Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1970-06-04, Page 13he Hudson's -Boy Company Oaypars old and going strong t• 'i0,1% kN'N, ,,`,..,.* . „ ' 1 i i i• - , ' 'N'-'....N5„,- ....,--,...„-_, • ,. t ,‘„t?. ,•:‘•,.,.:',,":„. :...'N's.... ?". ilik...' ,....:::::.....r......f.7.:::...__:::,..: .,k‘s'1/412 : A ....•‘''sk‘ "N , k,. • ..,•. '-'N‘, !!::7::, N i,,,,\,. \ 'flAk.•,.,‘ ,, 1 4:,, ( ': v 1/4, . t • N , 't ,O.'ill'-*-...j.,-.."--- -...m.",::.. Nk'fk.A -•••„,„„ tee,. ..•••• NI\it .0•A'st*,%• k 'N\A-‘,.,. f' 11 /Cr- :1 1 4Th Lst,-,t— • • • Ronald Searle with more than forty books and films to his credit takes an amused look at the Hudson's Bay Company Coat of Arms. This is one of more than 50 drawings appearing in the new whimsical back-stairs history of Hudson's Bay Company 'The Great Fur Opera'. The Nonsuch sails again Churchill 1717 York Factory 1682.1957 *Cumberland House 1774 *Wiinglirg f , „kit I Victoria ,y, 1843 Pk 1 . Fort Vancouver 1825.1860 FortColvile;j; * 1825.1871 fj Montreal Fort Walla Walla 1821.1855 Fort Boise * 1835.1855 Fort Yukon 1816-1869 '‘„,`" * Fort Good Hope 1821 Fort Chimo 1830 :1(1 OrTlY Yerba Buena (Sart Francisco) 1841.1845 r On 2nd May, 1670, Charles II granted Rupert's Land to The Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay. This vast unknown territory which comprised about 38% of present-day Canada is shown here, outlined in black, along with some of the Company's more im- portant trading forts during its first 200 years. With the exception of York Factory; the Company is still doing business at these historic Canadian establishments, NORTH AMERICA 177th-19th Centuries Honolulu 1834.1860 0,0•41•.•••0•4••••••.• .1 F • Last week in London, England, the shareholders of the Hudson's Bay CoMpany, oldest company in. North America, voted to move their home base from London to Winnipeg. The decision was part of the celebration marking the 300th anniversary of the company: But the Hudson's Bay Company is more than just another business. It is a part of our history, Every school child in Canada knows its name. It was the search for fur carried on by the company that led to the exploration of much of our huge continent. This week the News-Record takes a look at the company and its celebration of its 300th birthday, The MOO is festive as North America's •oldest corporation celebrates its 300th anniversary. The, GovernOr and Company of Adventnrea. of .gnglatid trading into 11141490!$• Bay, which prefers to . be known simply as The Hay, has emerged in 300th anniversary finery illustrated by Ronald Searle, creator of that infernal English girls' S0091, Trinian's, and illustrator of, many films inclnding "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines", Searle's irreverent Cartoons, including a whimsical interpretation of the Company's famous coat-of--arms, decorate posters, banners, shopping bags and other display materials for use throughout the Company's stores in 1970. The drawings are from the book, "The Great Fur Opera", a "backstairs" view of Company history . on which Searle collaborated, with Kildare Dobbs, Toronto writer, editor, essayist and television personality. The book was released in May by McClelland and Stewart Limited. The Bay has also announced other intriguing, festive and thoroughly contemporary projects to celebrate its third centennial, One of the most unusual projects has been the building of a full sized replica of the 75 ton ketch "Nonsuch" which made, in 1668, the historic voyage to the "new world", the result of which was the opening of Western Canada to commerce, Built in England, the ship will visit ports along the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Great Lakes in 1970 and eventually come to Winnipeg to form the nucleus of a transportation section in the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature. Christopher Chapman, well known Toronto film maker, has been hard at work for almost two years producing and directing a film on the relationship of the Company and the fur trade to the dvelopment Of Canada. The film was premiered before Company staff on May 2 and later Will be released for television and, theatre Use. ChaOman'a films include "Quetico", '$ssay in Film", "Persistent Seed", "Saguenay" and the Academy Award winning movie "A Place to Stand" which, showing at the Ontario Pavilion, became one of the feature exhibits of Expo '67. For several centuries Hudson's Bay Company has featured medals on special occasions, This anniversary will prove no exception. However, the design for the 1970 medal by Dora de Pedery-Hunt of Toronto will be as new as tomorrow. It will feature the "Nonsuch" on one side and, the coat-of-arms on the other. In recognition of its.colourful history, the Company has Created a small but striking display of pictures, documents and other visual items from the Peat for exhibit in the Company's major stores during the 1970 year. This exhibit opened in Victoria on January 15. A smaller version will tour the Company's Northern Stores. Another qthibit will be the most eomprehensive show ever assembled of the work of Walter J. Phillips (1884,1964 a • well-known Canadian artist and one of the world's outstanding craftsmen in the field of colour woodcuts. This display opened in Winnipeg on January 28 and, like the historical exhibit, will be shown during the year in the Company's larger stores, In addition to these projects, there will be many other attractions of interest to customers and public, Store-wide promotions, major sales events and unusual commemorative merchandise will all play a part in making 1970 year to remember as the Hudson's Bay Company moves into its fourth century. s.