Lord Selkirk

A Life

J.M. Bumsted

• Publisher: University of Manitoba Press
• Year: 2008
• Print ISBN:
  9780887551840
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9780887553370
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Historical Biographies
• Index: History

Thomas Douglas, the Fifth Earl of Selkirk (1770–1820), was a complex man of his times, whose passions left an indelible mark on Canadian history. A product of the Scottish Enlightenment and witness to the French Revolution, he dedicated his fortune and energy to the vision of a new colony at the centre of North America. His final legacy, the Red River Settlement, led to the eventual end of the dominance of the fur trade and began the demographic and social transformation of western Canada. The product of three decades of research, this is the definitive biography of Lord Selkirk. Bumsted's passionate prose and thoughtful analysis illuminate not only the man, but also the political and economic realities of the British empire at the turn of the nineteenth century. He analyzes Selkirk's position within these realities, showing how his paternalistic attitudes informed his "social experiments" in colonization and translated into unpredictable, and often tragic, outcomes. Bumsted also provides extensive detail on the complexities of colonization, the Scottish Enlightenment, Scottish peerage, the fur trade, the Red River settlement, and early British-Canadian politics.

Table of contents

• Cover
• CONTENTS
• PREFACE
• MAPS
• CHAPTER ONE: DUNBAR
• CHAPTER TWO: APPRENTICING
• CHAPTER THREE: PARIS, THE CONTINENT, AND THE SHADOW OF DAER
• CHAPTER FOUR: FINDING A ROLE IN LIFE
• CHAPTER FIVE: TOWARDS PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
• CHAPTER SIX: SELKIRK AND THE ISLAND
• CHAPTER SEVEN: TOURING NORTH AMERICA
• CHAPTER EIGHT: OBSERVATIONS ON THE PRESENT STATE OF THE HIGHLANDS
• CHAPTER NINE: JOINING THE ESTABLISHMENT
• CHAPTER TEN: SETTLING DOWN
• CHAPTER ELEVEN: TAKING OVER THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY
• CHAPTER TWELVE: STARTING UP RED RIVER
• CHAPTER THIRTEEN: THE HIGHLAND REGIMENT AND THE KILDONAN IMMIGRANTS
• CHAPTER FOURTEEN: THE PEMMICAN PROCLAMATION
• CHAPTER FIFTEEN: THE SETTLEMENT DISPERSED
• CHAPTER SIXTEEN: TRYING TO GAIN CONTROL
• CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: SEVEN OAKS AND FORT WILLIAM, 1816
• CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: MORE OVERSTEPPING OF LEGALITY
• CHAPTER NINETEEN: ON THE DEFENSIVE, 1817
• CHAPTER TWENTY: CAMPAIGNING AT LAW, JANUARY TO JUNE 1818
• CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: FURTHER CAMPAIGNING AT LAW, JUNE TO NOVEMBER 1818
• CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: RETURNING TO EUROPE, 1818-1820
• CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: TO THE DEATH
• CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: CODA
• ENDNOTES
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
• INDEX
• ILLUSTRATIONS FOLLOW PAGE 254