Researchers for the west coast of Canada grieve the lack of ships passenger lists prior to 1905. In this post I explore how European and British migrants may have travelled via Hudson’s Bay Company ships to the Pacific Northwest by looking at records from the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives (HBCA) in Winnipeg, Manitoba. This is my second post about Western Canadian migration. See the first one here: The 1860 voyage of Susan Moir Allison.
From London to Fort Victoria (ca. 1854)
How did British and European settlers travel to the furthest reaches of the British Empire? One way to answer this question is to take a peek at the extensive array of maps in the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives. To learn more about their potential for genealogical research, I asked,1
I am interested to learn more about the migration of European settlers to the westernmost provinces. How did they get to BC or the Yukon circa 1840-85? (After 1885, the CPR was available.) There is a lack of records available to trace this movement for the west coast. Unlike the Port of Quebec where records are available from 1865, the Pacific Northwest passenger lists begin 1905. Related to that, I’m interested to see HBC settlement maps of BC, AB, SK, and MB. I’ve seen a few of these digitized with Rumsey’s map collection but it would be terrific to see one or two in real life. Timeframe 1840-85.
Ashley, an archivist with the HBCA, responded with links to nine ships maps, three settlement maps, a journal, the HBC Ships Movements, and Ships Logs, and said:
Fur traders, and later settlers, arrived at Vancouver Island and the mainland of BC by a few means. Many came by ship around Cape Horn and up the coast and then into the Salish Sea and Fraser River. We have a few maps depicting ship routes between England and Vancouver, and a few depicting more detailed close-up maps of the BC coastal region showing the routes taken by river, portage and trail. These are not specific to European settlers, but were trails routes used by the HBC based on exploration tracks in the area.
She then offered an appointment to see the maps. Could I come back on Thursday? Could I? Try to stop me. Here are Ashley and Kendra with a dozen originals ca. 1850-1914.
The worldwide voyage of the Princess Royal (1858-59)
For this post, I’d like to talk about a map dating from 1859 (165 years ago).
The Honorable Princess Royal, built in in 1853 for 10,200 pounds [$CAD1.6M in 2024], was a 583 ton solid oak frigate.2 She was built by Wigram & Sons in London, and designed to carry both fur and spars. Her maiden voyage (2 Jun 1854) carried miners from Staffordshire, UK, enroute to Nanaimo, Colony of Victoria. They arrived at Fort Victoria (modern day Esquimalt, BC) on 23 Nov 1854, a voyage of five months, 21 days. The Princess Royal docked back in England on 5 Jun 1855, a round trip voyage of one year, three days. She served the HBC until 3 Oct 1885 when she broke her keel on a sandbar at Moose Factory Island, MB.
At the HBCA, we studied the “Chart showing the tracks of HBC ships “Labouchere” and “Princess Royal,” [ca. 1859].3 It’s large, roughly two feet square, on paper made of cotton or linen. The details are hand-drawn and exquisite: each bay, coastline, and island recognizable today. Lines of latitude and longitude criss cross, essential in recording the progress of both the Labouchere and the Princess Royal for every day of the trip. Every. Single. Day. Data, meet Art.
![Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, Archives of Manitoba, Hudson’s Bay Company manuscript maps collection, Chart showing the tracks of HBC ships "Labouchere" and "Princess Royal", [ca. 1859], G.1/174.](https://i0.wp.com/past-presence.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/IMG_1075.jpeg?resize=982%2C795&ssl=1)
In this post, I’ll discuss one voyage only: the Princess Royal.
The Princess Royal’s route was recorded by Ship’s Master John Frederick Trivett in the ships log.4 She departed England on 18 Sep 1858. The first date showing on the map is Sep 22nd, when she is roughly parallel with Cherbourg, France. The line of her progress says, “Honble [Honorable] Hudsons Bay Company’s Ship “Princess Royal” September 1858.”
