HBC Gov. William Williams

In May of 1818, during the HBC’S bitter struggles with the North West Company (NWC), William WILLIAMS replaced James Curtis BIRD (1773-1856) as the Governor of Rupert’s Land. BIRD had been the Acting Governor since 1817.

WILLIAMS had a wife and family in England.

From the book “Many Tender Ties” by Sylvia Van Kirk, pg 160: Even young mixed-blood girls, raised with the expectation of becoming the wives of officers, could find themselves reduced to the status of mistresses, a situation which must have caused them considerable grief and confusion. The swashbuckling governor William WILLIAMS, appointed to superintend the affairs of the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1818, formed a liaison with Sally, the daughter of Peter FIDLER, soon after his arrival in the Indian Country. Sally, and undoubtedly fur-trade society at large, considered that she was WILLIAMS’ wife. In his view she was only a pleasurable mistress, for he already had a wife in England.

In October of 1818 Colin ROBERTSON (1770-1837), who was the leader of the HBC campaign in Athabasca, was captured by the Nor’Westers who charged him with attempted murder. As competition escalated, William WILLIAMS was also in danger of arrest.

In 1819, when navigation opened on Lake Winnipeg, WILLIAMS decided to retaliate, capturing a group of wintering NWC partners at Grand Rapids, on their way to their summer rendezvous with their Montreal counterparts, sending his captives to York Factory and thence to England. Unfortunately one winterer, Benjamin FROBISHER, escaped from custody and attempted to make his way back inland, only to die of starvation near Cedar Lake, a tragedy which further embittered relations between the two companies. Ultimately unable to surmount (or buy rights to) the HBC’s route through the Bay, the NWC initiated merger talks. 

In May of 1818, during the HBC’S bitter struggles with the North West Company (NWC), William WILLIAMS (1771-1837) replaced James Curtis BIRD (1773-1856) as the Governor of Rupert’s Land. BIRD had been the Acting Governor since 1817. Sally FIDLER was only 16 years old, when she became WILLIAMS’ concubine that year, a man old enough to be her father. ** MORE ABOUT WILLIAM WILLIAMS in DCBO by Shirlee Anne Smith

From the book “Many Tender Ties” by Sylvia Van Kirk, pg 160: Even young mixed-blood girls, raised with the expectation of becoming the wives of officers, could find themselves reduced to the status of mistresses, a situation which must have caused them considerable grief and confusion. The swashbuckling governor William WILLIAMS, appointed to superintend the affairs of the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1818, formed a liaison with Sally, the daughter of Peter FIDLER, soon after his arrival in the Indian Country. Sally, and undoubtedly fur-trade society at large, considered that she was WILLIAMS’ wife. In his view she was only a pleasurable mistress, for he already had a wife in England.