The Remarkable History of the Hudson's Bay Company: Including that of the French Traders of North-Western Canada and of the North-West, XY, and Astor Fur CompaniesBryce, George
History
The Remarkable History of the Hudson's Bay Company: Including that of the French Traders of North-Western Canada and of the North-West, XY, and Astor Fur Companies
Bryce, George
Fur trade -- Northwest, Canadian; Hudson's Bay Company; North West Company; Northwest, Canadian -- History; XY Company
(4) Cattle, swine, and poultry, which he had purchased for one hundred
pounds from John Wills, of the North-West Company, the builder of Fort
Gibraltar, were to be left for the sole use of the colony, and if any of
his children were to ask for a pair of the aforesaid animals or fowls
their request was to be granted.
(5) To his Indian wife, Mary Fidler, he bequeathed fifteen pounds a year
for life to be paid to her in goods from the Hudson's Bay Company store,
to be charged against his interest account in the hands of the Company.
(6) The will required further that of all the rest of the money
belonging to him, in the hands of the Hudson's Bay Company or the Bank
of England, as well as the legacy left him by his Uncle Jasper Fidler
and other moneys due him, the interest be divided among his children
according to their needs.
(7) After the interest of Fidler's money had been divided among his
children till the youngest child Peter should come of age, the testator
makes the following remarkable disposal of the residue: "All my money
in the funds and other personal property after the youngest child has
attained twenty-one years of age, to be placed in the public funds,
and the interest annually due to be added to the capital and continue
so until August 16th, 1969 (I being born on that day two hundred
years before), when the whole amount of the principal and interest so
accumulated I will and desire to be then placed at the disposal of the
next male child heir in direct descent from my son Peter Fidler" or to
the next-of-kin. He leaves his "Copyhold land and new house situated in
the town of Bolsover, in the county of Derby," after the death of Mary
Fidler, the mother of the testator, to be given to his youngest son,
Peter Fidler.
This will was dated on August 16th, 1821, and Fidler died in the
following year. The executors nominated were the Governor of the
Hudson's Bay Company, the Governor of the Selkirk settlement, and the
secretary of the Hudson's Bay Company.
Some time after the death of this peculiar man, John Henry Pelly,
Governor-in-Chief of the Hudson's Bay Company, Donald McKenzie, Governor
of the Selkirk settlement, and William Smith, Secretary of the Hudson's
Bay Company, renounced the probate and execution of the will, and
in October, 1827, "Thomas Fidler," his natural and lawful son, was
appointed by the court to administer the will.
A considerable amount of interest in this will has been shown by the
descendants of Peter Fidler, a number of whom still live in the province
of Manitoba, on the banks of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. Lawyers
have from time to time been appointed to seek out the residue, which,
under the will, ought to be in process of accumulation till 1969, but
no trace of it can be found in Hudson's Bay Company or Bank of England
accounts, though diligent search has been made.
STUBBORN JOHN MCLEOD.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account