William Connolly (fur trader)
William Connolly (1786-1848) was an Anglo-Canadian fur trader who oversaw activities in New Caledonia, now located within modern-day British Columbia.
Early life
William Connolly was born in approximately 1786 in Lachine, Quebec. Though his family had Irish roots, they were fully established in French Canadian society by the time of his birth and were distantly related to Marguerite d'Youville.[1]
Career
Connolly joined the
Connolly gradually ascended the corporate hierarchy of the NWC and later the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). When the NWC absorbed into the HBC in 1821, Connolly went west to New Caledonia to reexamine all regional operations in 1821. He was appointed Chief Factor in 1825 and held managerial responsibilities from Fort St. James until 1831, when Peter Warren Dease took over.[6] While at Fort St. James he took James Douglas under his wing, impressed by Douglas' skills. Because of their close relations, Connolly agreed to Douglas marrying his daughter Amelia and performed their customary ceremony at the fort.[7]
In 1832 Connolly took his family back to Montreal,
Legacy
After his death, in 1862, Connelly's oldest son John, sued Julia Woolrich Connolly, who had inherited his father's estate. He argued that he and his siblings were legitimate heirs and entitled to inherit. He won his case and the verdict was upheld by the appellate courts.
Citations
- ^ a b c Adams & Adams 2011, p. 4.
- ^ a b c d e f Peel, vol. 7 2003.
- ^ a b Borrows & Rotman 1998, p. 684.
- ^ a b c d Peel, vol. 9 2003.
- ^ Adams & Adams 2011, p. 5.
- ^ a b Watson 2010, pp. 282–283.
- ^ Adams & Adams 2011, p. 28.
- ^ Borrows & Rotman 1998, pp. 684–685.
- ^ Borrows & Rotman 1998, pp. 686–687.
Bibliography
- Adams, John; Adams, John David (2011). Old Square-Toes and His Lady: The Life of James and Amelia Douglas. Victoria, B.C., Canada: TouchWood Editions. ISBN 978-1-926971-71-1.
- Borrows, John J.; Rotman, Leonard I. (1998). "Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, Restructuring the Relationship, Vol. 2". Aboriginal Legal Issues: Cases, Materials & Commentary. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Butterworths. pp. 684–688. ISBN 0-433-40964-9.
- Peel, Bruce (2003). "Connolly, Suzanne". Dictionary of Canadian Biography. University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 9. Archived from the original on 20 July 2017.
- Peel, Bruce (2003). "Connolly, William". Dictionary of Canadian Biography. University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 7.
- Watson, Bruce M. (2010), Lives Lived West of the Divide: A Biographical Dictionary of Fur Traders Working West of the Rockies, 1793-1858, Okanagan: The Centre for Social, Spatial and Economic Justice of the University of British Columbia