Edward Umfreville (c. 1755 – fl. 1771–1789) came to Canada in 1771 to work as a writer for 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 ...

. He came to

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 almost immediately was transferred to

Fort Severn Fort Severn, in present-day Annapolis, Maryland, was built in 1808 on the same site as an earlier American Revolutionary War fort of 1776. Although intended to guard Annapolis harbor from British attack during the War of 1812, it never saw ac ...

. There, he and Andrew Graham designed a comprehensive plan listing long term requirements for the inland posts that the company proposed to establish. While at Fort Severn in 1774 Umfreville assisted

Samuel Hearne Samuel Hearne (February 1745 – November 1792) was an English explorer, fur-trader, author, and naturalist. He was the first European to make an overland excursion across northern Canada to the Arctic Ocean, actually Coronation Gulf, via the C ...

with the requirements for a proposed post at

Cumberland House, Saskatchewan Cumberland House is a community in Census Division No. 18 in northeast Saskatchewan, Canada on the Saskatchewan River. It is the oldest settler community in Saskatchewan and has a population of about 2,000 people. Cumberland House Provincial P ...

. In 1775, Umfreville was transferred back to York Factory where he became second in command until 1782 when the fort was captured by the French led by Jean-François de Galaup. The personnel and the staff of the fort were sent back to France as prisoners. The

Treaty of Paris Treaty of Paris may refer to one of many treaties signed in Paris, France: Treaties 1200s and 1300s * Treaty of Paris (1229), which ended the Albigensian Crusade * Treaty of Paris (1259), between Henry III of England and Louis IX of France * Trea ...

in 1783 freed Umfreville and he arrived in London. Disputes between him and the HBC ended his tenure there and he left for

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. By May 1784 he was employed by 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 was searching for an alternate route from

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

Lake Winnipeg Lake Winnipeg (french: Lac Winnipeg, oj, ᐑᓂᐸᑲᒥᐠᓴᑯ˙ᑯᐣ, italics=no, Weenipagamiksaguygun) is a very large, relatively shallow lake in North America, in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Manitoba, Canada. I ...

. Although Umfreville succeeded, the Nor’Westers continued to use the route via the Grand Portage since the Americans were not enforcing their rights under the treaty of Paris. In 1784, Umfreville was in Saskatchewan at a fort near Frenchman Butte and, although in the employ of the NWC, advising the HBC to pursue inland forts such as those the Nor’Westers were operating out of

Fort Kaministiquia Fort Kaministiquia (former spellings include Fort Camanistigoyan, Fort Kanastigoya, Fort Kamanastigoya and others), was a French fort in North America. It was located on the north shore of Lake Superior at the mouth of the Kaministiquia River, in ...

. In 1788 he quit the NWC and tried to re-sign with the Hudson's Bay Company. This was unsuccessful and the publishing of his book, ''The present state of Hudson’s Bay . . .'' in 1790 was widely critical of the Company. His whereabouts from this point in time are unknown. The book’s ill nature reflected the author’s disappointment over not obtaining a command at the HBC but also did provide knowledge of parts of Canada that was lacking at that point in time.

External links

Biography at ''the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''

Cumberland House
{{DEFAULTSORT:Umfreville, Edward Hudson's Bay Company people 1755 births Year of death unknown