John Rendall

JOHN RENDELL (1799-77)

Hudson's Bay Company Employee: Boatbuilder and Carpenter at York Factory, 1820-25 and 1828-31; Carpenter at Fort Vancouver, 1825-28; Postmaster at Severn, 1832-34; Postmaster at York Factory, 1834-39; Assistant Warehouse Keeper at London, 1839-66

John Rendall is the son of John Rendall, baker in Stromness (formerly John Rendall of Ingsay, heritable proprietor of the lands of Ingsay in the Orkney parish of Birsay). His mother's name was Elizabeth or Betsy Sclater. He was born on 5 July 1799 and his baptism was registered at Stromness in Orkney, Scotland, on 25 July 1799. His baptismal record reads as follows: "John Rendall Baker in Stromness had a child by his wife Betty Sclater born the 5th and Baptized the 25th day of July by the Revd Mr William Clouston named John" [Registrar General for Scotland, New Register House, Edinburgh, Stromness Baptisms, 1793-1819, reference OPR.30/2] Image of Baptismal Record

Evidence from the English Census Returns

1851 Census of England

Mile End Old Town, 1871

When the census of 1871 was enumerated he and his wife Janet, and their daughter Janet, were residing at Mile End Old Town in London 1871 Census of England

Property Owner in Stromness, 1874

John Rendall owned a beach front property in the Orkney burgh town of Stromness, which he sold to William Peace, Shoemaker there on 16 May 1874. The deed of sale identifies him as follows: "John Rendall, sometime in the Hon. Hudson's Bay Company's service at York Factory, North America, now residing in London" [Register of Sasines for Orkney, reference RS43/17A, Printed Sasine Abridgements for 1877 (Copy held in the Archives of Orkney), abridgement number 424, registered on 25 August 1877]

Death, 1877

John Rendall died on 3 May 1877 Hudon's Bay Company Archives: Biographical Sheets

First Marriage à la façon du pays

John Rendall married a Canadian First Nation woman named Betsy .They were married according to the custom of the country: à la façon du pays. They were probably married at York Factory in Manitoba, Canada, where he was employed by the Hudson's Bay Company. The relationship began before 1837 [Margaret Arnett MacLeod, The Letters of Letitia Hargrave (Toronto, The Champlain Society, 1947), page xliii] and may well have started soon after his return from Fort Vancouver in 1828 [ttp://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/r.html Hudson's Bay Company Archives: Biographical Sheets] Margaret Arnett MacLeod has this to say about John Rendall's country-wife: "One of the first social puzzles in the country was presented by Betsy (a "squaw" to Letitia), who had had a number of husbands in the past, the last of which, Mr. Rendall, had recently returned to England. Betsy had been chatelaine of this officer's house within the fort, and she was a person of means, with a further choice of husbands waiting; yet Letitia found her in her kitchen as the family laundress". Hargrave had written Rendall from Norway House in 1837: "Remember me kindly to my old friend Betsy with one of your fondest Kisses. She is without doubt in my mind the best & most industrious Indian girl I have known on the coast. Now this is honest praise and no better than she deserves" [Margaret Arnett MacLeod, The Letters of Letitia Hargrave (Toronto, The Champlain Society, 1947), page xliii]

Child of the First Marriage

It cannot be regarded as certain but it does seem quite likely that John Rendall, and his wife, Betsy, had a daughter named Marian, or Margaret Rendall.The possibility of this, not to say the probability of it, is suggested by the fact that William McTavish of Dunardry, who was the Clerk/Accoutant at York Factory in Manitoba, Canada, and afterwards Chief Factor there, had a country wife of the same name with whom he had four children who were born during the period 1843-50. Moreover, William McTavish of Dunardry has no known family connection with the Orkney islands but he sent his children to Stromness in Orkney, the home town of their putative grandfather.

Second Marriage

John Rendall married Janet Hunter Sinclair on 9 August 1840. They were married at the Church of St. George in the East, in the Borough of Tower Hamlets [Family Information]

Children of the Second Marriage

1. John George Rendall
2. Janet Rendall
3. James Rendall
4. Elizabeth Rendall

Published Biographical Accounts

For short biographical accounts of John Rendall and other members of his family see Hudson's Bay Company Archives: Biographical Sheets and [The Beaver, October 1921, pp. 2-4. See p. 3 for his portrait, and that of his son and grandson] and [The Beaver, Volume III, October 1922, No.1]

Disposition by John Rendall

16 May 1874: Disposition by John Rendall, sometime in the Hon. Hudson’s Bay Company’s service at York Factory, North America, now residing in London, to William Peace, Shoemaker in Stromness; - of a piece of ground, being the south half of property comprehending the site of the old tenement removed, with pier and beach and dwelling house thereon, and wall on the south side, and the little house on the pier, the said subjects extending from the street of Stromness eastward to the low water mark, and bounded on the east by the sea at lowest ebb, and on the west by the street of Stromness, all in or about the middle of the town, now Burgh of Barony of Stromness and Mainland of Orkney. Dated 16 May 1874, with Warrant of Registration thereon, on behalf of the said grantee. 27. 186 [Register of Sasines for Orkney, reference RS43/17A, Printed Sasine Abridgements for 1877 (Copy held in the Archives of Orkney), abridgement number 424, registered on 25 August 1877]

Census Return: West Ham 1 April 1881

51 Windsor Rd, West Ham, Essex: (1) John G Rendall, Head,Mar,M,39, Warehouseman ( empl 2 dom servants ). Stepney, Middlesex, England (2) Jessie F Rendall, Wife,Mar,F,38, Wife Of Warehouseman. Orkney, Scotland (3) John G Rendall, Son,,M,12, Scholar. Stepney, Middlesex, England (4) James N Rendall, Son,,M,10, Scholar. Stepney, Middlesex, England (5) Edgar S Rendall, Son,,M,8, Scholar. Stepney, Middlesex, England (6) Jessie M Rendall, Dau,,F,5, Scholar. Stepney, Middlesex, England (7) Charles S Rendall, Son,,M,3, . Stepney, Middlesex, England 8. Marian L Rendall, Dau,,F,2, . Stepney, Middlesex, England (8) Margaret A Rendall, Dau,,F,0, ( 9 months ). Stepney, Middlesex, England [Orkney Family History Society: 1881 Census Return for West Ham in Essex]