William Charles (March 5, 1831 – May 21, 1903) was a

Pacific coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western or southwestern border, except for Panama, where the Pac ...

pioneer, Hudson's Bay Company factor, and a prominent figure in the early history of British Columbia.

Life

Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, the son of John Charles (1805–1882), one of the early factors of the Hudson's Bay Company, and Jane Auld, the daughter of fur trader William Auld. He was educated at Hill Street School and University of Edinburgh.Mackie, Richard. "Charles, William", ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'', vol. 13, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 1994
/ref> The family moved to 42 Inverleith Row (then a new villa) in the late 1840s. In May 1852 he travelled between Liverpool and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

on the SS Great Britain. He came to the Pacific coast of Canada from Edinburgh by way of Panama in 1852, and was for a time employed by Breck & Ogden of Portland, Oregon. In June 1853, he joined the HBC at Fort Vancouver (Vancouver, Wash.) as an apprentice clerk. He was stationed at different times at old Fort Vancouver on the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

, Fort Hall, Utah, and at Fort Boisé. He was transferred to Victoria, British Columbia in 1858 and was subsequently in charge of Fort Hope,

Fort Yale Yale is an unincorporated town in the Canadian province of British Columbia, which grew in importance during the gold rush era. Located on the Fraser River, it is generally considered to be on the dividing line between the Coast and the Interior ...

and Fort Kamloops. The Fraser gold-rush of 1858, transformed the HBC in British Columbia from a fur-trading to a retailing company as the HBC placed steamers on the lower Fraser and on Kamloops Lake and entered the retail trade, selling hardware and food at all its posts in the gold districts.

Joseph William McKay Joseph William McKay (Mackay) (31 January 1829 – 17 December 1900) was a fur trader, businessman, politician and explorer who had a long career in the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company in Canada. Life Joseph William McKay was born on Janua ...

and Ovid Allard worked with Charles on these projects. In 1874 he was promoted to the grade of chief factor and placed in charge of the Victoria establishment. Later, in 1874, he was made inspecting chief factor of the western department, an important post, including in its jurisdiction all the Hudson's Bay establishments in and west of the Rocky mountains, retaining this position up to the time of his retirement in 1885, thereafter residing permanently in Victoria to the time of his death in 1903.

Family

On October 3, 1859, Charles married Mary Ann Birnie, a native of

Astoria, Oregon Astoria is a port city and the seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1811, Astoria is the oldest city in the state and was the first permanent American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. The county is the northwest corne ...

. They had two daughters and a son.

References

* This article incorporates text from the article "William Charles" in
British Columbia from the earliest times to the present
', a 1914 publication now in the public domain.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Charles, William 1831 births 1903 deaths Hudson's Bay Company people Pre-Confederation British Columbia people Canadian people of Scottish descent Alumni of the University of Edinburgh