Andrew Graham Ballenden Bannatyne (October 31, 1829 – May 18, 1889) was a Canadian politician, fur trader and leading citizen of

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Biography

Bannatyne was born on the island of

South Ronaldsay South Ronaldsay (, also , sco, Sooth Ronalshee) is one of the Orkney Islands off the north coast of Scotland. It is linked to the Orkney Mainland by the Churchill Barriers, running via Burray, Glimps Holm and Lamb Holm. Name Along with North R ...

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 ...

, in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and was three years old when his father, a British government fisheries official in

Stromness Stromness (, non, Straumnes; nrn, Stromnes) is the second-most populous town in Orkney, Scotland. It is in the southwestern part of Mainland Orkney. It is a burgh with a parish around the outside with the town of Stromness as its capital. E ...

, died.BANNATYNE, ANDREW GRAHAM BALLENDEN
''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'' He joined the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

as a 14-year-old apprentice clerk and set sail for Canada. His family had had a long association with the company. Bannatyne's great-grandfather was governor of a Hudson's Bay Company district in

Rupert's Land Rupert's Land (french: Terre de Rupert), or Prince Rupert's Land (french: Terre du Prince Rupert, link=no), was a territory in British North America which comprised the Hudson Bay drainage basin; this was further extended from Rupert's Land t ...

, his grandfather had been governor of

York Factory York Factory was a settlement and Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) factory (trading post) located on the southwestern shore of Hudson Bay in northeastern Manitoba, Canada, at the mouth of the Hayes River, approximately south-southeast of Churchill. Yo ...

, and his uncle was chief factor of the company. He was assigned to Sault Ste. Marie for two years, joining his uncle, and was then transferred to

Fort Garry Fort Garry, also known as Upper Fort Garry, was a Hudson's Bay Company trading post at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers in what is now downtown Winnipeg. It was established in 1822 on or near the site of the North West Company's ...

. From 1846, Bannatyne was stationed at

Norway House Norway House is a population centre of over 5,000 people, some north of Lake Winnipeg, on the bank of the eastern channel of Nelson River, in the province of Manitoba, Canada. The population centre shares the name ''Norway House'' with the north ...

, Rupert's Land, in what is now

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

as a junior clerk at the

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...

. He quit the company when his contract expired in 1851 in order to get married and go into business for himself in the Red River Colony, where he was arrested by the Hudson's Bay Company for illegal trading, which was a violation of the company's

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...

over the

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...

. He was released in a decision by the company's London office and established what became the largest merchant and outfitting company in the Red River Colony with Alexander Begg.Andrew Graham Ballenden Bannatyne (1829–1889)
Manitoba Historical Society Bannatyne became possibly the wealthiest and most influential citizen in Red River Colony.Andrew Graham Ballenden Bannatyne (1829–1889): First Citizen of Winnipeg
by Dr. Ross Mitchell, ''Manitoba Pageant'', Autumn 1965, Volume 11, Number 1 He was appointed

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

in 1861 and became a member of the

Council of Assiniboia The Council of Assiniboia (french: Conseil d'Assiniboine) was the first appointed administrative body of the District of Assiniboia, operating from 1821 until 1870. It was this council who is credited for the arrival of a functioning legal system, ...

in 1868, which was the appointed administrative body of Rupert's Land. During the

Red River Rebellion The Red River Rebellion (french: Rébellion de la rivière Rouge), also known as the Red River Resistance, Red River uprising, or First Riel Rebellion, was the sequence of events that led up to the 1869 establishment of a provisional government by ...

Bannatyne agreed to serve as

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

Louis Riel Louis Riel (; ; 22 October 1844 – 16 November 1885) was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of Canada and its first ...

's Provisional Government of Red River Settlement in 1869 on the condition that the rebel government seek terms with

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. After Manitoba was created as a province in 1870, the first session of the

Manitoba legislature The Legislature of Manitoba is the legislature of the province of Manitoba, Canada. Today, the legislature is made of two elements: the King of Canada in Right of Manitoba, represented by the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, and the unicameral ...

was held in four rooms of Bannatyne's Winnipeg house. In 1871, he was appointed Winnipeg's first postmaster and also helped establish the

freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

s in Manitoba. He was appointed to the

Temporary North-West Council The Temporary North-West Council, more formally known as the Council of the Northwest Territories and by its short name as the North-West Council, lasted from the creation of Northwest Territories, Canada, in 1870 until it was dissolved in 1876. Th ...

in 1872. In the 1874 federal election, he was defeated in his bid for a federal parliamentary seat in Selkirk, being narrowly defeated by Hudson's Bay Company official Donald A. Smith, but was elected in 1875 to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

as the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

MP for

Provencher Provencher is a federal electoral district in Manitoba, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1871. It is a largely rural district in the province's southeast corner. Its largest community is the city of St ...

, filling a vacancy caused by the expulsion of Riel from the House of Commons and his banishment from Canada. He retired from politics in 1878. Bannatyne helped organize the

Winnipeg General Hospital Winnipeg General Hospital is a hospital that was founded in 1872 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was built on the estate of Andrew McDermot. The driving force behind the hospital was McDermott's son-in-law Andrew Bannatyne Andrew Graham Ballenden Banna ...

and was involved in other business and philanthropic ventures in Winnipeg. He was the first president of Winnipeg's

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for International Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

and first president of the

Manitoba Club The Manitoba Club is private club in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Established as a gentleman's club in 1874, the Manitoba Club is the oldest private club in Western Canada. History On 16 July 1874, ten men met at the St. James Restaurant in Wi ...

. After becoming a very rich man, Bannatyne was virtually wiped out when the land boom crashed in 1882. His heavy indebtedness worsened his already poor health, and he began to winter in the southern United States in order to ease his constitution. He died in Minnesota in 1889 while returning from

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Legacy

Bannatyne Avenue and École Bannatyne in Winnipeg are named after him. He was the great-great-grandfather of singer-songwriter

Amanda Rheaume Amanda Rheaume (born May 25, 1982) is a Métis folk singer-songwriter from Canada. Born and raised in Ottawa, Ontario,Wes Smiderle, "Songs in the key of life". ''Ottawa Citizen'', June 5, 2003. Rheaume is a Citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontar ...

.Glenn Wilkins
"Rheaume to sing out at Downie tribute concert"
'' Barrie Today'', January 24, 2018.

References

External links

*
''Manitoba Historical Society – Andrew Graham Ballenden Bannatyne''

Biography at ''the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bannatyne, Andrew 1829 births 1889 deaths People from Orkney People of the Red River Rebellion Canadian philanthropists Hudson's Bay Company people Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Manitoba Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories Pre-Confederation Canadian businesspeople Scottish emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Canadian fur traders Canadian postmasters Members of the Legislative Assembly of Assiniboia Scottish emigrants to pre-Confederation Manitoba 19th-century philanthropists