Sir George Simpson

Sir George Simpson (1792-1860), Canadian explorer and administrator, born in Scotland. After serving as a clerk in a London firm, Simpson joined the Hudson's Bay Company in 1820. (The Hudson’s Bay Company was the English corporation authorized by Charles II in 1670 to regulate all trade in the Hudson’s Bay region of Canada.) Simpson took over the management of the company's affairs in the Athabaska region of Canada. When the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company were merged in 1821, he became governor of the Northern Department, responsible for the administration of the company's affairs in the Northwest and on the Pacific slope. In 1826, he became governor of the Southern Department, and in 1839 governor-in-chief of Rupert's Land (the term for all of the vast territory controlled by the Hudson’s Bay Company). He presided over the Council of the Northern Department of Rupert's Land, heading the first government in British territory west of the Great Lakes. As general superintendent for the company in North America, he was outstanding for his careful management, supervisory skills, and his role in the extension of the fur trade in the Pacific slope area.

Simpson traveled constantly and made many trips through the Canadian West. From 1841 to 1842 he crossed the continent and traveled around the world. In 1857, when the Hudson's Bay Company wished to renew its license for exclusive trade with the indigenous peoples, Simpson appeared before the Select Committee of the British House of Commons to defend the company’s policies and activities. At the same time Simpson discontinued the possibility of opening the Northwest to settlement and to farming.