Foot notes (blue numbers are
included) My father found a trace of
Christopher by writing to the Hudson's Bay Company. They
gave him the following information: A Christopher Findlay
worked for the Company in the capacity of Middleman (middle
position in a canoe) at Fort Rupert, Vancouver Island
between the years 1851 and 1853. His wages were seventeen
pounds per annum.(1) Christopher was born in the
Parish of Orphir, Mainland Island, Orkney, Scotland,
December 30, 1832. His mother and father were Christopher
Finlay and Margaret Sinclair. His parents later had two
sisters for Christopher, Mary, June 8 1834, and Margaret,
April 22 1835.(2) Not much is known of the
family but we do know that he went to school, learned how to
read and write and was good at mathematics. (3)
The Hudson's Bay Company chose the Orkney Islanders for
gathering employees to help with the many chores of running
its trading empire in Canada. As Christopher grew from a
child to a man he would hear tales of many who would join
the Company, some to return, many to stay in Canada. His
dreams were full of this adventure to come. He said, "I want
to follow the company." He would listen to the recruitment
talks given by the Company's men. He would sit and listen to
the stories of the ocean voyages, the wilderness, trees,
(the Orkney's were very barren) Indians, the French, and
riches to be obtained through the fur trade. As he grew into
his teens the recruitment talks were changing from the
Atlantic to the Pacific. Stories were told of the explorers,
Captain Cook, Captain Vancouver, and Captain Bligh.
Christopher realized that he could become part of this new
land. In the spring of 1850, tragedy
struck the Finlay family. The fishing boat that father
Finlay was crewing left the harbour of Houton and failed to
return. All hands were lost. Mother, Margaret, and her two
daughters, Mary and Margaret were soon working as farm
workers on a nearby farm. Christopher, still had his dream
of going to the new world. He presented his plan to his
mother. "Let me go with the Hudson Bay Company to this
Canada. When I am able, I will send you the money so you
will be able to follow me." His mother reluctantly agreed.
He heard that the Company was
now in the nearby town of Stromness. Christopher walked over
to the village. While there he again listened with eagerness
to the Company's man, Edward Clouston (4)
tell of the new colony of Vancouver's Island. This land was
covered with a huge forest. Trees ten feet in diameter
covered the land. The rivers and seas were filled with fish.
Gold and coal had just been discovered. This was the land of
opportunity. That night Christopher returned to the small
family farm house. We can imagine the tears when mother was
told that Christopher had signed with the Company. "Aw,
mother, it is just two years... Then I will send for you...
This is my chance to see the world!" Reluctantly Mother
released her only son, knowing in her heart that she would
never see him again. That fall, October 15, 1850
the family walked over to Kirkwall (5)
to see their son off on the ship, "Queen". Good byes were
said as 74 men, 9 women and 4 children left the Orkneys for
the last time.(6) Finally the adventure had
begun. Many of the recruits knew each other and home was
soon forgotten. The Queen sailed south through the Baltic
and on to London which was at this time a huge modern city
and Christopher had never been away from the Orkney's. The
stay in London was approximately a month as the ship that
was going to take them to the Pacific Ocean was being made
ready.(7)
All told over 140 passengers and crew were to make the trip.
The Barque, Tory, a privately owned vessel under charter to
the Company was old but solidly built. The ship's Master,
James Row had hired a good experienced Captain Duncan to
take her to Vancouver's Island.(8)
The journey was to sail to the bottom of the Atlantic,
around the southern tip of South America, Cape Horn, into
the Pacific Ocean and northward to their
destination. The ship's length was 105
feet, breadth 26 feet, she had two full decks, a poop deck,
three masts, a great old fashioned square stern, square rig
sails and a wonderful girl figurehead! (9) She was a wonderful ship to
dream on. The company was to provide all provisions for the
voyage. Much of Christopher's time was spent reading and
listening to tales of others who had returned from such a
trip. We can imagine that another Scotsman, Robert Louis
Stevenson, would later use such ideas to kindle in his mind
the story of "Treasure Island". Our voyage begins. Christopher
soon realized that when everything was aboard twould be a
tight fit and he was one of the "labourers". He was not even
called a passenger! (10)
The captain took his wife aboard and she would not go unless
her piano came too. She was rather plain looking and
squinted. Robert Williams was first mate, Herbert Lewis,
second mate, and Jay was third mate. An extra Captain, one
James Cooper was along as well. This extra captain was
called the supercargo. He too brought his wife. Fortunately
the company saw fit to provision the barque "Tory" with a
surgeon, a George Johnston. The ship was towed down to
Gravesend where the more important passengers were loaded.
