ "AO, MU 2117, 1872, no. 3."[record].Archives of Ontario.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
  4. ↑ "Beaver Club minute-book."[record].McCord Museum, Montreal.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
  5. ↑ "PAC, MG 30, D1, 27."[record].Public Archives of Canada.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
  6. ↑ "J. N. Wallace papers, ms coll. 30."[record].Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
  7. ↑ L. R. Masson (ed.)."Les bourgeois de la Compagnie du Nord-Ouest."[book].(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
  8. ↑ W. S. Wallace (ed.)."Documents Relating to the North West Company."[book].(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
  9. ↑ Simon Fraser; ed. W. K. Lamb."The Letters and Journals of Simon Fraser, 1806–1808."[book].1960.Toronto.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
  10. ↑ E. E. Rich (ed.)."Hudson's Bay Record Society, vol. 1."[book].Hudson's Bay Record Society.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
  11. ↑ E. E. Rich and A. M. Fleming (eds.)."Hudson's Bay Record Society, vol. 2, pp. 20, 23, 72, 75, 85, 92–93, 284–89."[book].Hudson's Bay Record Society.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
  12. ↑ K. G. Davies and A. M. Johnson (eds.)."Hudson's Bay Record Society, vol. 24, pp. 293, 305."[book].Hudson's Bay Record Society.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
  13. ↑ A. M. Johnson (ed.)."Hudson's Bay Record Society, vol. 26, pp. xxv, xxx, lxix, 9, 12, 57, 59, 65, 216–17."[book].Hudson's Bay Record Society.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
  14. ↑ Glyndwr Williams (ed.)."Hudson's Bay Record Society, vol. 30."[book].Hudson's Bay Record Society.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
  15. ↑ J. B. Tyrrell (ed.)."Journals of Samuel Hearne and Philip Turnor, p. 358, 361, 364."[book].1934.Toronto (repr. New York, 1968).(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
  16. ↑ William C. H. Wood (ed.)."Select British Documents of the Canadian War of 1812."[book].(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
  17. ↑ "Montreal Gazette, 14 May 1810; 31 July 1832."[newspaper].Montreal Gazette.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
  18. ↑ "Quebec Gazette, 10 May 1810."[newspaper].Quebec Gazette.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
  19. ↑ "Calendar of the Dalhousie Papers."[record].PAC Report, 1938, p. 3.Public Archives of Canada.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
  20. ↑ Ivanhoé Caron."Inventaire de la correspondance de Mgr Plessis, pp. 232, 236, 243, 251."[record].ANQ Rapport, 1927–28.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
  21. ↑ "General list of partners, clerks and interpreters in the North West Company's service."[record].PAC Report, 1939, pp. 53–56.Public Archives of Canada.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
  22. ↑ É.-J. [-A.] Auclair."Saint-Jérôme de Terrebonne, p. 32."[book].1934.Saint-Jérôme, Quebec.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
  23. ↑ Jennifer S. H. Brown."Strangers in Blood: Fur Trade Company Families in Indian Country, pp. 99–100, 173."[book].1980.Vancouver and London.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
  24. ↑ W. S. Wallace."The Pedlars from Quebec and Other Papers on the Nor'Westers."[book].1954.Toronto.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
  25. ↑ Jean-Pierre Wallot."Un Québec qui bougeait, p. 58."[book].(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
  26. ↑ Marjorie Wilkins Campbell."McGillivray, Lord of the Northwest."[book].1962.Toronto.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
  27. ↑ Marjorie Wilkins Campbell."The North West Company."[book].1957.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
  28. ↑ Jean Bruchési."George Heriot, peintre, historien et maître de poste, p. 204."[book].Cahiers des Dix, 10 (1945).(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
  29. ↑ L. J. Burpee."The Beaver Club."[book].CHA Report, 1924, p. 73.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
  30. ↑ É.-Z. Massicotte."Une rencontre de bourgeois du Nord-Ouest, p. 717–18."[book].BRH, 36 (1930).(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
  31. ↑ Victor Morin."Clubs et sociétés notoires d'autrefois, p. 130."[book].Cahiers des Dix, 13 (1948).(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
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