-- SECOND SECTION Replica of the Nonsuch built by the Hudson's Bay Company to commemorate its 300th anniversary. The original ketch made a successful trading voyage to Hudson's Bay in 1668, returning the following summer with the first cargo of beaver skins. The result of this event was the founding of the Hudson's Bay Company. — Photo by A. Small Clinton News-Record 105th YEAR No. 23 CLINTON, ONTARIO — THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 1970 • IIIIIIIIIiIIIIiIIIiiIIIIIIIIIIII1III1IIIIIIiIIIIIIIIiIIi1IIg111IIIIHHiH1IIIiI1IIIIIII1III1IiiIIIiII I I I 1 I I II I 1 I I I il I I 1 I I I I 1 I I I I 1 I 1 I I I I I I III I 1 I 1 I 1 I I II 1 I I 1 I I I I I I I I I 1 I I I 1 III I I I I I I 1IIi1IIIII1IIIIIIIIII1II11ri1III1III1111IIIi11II111111IIIIII III 1 I I 1 I I I I I I I 1 1 I I I I I 1 I I III I I 1 I I I 1 I I I II I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I III 1 I I I I 1 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I i I I I I I exhibit to tour he Bay's Historical ountry th is year . • "The Bay 300 Years Bold" is he 'theme of the 'historical xhibit which will tour the ountry this year as part of the udson's Bay Company nniversary celebrations. Designed to demonstrate, in rilliant visual— form, the ompany's history from the 660's to the present, it could so be considered a study in anadian history. Viewers will be taken from ondon in that early period, hrough the wars with the French, to the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Reference is made to the dramatic exploits of Company explorers—Samuel Hearne, Henry Kelsey, Anthony Henday and Dr. John Rae. The wilderness that was Canada' -during the heyday of the North West Company and the union of that company and the H B C in 1821 will also be highlighted, together' with the golden era when Governor George Simpson . welded the Company into a giant fur trade empire. Following, the transition from this sphere of interest into a modern Canadian retailing operation is . graphically described. A display, featuring H B C operations in each local community, will augment the broader national picture. Other items in the exhibit will include a model of the "Nonsuch" • and a Company sternwheeler, Fur trade artifacts—axes, beads, guns, knives and carrots of tobacco—are strikingly presented as well as merchandise typical of the items sold in turn-of-the- century "saleshops". Schools will be encouraged to arrange tours for students in the cities where the exhibit will be shown. It opened in the Victoria Store in January and will travel eastward to each of the Company's large department stores. The research took five full Months. The construction, which required the revival of old, almost forgotten skills and the manufacture of tools no longer in use, began in October, 1967, end Was completed the following August. A spirit of historical accuracy pervaded the entire project and produced an authentic replica of the "Nonsuch" the ship whose' North Atlantic crossing in 1668 led to the founding of the Hudson's !by Company, Commanded by Zachariah Gillarn, With Medard Chouart, Sieut des 01086illiet8 on board, the original 53-foot keteh left the Thames in June, 1668, and in September• reached A river emptying into James Bay, Here, the crew wintered and traded with the peaceful Crees, returning to London the following spring with a cargo of beaver pelts worth, in present-day terms, approximately $00,000, The Men who financed the voyage pronounced it a success and subsequently petitioned the English monarch, Charles II, for a charter. This was duly granted and on 2nd May, 1670, the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay came into existence, The "Nonsuch'', Which had Cost the Company 290 pounds, Was sold for 152 pounds in 1610 and faded from the pages of history, Like the original, the new "Nonsuch" was built in rtgland, primarily of English oak, The contract was awarded to J. Hinks and Sons, Appledore, DeVon—a fifth generation boat building company—which built the • ship according to plans researched and prepared by Rodney Warington Smyth, a naval architect from Falmouth, Cornwall. since a bottle of Champagne cracked her bow in August 1966, the "Nonsuch" has logged 2,235 miles in British waters visiting 4 number of ports, where thousands of people have thronged to see the Captain and crew and admired the workmanship and decorative carvings--a ship's hound, wreaths, mermaids and the like—that add a colourful artistic quality to her wooden hull. The same will probably prove true in Canada. This summer, tinder her Captain, Adrian Small, Brixham, England, the $175,000 replica will undertake a 14-Week tour visiting a number of communities along the St, Lawrence Myer and the north sheet of Lake Ontario. The tour, detaila of which are gill to be finalited, is expected to finish about September 15 in Toronto. The "Nonsuch" will eventually be taken to Winnipeg where she will form the nucleus Of a transportation section of the Musenin of Man and Nature. There' the will be permanently exhibited for future generations to See.