Much to Christopher's delight Captain Langford and family
came aboard. The captain had 5 daughters. Langford also
brought a goat and a very large Mastiff dog. The crew,
passengers and labourers were even given a farewell speech
from the secretary of the Hudson's Bay House. All in all
there were 51 passengers and crew and 90 labouring men and
their families.(11)
It is hard to believe so many would be sent on such a small
vessel. At last! Christopher was free
of land. The sails were spread and the journey had begun.
Two days out a major storm hit. Most everyone was ill. The
Tory had most sails close reefed for days. Large green waves
washed over the boat. This delay of a month caused some
worry over the food and water supply. The Captain put in to
the port of Saint Iago in the Cape de Verdes Islands off
Portugal.(12)
Christopher and others were allowed ashore and borrowed
saddle horses and rode through the lush semi tropical
country. Here they were able to pick grapes and oranges for
the first time. Upon leaving Cape de Verdes
the tropics were soon reached. Steady warm winds and calms,
rain occasionally and burning sun. Along side the boat were
many porpoises and flying fish. Most nights the sounds of
Mrs. Duncan's piano could be heard. The passengers had
dances on the quarter deck. All was not to last. As the
ship neared its next landfall, the Falklands Islands, the
air became cooler with gales, thunder and lightning. The old
year passes from 1850 to 1851. Christopher had his 18th
birthday. The Tory headed south and south again with strong
head winds and snow. Tacking back and forth the ship finally
reached 63 degrees latitude. The turn was made around Cape
Horn in a raging blizzard. The winds calmed. As the boat
sailed north into the Pacific the air warmed. The food by this time, three
months out of England, was not good. All became bad and not
there was no much of it. Cheese and biscuits were full of
weevils. Little fresh water was available unless it rained.
The ship settled down to the monotony of travel north into
the warm tropics. As the northward journey continued the air
became cooler. The Tory changed to a more easterly course
and was soon approaching the coast of Vancouver
Island. Much fish and whales could be
seen. The first sign of land was a huge white mountain on
the horizon. The boat was sailing East with land on both
sides. This was the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Later that week
the weather worn Tory anchored in the harbor at Fort
Victoria. The journey had taken almost 6 months. The date
was May 14, 1851. The next day a large canoe
manned by Indians and captained by Mr. George Simpson
arrived and welcomed them to the Hudson's Bay Post of Fort
Victoria. During the next two days the passengers and
labourers left the ship. It must be remembered at this
time that there were only two white settlements on Vancouver
Island, Victoria on the southern tip and Fort Rupert on the
extreme north end. Fort Rupert had been established in 1849
to protect the interests of the Company. Fort Rupert's
factor was Captain MacNeil. Coal had been discovered there
earlier and the Company had sent to the site a ship, the
Harpooner, with miners to begin the working of a coal
deposit. These miners lead by the Muir family had been hired
to run the mine and went on strike They refused to work
after April 1850.(13)
Of course this was not known when the Tory had set sail in
November of 1850. The labourers assigned to Fort
Rupert including Christopher were sent from Fort Victoria on
the Tory and were taken to this northern fort. Fort Rupert was a small
palisaded fort. Hastily erected log houses were waiting for
the "Orcadians" More work was done in preparing better
living accommodations. Christopher had time to explore. The
forest would have been filled with bear, wolves, deer and
cougar. The water were filled with the mighty salmon,
halibut, shark, cod, sea urchins, and of course the killer
whales and grey whales. The Indians in the area were
rather a poor group. They were not well treated by the
whites. The Fort found much difficulty in impressing on the
natives the rules of a white civilization. Some coal mining
was attempted. The coal deposits were shown to be of poor
quality. And so past the year 1851. In the next year, 1852, coal
was discovered further south in larger quantities. Most of
the Orcadians were sent for and were reestablished in the
Nanaimo area. As Christopher was not hired as a miner, but
as an account, he remained behind at the
Fort.(14) We now leave Christopher and
go further north to the Queen Charlotte Islands. This area
was better known to the natives as Haida Gwai. The warlike
Haida had contact with the fur traders, mostly American. The
traders came to their villages and exchanged trinkets and
whiskey for the much desired otter pelts and fur seals.
