Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk

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Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk
Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk

Thomas Douglas (June 20, 1771 — April 8, 1820) was the 5th Earl of Selkirk, born at Saint Mary's Isle, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland. He was noteworthy as a Scottish philanthropist who sponsored immigrant settlements in Canada at the Red River Colony.

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[edit] Early background

Thomas Douglas was the seventh son of Dunbar Douglas, 4th Earl of Selkirk, and Helen Hamilton. He was a very rich Scotsman who brought over tenant farmers or "crofters". He requested land for his crofters to settle and received 300,000 square kilometers of land. As he had not expected to inherit the family estate, he went to the University of Edinburgh to study to become a lawyer. While there, he noticed poor Scottish crofters who were being displaced by their landlords. Seeing their plight, he investigated ways he could help them find new land in the then British colonies. After his father's death in 1799, Douglas, the last surviving son (two brothers died in infancy, two died of tuberculosis and two died of yellow fever), became the 5th Earl of Selkirk.

[edit] Involvement in Canada

When he unexpectedly inherited the estate zev (sicsic), he used his money and political connections to purchase land and settle poor Scottish farmers in Belfast, Prince Edward Island in 1803 and Upper Canada in 1804. He traveled extensively in North America, and his approach and work gained him some fame; in 1807 he was named Lord-Lieutenant of Kirkcudbright District in Scotland, and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of London.

In order to continue his work re-settling Scottish farmers, Selkirk asked the British government for a land grant in the Red River Valley, a part of Rupert's Land. The government refused, as the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) had been granted a fur trading monopoly on that land. However Selkirk was very determined, and he and Sir Alexander Mackenzie bought enough shares in HBC to let them gain control of the land. This position of power, along with his marriage connections (his wife Jean, was the sister of Andrew Wedderburn, a member of the HBC governing committee) allowed him to acquire a land grant called Assiniboia to serve as an agricultural settlement for the company.

As part owner of HBC, Selkirk also wanted to stop the North West Company (NWC) from competing with HBC for furs in the region. By placing the Red River Colony astride the trade routes used by the NWC coureur des bois, Selkirk could cut off the easy flow of furs. However, the local Métis people who already inhabited the area had long-standing ties with the NWC, and refused to accept Selkirk's control over the area.

The first colonization attempt started in 1812, consisting of 128 men led by the new governor, Miles Macdonell. Arriving late in the season they had just arrived and built homes when the winter cut off any hope of planting, and the colony became reliant on the support of the Métis. Even with a full growing season the next year, the colony never thrived. Because of a shortage of food in 1814, Macdonell issued the Pemmican Proclamation, prohibiting the export of food from the entire area. The Métis, who made a living selling Pemmican to the NWC traders, responded by arresting Macdonell and burning the settlement

Selkirk's response was to retaliate by sending more people to occupy the Red River Region, and appointed Robert Semple to act as governor. The Métis were angered by Selkirk's plan to bring a thousand families to the region within ten years, fearing loss of their lands.[1] By 1816, the violence intensified between the Métis and the newcomers, which resulted in the Battle of Seven Oaks, causing the deaths of 25 of Lord Selkirk's men, including the newly appointed governor.[2] NWC partners were accused of having aided the Métis attackers.

Selkirk, accompanied by Swiss mercenaries and soldiers, occupied the NWC's post at Fort William.[3] They arrested several of its partners including Simon Fraser and William McGillivray, for whom Fort William was named. Selkirk planned to have those arrested transported by canoe to Montreal where they would be tried for the deaths of his men. But nine of the prisoners, including Kenneth Mackenzie (a NWC partner), a British Sergeant, two of the Swiss mercenaries and six native guides, drowned in a storm at Maple Island near Batchawana Bay, Ontario.[4]

Arriving in Montreal, Selkirk was charged with responsibility for the deaths of the nine prisoners, and lost multiple court battles over the incident. Two years after his raid on Fort William, Selkirk returned to England. Suffering from tuberculosis, bankrupt, his reputation tarnished, he died in 1820.[5] The HBC lost interest in the Red River project, and closed it down in the mid-1800s.

[edit] Legacy

Selkirk's colonizing ambitions have been memorialized in the names of the City of Selkirk and the Village of East Selkirk, as well as the Winnipeg neighborhood of Point Douglas (where Fort Douglas once stood) and Winnipeg's Selkirk Avenue. The City of Selkirk is served by the Lord Selkirk Regional Comprehensive Secondary School, which is administered by the Lord Selkirk School Division.

The Métis peoples cite Lord Selkirk's intrusion as the period in time their identity as a people came into existence. The Métis existed prior to the confrontations with Lord Selkirk's men but their armed resistance to foreign encroachment became a rallying point for their shared identity. A flag and a national anthem were born during this period in time.[6]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Chisholm, B. & Gutsche, A., Superior: Under the Shadow of the Gods, Lynx Images, 1998, p. 243
  2. ^ R. Douglas Francis, Richard Jones, and Donald B. Smith. "Origins: Canadian History to Confederation", 4th ed. (Toronto:Harcourt Canada ltd., 2000), at p. 434-5.
  3. ^ Chisholm, B. & Gutsche, A., ibid, p. 26
  4. ^ Chisholm, B. & Gutsche, A., ibid, p. 27
  5. ^ Chisholm, B. & Gutsche, A., ibid, p. 243
  6. ^ Larry Chartrand. "The Definition of Metis Peoples in Section 35(2) of the Constitution Act, 1982. 67 Sask. L. Rev. 209 at p. 220-1.
  • Phyllis A. Arnold Canada Revisited 8, Arnold Publishing Ltd.

[edit] External links

Peerage of Scotland
Preceded by
Dunbar Douglas
Earl of Selkirk
1799–1820		 Succeeded by
Dunbar James Douglas
Languages