Thomas Simpson

THOMAS SIMPSON

Hudson's Bay Company Fur Trader; Artic Explorer

SIMPSON
THOMAS
ALEXR SIMPSON/MARY SIMPSON M
09/07/1808 062/ 10 190 Dingwall

His Last Will and Testament

" In the event of my death on the present Arctic expedition, my worldly means, to the best of my knowledge, will stand as follows : — Five hundred pounds sterling in the hands of the Hudson's Bay Company : my revisionary share as a chief trader in that concern, worth, at the utmost, fifteen hundred pounds sterling : whatever monies the British Government may award me for the acknowledged discovery in the year 1837, of the long-sought North-west passage, or may arise from the publication of my maps and journal : and my half-share of a house and garden in the town of Dingwall, in the highlands of Scotland. Of these effects I will and bequeath the sum of one thousand pounds sterling, free of legacy duty and all other charges, to my mother, Mrs. Mary Simp- son of Dingwall, aforesaid. To my uncle, Duncan Simpson, Esq., of Bellevue, near Beauly, in the same county of Ross, and to his wife Mary jointly, or to the survivor of them, I bequeath the sum of one hundred pounds sterling : and to Mrs. Margaret Bain * of Dingwall aforesaid, twenty pounds sterling, in like manner free from legacy duty and all other charges. To my only brother, Alexander Simpson, now, or lately, in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company, and to his lawful heirs I will and bequeath the residue of my property as above stated ; and all that may accrue to me from any other source whatever, saving and excepting my clothing, books, arms, or other moveables, not specified, at Great Bear Lake and Red River, to the value of one hundred pounds sterling or thereby, which I appropriate to satisfy any claims there may be against me at the said colony of Red River. Should my mother, uncle and aunt, or Mrs. Margaret Bain, aforesaid, die before me, then, and in that case, it is my will that the sums bequeathed to them revert to my brother Alexander, and to his lawful heirs. I further constitute and appoint my said brother, Alexander Simpson, and my friend Alexander Christie, Esq., at present Governor of Red River colony, the executors of this my last Will and Testament. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal in duplicate, at Fort Confidence, Great Bear Lake, this eleventh day of June one thousand eight hundred and thirty nine. Thomas Simpson. Life and Travels: 313-14

Genealogy

The Life and Travels of Thomas Simpson, the Arctic Discoverer. By his brother Alexander Simpson (Richard Bentley, London, 845), 424 pp.

Biograhical Summary

Thomas Simpson was the older son of schoolmaster Alexander Simpson [1751-1821] by his second wife Mary [daughter of Rev. Thomas Simpson and Isobel Mackenzie]. Thomas was a sickly youth tending to consumption but, unlike his cousin George, he graduated with honours from King’s College, Aberdeen, at age 20, and by 1836 was as tough as any of the Canadian voyageurs. Unfortunately, he suffered from an intellectual pride that came close to snobbery, and considered himself superior to the officers of the fur trade, including his cousin George.

The ambitious young man who had been brought to Canada in 1829 as his cousin’s personal secretary, became a seasoned northern traveler, but described the Little Emperor as a severe and most repulsive master. Thomas was hot-headed and intolerant and felt his cousin was leaning over backward in his treatment of him to avoid charges of nepotism.

A lesser man would never have reached Point Barrow in the summer of 1837. Although chief factor Peter Warren Dease had been in charge of the expedition, chief trader Thomas Simpson wrote to his brother Alexander: « I and I alone, have the well-earned honour of uniting the Arctic to the great Western Ocean…. » By the fall of 1839 Dease had bowed out and the attainment of his ambitions was within reach. « Fame I will have, » he told George Simpson, « but it must be alone… To the extravagant and profligate habits of the half-breed families, » he added, « I have an insuperable aversion. »

The impetuous young explorer fidgeted all through the long winter, waiting for some praise or gratitude. When none came and he could stand it no longer, he decided to go to England to press his case. On 14th June 1840, while riding through Dakota Sioux territory with four heavily armed mixed-bloods, tragedy struck. The two survivors swore that Simpson had been taken sick, accused two of the party of plotting to kill him, and shot them dead.

The witnesses fled, returning later with a larger party to find Simpson himself dead of gunshot wounds, his rifle beside him. The authorities brought in a verdict of suicide. Was it murder or suicide? No one will ever know. The irony is that his considerable triumphs had not been ignored, as he believed. In England, the gold medal of the Geographical Society, as well as a pension of £100 a year, awaited him. He did not live to receive either, but went to his grave, a victim of his own paranoia.

His brother, Alexander Simpson, wrote The Life and Times of Thomas Simpson, the Arctic Explorer [London, 1845]. Tod Lewis, whose great-grandmother came to Canada after the death of her father, Alexander, has the author’s copy of the book.

The Introduction to the Canadian Heritage Series Library Edition [1963] offers an interesting perspective of Alexander Simpson’s biography of his brother Thomas, whose contribution to Arctic exploration has only recently been recognized in his home town of Dingwall.