Reports came south of Captain Reid, who was forced to burn
his ship rather than let it fall into the hands of the
fierce warriors. These reports must have set the inhabitants
of Fort Rupert to worry considerably. During this year two
more ships arrived from England, the London and the Norman
Morrison. (15) Haida Gwaii (Queen
Charlotte Islands) The Haida in their big central
village of Skidegate heard many tales of the new forts.
Because of their warlike nature they were shunned by the
English boats. "Maybe if we weren't so mean the English
would like us. Lets go show them how wonderful we are!"
In the summer of 1853 the
Haida began a trek down their islands to see for themselves
the wonders of "civilization". As they went by the various
villages of Kumshewa, Skedans and Tanu they were joined by
more canoes. They arrived at the most southerly village of
Ninstints.(16)
Now they had over 50 large sea going canoes. More than 500
Haidas made this trip. From the southern tip of the
Charlottes twas only a days sea voyage to the northern end
of Vancouver Island. The war canoes arrived en mass at the
small settlement of Fort Rupert. This was the most exciting
event of Christopher's young life. The Haida were dressed in
all their finery. They wore fine furs, cedar bark hats and
capes. Each canoe represented a different family and
village. The Haida themselves were an awe inspiring race,
very tall, with magnificent physiques. The inhabitants of
the Fort felt more of a bond to these haughty proud people
than with the local natives. Over the course of the days
when the Haida were present some friendships were made. At
this time a lasting bond was made between Christopher and an
Indian girl. Christopher may have joined
this flotilla on their southern journey to see the English.
All that is known is that he had to return to Nanaimo and
report for work. With him came the Haida girl.
(17)
This girl and he were soon married by the captain of an
english ship and became "Mr. and Mrs. Finlay". The large group of war canoes
continued down the coast to Victoria. Here the Haida, and
their seagoing war canoes scared the residents of the Fort
so badly that James Douglas, the Fort's governor, had to
forcefully tell them to return and not to come back. He did
this by showing them the cannon power of the
Fort. Later that summer 5 large
"peaceful" canoes returned to establish trading. This they
did for many years. Skidegate became quite wealthy during
these excursions. They also brought the white men's disease
back to their islands.(18) In 1854 Christopher and the
Haida girl had a child, They called her Mary. She would have
been named after his Orkney sister. Christopher became a well
known figure in the new town of Nanaimo. He worked on
accounts with the Company, took part in the building of the
new town and even though of a young age was appointed the
colony's teacher for a short time. In 1856 one of his
friends, John Work, from the Orkneys, was killed in a mine
explosion and cave in. John had a wife, Margaret and family.
Two letters survive from this time.. These were sent to
Christopher from John's wife. (19) It is known from his
daughter's diary that letters were were received from the
Orkneys. Christopher still intended to send for his sisters.
His mother, unfortunately, took sick and died. He would have known Robert
Dunsmuir, later to become the richest man in British
Columbia. Robert was his superior at Fort Rupert. Dunsmuir
arrived on Vancouver Island a few months after the Tory.
Christopher worked beside Mark Bate, who was employed by the
Hudson Bay Company. Mark eventually became the long lasting
Mayor of Nanaimo. They were neighbors in the early town.
