1. Mer ger of the
HBC and NWC
Chapter 4.3
Pages 147- 150

2. Hard times for the Fur
Trade…
 By 1820, both the HBC and the NWC were
suffering financially
 The law suits over the Red River colony were
very expensive
 The beaver is disappearing rapidly
 Profits were shrinking
THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH FURS IN THE
NORTHWEST TO JUSTIFY TWO FULL
SCALE TRADING COMPANIES…

3. Fur Trade Survival Plan
 In 1821, the HBC and the NWC decided
that the only way to survive was to merge
their companies
 The new company called
HUDSON’S BAY COMPANY
It had 100 shares in the company

4. The NEW Hudson’s Bay
Co.
NWC HBC
Had 55 of the 100 Had 45 of the 100
shares shares
With the 2 companies now united, the new HBC had
comtrol of all of Rupert’s Land and the land west of the
Rocky Mountains (BC)
A HUGE AMOUNT OF LAND!

5. Shipping News…
 It was still cheaper to ship furs out of
Hudson’s Bay
 The old NWC shipping route (Fort
William to Montreal) was rarely used
after the merger

6. With a merger comes
downsizing…
 As with most companies when they
merge, the HBC reduced it’s workforce in
1821.
 First Nations people became even more
important to the success of the Fur Trade
 Map makers
 Trappers
 canoe repairmen
Translators
Canoe paddlers
Guides
 Meat suppliers

7. The HBC gets a new
boss…
 The new HBC appointed George
Simpson as the director of the company
 He was in charge of all HBC operations
in North America
 He was a Scottish sugar broker
 He knew little about furs when he arrived
in 1820, but knew how to run a trading
company

8. George Simpson: a
hands- on approach to
business
 Simpson did not sit behind a desk all day
 He spent much of his 40 years as director
traveling around his territory
 He traveled to as many trading posts as he
could
 He would arrive without warning and grill his
staff if things were not up to his standard
 He was called the “Little Emperor” because of
his small stature and high expectations

9. George gets tired…
 After 40 years in charge of the HBC,
Simpson returned to England in 1829 to
take a leave of absence
 He returned a year later, in 1830 with a
new wife Frances who was 18 years old.

10. George’s Two Lives…
 As was common, George already had a
First Nations wife and many Metis
children in Canada.
 He did not want his new English wife to
meet them so he shipped them off before
the Simpsons arrived

11. Frances Simpson
 When she arrived, Frances announced
that she would not socialize with the
Metis people
 She socially isolated herself- a bad move
in a community where people had to
depend on each other

12. More bad news for the
Simpsons…
 Because of Frances’ attitude, George
was also isolated from the community
and began to become bitter towards his
workers
 In the spring of 1832, their infant son
died and he and his wife left Red River
and returned to England.

13. Simpson returns
(again…)
 Again, Frances and George returned to
British North America this time settling in
Montreal where the social scene was
more to their liking.
 George was knighted in 1841 for his
service to the HBC
 He continued to travel across his
“empire” until he died in 1860.

14. Let see if you were
listening…
 What did the HBC and NWC do in response to
shrinking profits?
 What year did the two companies merge?
 How many shares TOTAL were there in the new
company?
 How many NWC? How many HBC?
 Who was appointed as the director of the new HBC?
 What kind of approach did he have to managing the
company?
 What did George have to hide when he first returned to
BNA with his new wife Frances?
 How did Frances react to co- existing with the Metis
people?