Robert Semple (Canada)

Robert Semple (26 February 1777 in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. – 19 June 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 author of travel books. His qualifications for the post of Governor have not been established.

Semple died near the Red River Colony in the Battle of Seven Oaks when he led a party of some 25 Hudson Bay men, mostly English and Scottish colonists, to intercept a party of more than 60 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]

References

  1. ↑ Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
  2. ↑ The Metis: Memorable Events and Memorable Personalities, by George and Terry Goulet, published 2006, ISBN 978-1-894638-98-2


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