Kendra and I peppered Ashley with questions. Even when you have a map in front of you, it’s a challenge to understand the abbreviations and notations. I don’t know about you, but my grade school geography was inadequate. What island chain is west of Africa? What island chain lies east of Cape Horn? Where is the Strait of Magellan? Why wouldn’t the Princess Royal go through the Strait if it was safer? How long did they resupply? Below is an approximation of the route, from England south, passing Africa, resupplying at the Falkland Islands, around Cape Horn, northward along the Chilean coast, then northwest across the South and North Pacific Oceans to Fort Victoria (Esquimalt, BC). [Open full screen to see all the data points.] The last date recorded is 28 Jan 1859 – a voyage of four months, ten days.
Here are two map excerpts. The first shows the tracks of both HBC ships approaching and departing South America, while the second shows them arriving at Fort Victoria.
Much more could be learned by reading the ships logs, possibly even the names of passengers. I learned there are twenty-six ships logs for the Princess Royal.5 That question will have to wait for another trip.
Hudson’s Bay Company Archives
Here is a brief summary of how the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives (HBCA) came to be located in Winnipeg, Manitoba and its importance to researchers. Founded in 1670, the British Hudson’s Bay Company was a colonial superpower.6 Below is a map illustrating eight HBC offices from Hawaii to Montreal.7 Over 494 posts reported up the line to headquarters in London, England. The HBC’s operations began with the fur trade and expanded to include exploration, governing its vast territories, land (e.g., acquisition, agreements, leasing, sales, surveying), logistics, oil and gas, and retail.8 Its shareholders grew very, very rich. In 1821, HBC absorbed its main rival, the North West Company.9 Its history is Canada’s foundation, but its breadth is international. In the collection you will find personal records for First Nations and Métis, English and Scots, French-Canadians, and Prairie settlers, among others. On its 300th anniversary, HBC moved its headquarters to Canada.10 Its records were loaned to the Archives of Manitoba initially, and the loan made permanent in 1994. A structure like this – with hundreds of years of paperwork, massively well-funded, and stable archiving – is a bonanza for genealogists.
Map showing eight of the hundreds of Hudson’s Bay Company outposts across Canada and the US, with the head office in London.
Afterword
Before the CPR was completed, the most efficient travel across pre-Confederation Canada was by water. In this post I’ve focused on the HBC frigate Princess Royal (for which there do not appear to be any available images). Fifty HBC ships – barques, brigs, frigates, schooners, sidewheelers, sloops, steamships – served the Pacific Northwest 1822-1918 beginning with the brig charter Lively (1822-24).11 The steamship Beaver (1835-88) transported gold rush traffic 1858-60.12 The sidewheeler Labouchere (1858-66) made one Atlantic crossing, transported mail and passengers between San Francisco and Vancouver, and sank in 1866.13 The screw steamer Otter (1852-90) crossed the Atlantic 1852-53, ran freight in the northwest 1853-80, freight and passengers during the gold rush 1858-62, and was broken up for parts 1890-95.14 In my previous post, Susan Allison said her family took the Otter from San Francisco to New Westminster. The HBC records provide a glimpse at the many types of ships settlers took to and from the Pacific Northwest.
While I was writing, I wondered, “How did sailors navigate?” The 1859 map clearly shows accurate daily reckoning. I had guessed they navigated by sextant – which uses trigonometry to measure latitudinal position – but I was only partially right.15 I didn’t know another tool, the marine chronometer, was needed to measure longitude.16 My father-in-law, an avid sailor, said the compass and the gyroscope were both important. The more I dig into historical records, the more there is to learn.
Ships logs and histories, some of which are digitized and online, may be found at the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives.
Next week: Exploring the fabulous resources of the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives with a story about Thomas Thomas (1766-1828)
Thank yous
Thank you to the SE & Winnipeg Branch, Manitoba Genealogical Society, for hosting me. To Bruce Popham and Epic Genealogy’s Kendra Gaede for hosting. To Society President Bob Allebone for meeting me via Zoom and for the tour of the society’s library. To the Archives of Manitoba for answering my questions, teaching me about the sources, and the stellar introduction to HBC maps. To my hosts Jade and Michael for sparkling conversation and hospitality. And to Janice Nickerson, for her talk “My ancestors in the Hudsons Bay Fur Trade,” from which I learned how to read the archival codes.