There were only 10 houses at this time. Later Mark has this to say of
Christopher: "Christopher Finlay and Jean Baptiste Fortier,
occupied the building beyond the Cook House, which building,
the property of Mr. James M. Brown is still standing. (This
was written in 1907) It was built in 1853. Mr. Finlay was
well up in his mathematics, and among his other duties, as
assistant in the store and office, was that of village
pedagogue, after the resignation of Mr Charles A Bailey, and
until the appointment of the late Rev. C.
Bryant." "Finlay was a somewhat stern
master A few now among us who have grown grey and who were
his scholars can doubtless recollect from the sharp slashes
they received how free he was in the use of the
strap." "In the language of the immortal
Goldsmith:" A man severe he was, and stern to
view I knew him well, and every truant
knew We had the boding tremblers learning to
trace the Day's disasters in his morning
face Full well the busy whispers circling
round Conveyed the dismal tidings when he
frowned The village all declared how much he
knew; Twas certain he could write and cipher,
too "He was withal an upright man-
would never wrong anyone." (20) A tragedy struck the Haida
people. For years every summer they had come down and lived
in their encampment in Victoria harbour. In the year 1862
small pox arrived on a ship from the south. This raised
havoc with the Indians who were extremely vulnerable to
white men's diseases. The encampment in Victoria was
infested. Sir James Douglas gave the order to set fire to
the Indian Village . The Haida were told to take their
belongings and go back to their islands. This they did. They
took the sick and dying with them. Each night on the way
north the dead were left ashore. They took all their
southern possessions with them hoping to make it back to the
islands. The next year at the last point on the mainland
before going to the Queen Charlottes were found the remains
of the Haida that had left Victoria. Unfortunately some
small pox carrying Indians made the trek back to their
villages. Within the year the majority of the Haida were
dead. (21) Sometime about now
Christopher's wife was asked to come back and help manage
the affairs of her village. Uncle Tom Cartwright told us
that his grandmother returned to Rose City. Nothing was ever
heard from her again. Christopher was able to keep
his daughter Mary. In the year 1862 the Princess
Royal, a Hudson's Bay Company ship, arrives with more
settlers. One of which is a William Cartwright from
Worcestershire, West Midlands. He came out from England at
twenty years of age. His sister Sara had arrived 5 years
before and became the wife of Mark Bate. William began
working in the coal mines with the eventual goal of saving
money to purchase land. After some uneventful years in this
new country he met a wonderful beautiful Indian girl by the
name of Mary Finlay. A Victoria marriage took place in the
year 1869. William was 28. Mary was 15. William continued to
work as a miner in Nanaimo. Their first of eleven children,
Matilda, was born in 1871. The next year a farm was
purchased with the help of Mark and Sara. This farm was a
few miles to the north of Victoria in Sooke Harbour. And so
starts another story. Christopher continued to enjoy
life. He soon moved out of the company house and built
another a short distance away. His daughter and husband
William and Mary also bought adjoining property. Christopher
dies suddenly in the year 1879 at the age of
46.(22) The above is a short history
of our many times grandfather. Much has been left
out. Still many questions are there
to be answered. A few puzzles left are: What is
Christopher's wife's name? When exactly did she leave? Did
she make it back to the Northern Islands? Did she remarry?
Daughter Mary (Cartwright) wrote letters to Mary and
Margaret and called them aunt. Were they Christopher's
sisters? Did they emigrate as well? A Mary Martin lived in
Sooke with the same family number as William and Mary
Cartwright. (1891 census) Was this Mary Findlay,
Christopher's sister? I hope to add more to this
story from time to time. Monte Engelson, August 12,
1999 Hello again, I have updated
this story of Christopher after a voyage to the Orkney
Islands. 2015, From the Island's archives was found what had
happened to Christopher's father. The original farm is now a
"Bed and Breakfast". We stayed on this farmer in an old
stone house, "The Finlay Cottage". From our British Columbia
Archives was found the baptismal records of Christopher's
daughter and mother.
march 5th 2016
The following is a plausible history of
our many times great grandfather.