Alexander Kennedy Isbister (June 1822 – 28 May 1883) was born at

Cumberland House Cumberland House was a mansion on the south side of Pall Mall in London, England. It was built in the 1760s by Matthew Brettingham for Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany and was originally called York House. The Duke of York died in 1767 a ...

in what is now

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

. He was an

HBC HBC or HbC may refer to: Companies and organizations * Halton Borough Council, England * Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation, the state-owned radio and television broadcaster for Greece * Hokkaido Broadcasting, Japan * Houston Boychoir, Texas, US * ...

employee in his early career and later was a lawyer and an educational writer and author of many school books. Isbister was

Métis The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...

and educated in

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

and at the Red River Colony. His first HBC posting was to

Fort Simpson, Northwest Territories Fort Simpson (Slavey language: ''Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́'' "place where rivers come together") is a village, the only one in the entire territory, in the Dehcho Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. The community is located on an ...

, which is in the Mackenzie River District. He assisted John Bell in establishing

Fort McPherson Fort McPherson was a U.S. Army military base located in Atlanta, Georgia, bordering the northern edge of the city of East Point, Georgia. It was the headquarters for the U.S. Army Installation Management Command, Southeast Region; the U.S. Ar ...

on the Peel River. During that period, he explored the Mackenzie River basin and later used the information gathered to produce important geological writings and the first chromolithograph map for the area. In 1842, Alexander left for Britain where he was an educator and lawyer and a champion of Métis rights. The passion over Métis rights grew out of discrimination he had felt during his tenure with the Hudson's Bay Company. He became second master at Islington Proprietary School,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1849 and was master 1850–1855, headmaster of the

Jews' College The London School of Jewish Studies (commonly known as LSJS, originally founded as Jews' College) is a London-based organisation providing adult educational courses and training to the wider Jewish community. Since 2012 LSJS also offers rabbinic ...

, Finsbury Square 1855–1858, and Master of the

Stationers' Company's School The Stationers' Company's School was a former boys' grammar school, then a comprehensive school in Hornsey, north London. History The school started as the Stationers' Company's Foundation School. The Master from 1858 to 1882 was Alexander Kenne ...

1858–1882. In 1861, the Royal College of Preceptors ( College of Teachers) established ''The Educational Times'' as its official journal. Isbister was appointed as its editor and held the position for many years. In 1873, he was elected as the College's dean, in part, due to his conservative, scholarly and cautious approach to educational development. He held the position until his death, at no. 20 Milner Square, Islington. The Alexander Kennedy Isbister Award for Non-fiction writing is awarded annually by the

Manitoba Book Awards Manitoba Books Awards/Les Prix du livre du Manitoba is the premiere annual book awards for Manitoba, Canada. Originating in 1988, an award gala is usually held in April in Winnipeg, Manitoba, celebrating the best of Manitoba writing and publishing ...

References

External links

* Aldrich, Richard. "Alexander Kennedy Isbister.
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''
Cambridge University Press, 2004.
''the Canadian Encyclopedia - Alexander Kennedy Isbister''

Biography at ''the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
Canadian explorers Canadian Métis people Métis politicians 1822 births 1883 deaths {{Canada-explorer-stub