References
1Ashley [surname withheld], archivist, Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, Winnipeg, MB, to Linda Yip, email, 8 May 2024, Re: “Inquiry #55,” Personal Correspondence, 2024; ICAPGen Study; privately held by Yip, 156-318 21 St E, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
2Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, “Hudson’s Bay Company Archives – Ships’ Histories,” Winnipeg, Manitoba, searchable database with downloadable PDFs, Princess Royal (1854-85), Archives of Manitoba, accessed 12 May 2024; UNIT NUMBER: 24948 (1879).
3John Frederick Trivett, “Chart showing the tracks of HBC ships “Labouchere” and “Princess Royal,” [ca. 1859], London, UK, hand-drawn map in red and black ink, Hudsons’s Bay Company manuscript maps collection fonds, location code no. G.1/174, microfilm no. 11M2, Archives of Manitoba, 200 Vaughan St, Winnipeg, MB R3C 1T5, accessed by appointment 9 May 2024; J.F. Trivett was the Master of both the Labouchere and the Princess Royal. Used with permission.
4Canada, Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, Winnipeg, Manitoba, “Hudson’s Bay Company Archives – Biographical Sheets,” (dates unknown), downloadable PDFs, Trivett, John Frederick (fl. 1856–1861), Manitoba Archives, accessed 12 May 2024.
5Canada, Hudson’s Bay Company [1670-?], museums and archives, Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, Keystone Archives Descriptive Database, Manitoba Archives, accessed 12 May 2024; Ships Logs for the Princess Royal, nos. H1-37-4 (C.1/975) to H1-38-1 (C.1/1000).
6Melissa Gismondi (updated 17 May 2022), “The untold story of the Hudson’s Bay Company,” encyclopedia online, Canadian Geographic, accessed 12 May 2024.
7Canada, Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, museums and archives, Winnipeg, Manitoba, “Hudson’s Bay Company Archives – HBC Fur Trade Post Map,” (undated), Manitoba Archives, accessed 4 May 2024.
8Canada, Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, museums and archives, Winnipeg, Manitoba, “Hudson’s Bay Company Archives – About HBCA,” (undated), Manitoba Archives, accessed 12 May 2024.
9“The North West Company,” 2016, New York, NY, website, Hudson’s Bay Company History Foundation, accessed 12 May 2024.
10Ibid. “Hudson’s Bay Company Archives – About HBCA.”
11Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, “Hudson’s Bay Company Archives – Ships’ Histories,” Winnipeg, Manitoba, searchable database with downloadable PDFs, Lively (1822-24), Archives of Manitoba, accessed 12 May 2024.
12Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, “Hudson’s Bay Company Archives – Ships’ Histories,” Winnipeg, Manitoba, searchable database with downloadable PDFs, Beaver (1835-88), Archives of Manitoba, accessed 12 May 2024; “Hudson’s Bay Company vessels,” (last updated 22 Apr 2024), Ship list with images, Wikipedia.
13Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, “Hudson’s Bay Company Archives – Ships’ Histories,” Winnipeg, Manitoba, searchable database with downloadable PDFs, Labouchere (1858-66), Archives of Manitoba, accessed 12 May 2024; “Hudson’s Bay Company vessels,” (last updated 22 Apr 2024), Ship list with images, Wikipedia.
14Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, “Hudson’s Bay Company Archives – Ships’ Histories,” Winnipeg, Manitoba, searchable database with downloadable PDFs, Otter (1853-83), Archives of Manitoba, accessed 12 May 2024; “Hudson’s Bay Company vessels,” (last updated 22 Apr 2024), Ship list with images, Wikipedia.
15“History of Navigation at Sea: From Stars to the Modern-Day GPS,” 2019, website, Formula Boats, accessed 13 May 2024.
16“Marine Chronometer,” last updated 26 Apr 2024, wiki, Wikipedia, accessed 13 May 2024.