Lt.-Colonel The Hon. Benjamin Joseph Frobisher (March 26, 1782 – March 18, 1821), M.P., J.P. was a

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 ...

r and political figure in

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...

Career

He was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, the son of

Joseph Frobisher The Hon. Joseph Frobisher (April 15, 1748 – September 12, 1810) M.P., J.P., was one of Montreal's most important fur traders. He was elected to the 1st Parliament of Lower Canada and was a seigneur with estates totalling 57,000 acres. ...

, and studied in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. In 1799, he joined the

North West Company The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what is present-day Western Canada and Northwestern Ontario. With great weal ...

and travelled west, becoming clerk in the English River department. He later worked as a clerk for a merchant in the

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

. Frobisher represented Montreal County in the

Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada The Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada was the lower house of the bicameral structure of provincial government in Lower Canada until 1838. The legislative assembly was created by the Constitutional Act of 1791. The lower house consisted of ele ...

from 1804 to 1808. He was named a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for Trois-Rivières district in 1805. He served in the local militia, later becoming lieutenant-colonel. In 1815, he was named provincial aide-de-camp for colonial administrator Sir

Gordon Drummond General Sir Gordon Drummond, GCB (27 September 1772 – 10 October 1854) was a Canadian-born British Army officer and the first official to command the military and the civil government of Canada. As Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, Drumm ...

and, in 1816, for Governor Sir

John Coape Sherbrooke General Sir John Coape Sherbrooke, (29 April 1764 – 14 February 1830) was a British soldier and colonial administrator. After serving in the British army in Nova Scotia, the Netherlands, India, the Mediterranean (including Sicily), and Spa ...

. In 1817, he led an attack by the North West Company against a

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 ...

fort at

Île-à-la-Crosse Île-à-la-Crosse, or ''Sakitawak'' ( Cree name: sâkitawâhk ᓵᑭᑕᐚᕽ), is a northern village in Division No. 18, northwestern Saskatchewan, and was the site of historic trading posts first established in 1778. Île-à-la-Crosse is th ...

, located 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 ...

. In 1819, he was taken prisoner by the HBC and detained at

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 ...

. He later escaped and returned to Quebec.

Family

In 1804, he married Isabella Grant, daughter of James Grant and Susannah Coffin. Mrs Frobisher was a niece of both The Rt. Hon.

Sir William Grant Sir William Grant (13 October 1752 – 23 May 1832) was a British lawyer, Member of Parliament from 1790–1812 and Master of the Rolls from 1801–1817. He was born at Elchies, Moray, Scotland. His father, James Grant, was a tenant farmer, ...

and General Sir Roger Hale Sheaffe. After the death of her father, her mother had remarried The Hon. John Craigie. Benjamin Frobisher died at

in 1821. After his death his widow and their only son went to live in

at Barton House,

Dawlish Dawlish is an English seaside resort town and civil parish in Teignbridge on the south coast of Devon, from the county town of Exeter and from the larger resort of Torquay. Its 2011 population of 11,312 was estimated at 13,355 in 2019. It is t ...

, the home of her aunt, the widow of Admiral

John Schank Admiral John Schank (6 February 1823) was an officer of the British Royal Navy known for his skill in ship construction and mechanical design. Biography He was the son of Alexander Schank of Castlerig, Fife, Scotland. He entered the Royal Navy w ...

, and two of Mrs Frobisher's uncles, Sir William Grant, of

Beldorney Castle Beldorney Castle is a Z-plan castle dating from the mid-16th century, about two miles south of Glass, Huntly, Glass, in hilly country in the valley of the Deveron, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.Lindsay, Maurice (1986) ''The Castles of Scotland''. Co ...

, and Major John Grant (1766-1837). The Frobishers were the parents of one son, *Rev. James Joseph Frobisher (1805-1843), was educated at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

. He was presented to the living of

Halse, Somerset Halse is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated north west of Taunton in the Somerset West and Taunton district. The village has a population of 290. History The name of the village derives from the Old English ''heals'' me ...

by his mother in 1839. In 1841, at Ringwood, he married Mary A. Catherine Willis, daughter of George J.B.J. Willis, of

Sopley Sopley is a village and civil parish situated in the New Forest National Park of Hampshire, England. It lies on the old main road from Christchurch to Ringwood, on the east bank of the River Avon. The parish extends east as far as Thorny Hill ...

Park,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

.The Gentleman's Magazine, 1841
/ref> They were the parents of one daughter, Mary Isabella Frobisher (1842-1854), who died aged twelve at

Clifton Clifton may refer to: People *Clifton (surname) *Clifton (given name) Places Australia * Clifton, Queensland, a town **Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong *Clifton, Western Australia Canada *Clifton, Nova Scotia ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Frobisher, Benjamin Joseph 1782 births 1821 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada Canadian fur traders North West Company people