Robert Semple (Canada)
Robert Semple (26 February 1777 in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. – June 19, 1816 in modern-day Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) was Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company from autumn 1815 until his death. Before having been named to the post by the Earl of Selkirk,[1] he had a career as a merchant and a writer of travel books. His qualifications for the post of Governor have never been established.
Semple died near the Red River Colony in what is generally known as the Battle of Seven Oaks when he led a party of approximately 60 Hudson Bay men, mostly English and Scottish colonists, to intercept a party of roughly, more than 25 members of the North West Company, mostly Métis and French-Canadians. The situation quickly escalated, due in great part to Semple's own temper, and a fifteen-minute gun battle ended with Semple and 20 of his men dead.[2]
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References
- ↑ {http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=2656 Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online}
- ↑ The Metis group were believed to be attacking the English settlements, but were in fact going to collect their harvest. The Metis were viewed as the aggressors, but later research shows Semple and his men were the provoking force. The Battle of Seven Oaks was seen as a founding point for The Metis Nation. The Metis: Memorable Events and Memorable Personalities, by George and Terry Goulet, published 2006, ISBN 978-1-894638-98-2