b. 1792
d. 1860-09-07
George Simpson, governor of the Hudson's Bay Company and businessman, was born in
Scotland in 1792. An illegitimate child, he was raised by his aunt and uncle.
Having obtained only a parish education, Simpson travelled to
London in
1800 and was given a job at
his uncle's sugar company. This company merged with Wedderburn & Company in
1812. It was through
Andrew Colvile,
a stock holder of Wedderburn and a member of the
HBC governing board, that Simpson's keen business sense was noticed and he was given
the
job of governor of
Rupert's Land in
1820.
Simpson possessed a natural aptitude for business and a tremendous, almost manic energy.
He brought both of these qualities with him to Canada. His forty years as governor
of
Rupert's Land saw the
HBC reach its zenith in geographic and commercial success. Simpson
reorganized the fur trade and pushed the
HBC into expanding its interest beyond fur to almost anything that could be had in areas
where it
operated. Not content to issue orders from behind a desk at headquarters at Fort York
or Lachine, Simpson preferred to see things as they were on the ground, and he
embarked on epic voyages throughout his career—by horse, canoe, and foot—to the
HBC's far-flung posts in North America. His advice to the
HBC governing council in
London was always respected and usually followed. With profits soaring by ten
to twenty-five per cent, he was given great leeway in making decisions, and was a
defacto viceroy for the company in Canada. Friends and enemies alike referred to him
as
“Emperor of the Plains” and “The Birch-bark
Emperor”.
In the West, Simpson embarked on a trade offensive against the
HBC's two biggest competitors: America and Russia. Successful, the
HBC soon dominated trade from the
Columbia to Alaska. By
1833
American maritime trade had been virtually crushed and the
HBC's policy of vigorously trapping out the Snake country had discouraged
American inland traders. The
Oregon Country, however, could not be held in the face of increasing numbers of American
settlers. At first Simpson hoped to provoke an incident between the two governments
that would lead to the area being declared British, but by
1840 the sheer number of American settlers convinced Simpson that the
HBC would eventually be forced out. In
1842, he ordered the construction of new headquarters for the district on
Vancouver Island
to replace
Fort Vancouver, which he believed (correctly) would soon be part of the United
States.
Simpson spent most of the
1850s in Montreal, tending to
HBC and private interests. He died after a
short illness on 7 September 1860, at the age of sixty-nine.