John Peter Pruden
| John Peter Pruden | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 31 May 1778 Edmonton, Middlesex, England |
| Died | 28 May 1868 (aged 89) Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada |
| Nationality | English |
| Occupation | Hudson's Bay Co. fur-trader; Councillor of Assiniboia |
| Spouse | Nancy Ann Henry Ann Armstrong |
| Children | Elizabeth,[1] William, Charlotte, Peter, Maria, Cornelious, Arthur, James, John Peter, and Caroline |
| Parents |
Peter Pruden and |
John Peter Pruden, christened on May 31, 1778 at All Saints Parish Church in Edmonton, Middlesex, England, was an early pioneer of Canada. During his many years of employment as a fur-trader with the Hudson's Bay Company, he had extensive interaction with such First Nations as the Cree and Blackfoot.
It is unknown how Pruden came to join the Company however, atypical amongst HBC "servants", it may have been through a possible link to Sir James Winter Lake, whose family controlled the Company during most of the eighteenth century, and whose estate at "The Firs" was near Tanner's End in Edmonton. No other boys from Edmonton ever appear to have been taken into the Company's service.
Pruden's employment in the Hudson’s Bay Company began in earnest in September 1791 when he arrived at York Factory by the Company's ship, Seahorse III, as a 13-year-old apprentice. He spent four years at York Factory. Four years later Pruden was an escort to James Curtis Bird who was being transferred to Carlton House, in the Saskatchewan District. He and Bird served in the Saskatchewan District under Inland Master William Tomison. In May 1796 Pruden moved to a post called Edmonton House. In 1798 Pruden became a writer, moving to Buckingham House in 1799 but returning to Edmonton House the next year. Upon arriving at Edmonton House Pruden found that his old friend Bird had been given charge of the post. It was Bird who sent him to build a house half-way between the Edmonton and Acton (Rocky Mountain) houses.
The name Edmonton ( now Alberta, Canada) was suggested by Pruden as it was the home of both the deputy governor of the HBC Sir James Winter Lake and he, himself.
By 1832, John Peter Pruden had served 41 years with the HBC. No Chief Factor serving at that time had more service years and only three of the Chief Traders then serving had accumulated more. One year after receiving his promotion to Chief Factor, Pruden, aged 59, retired to the Red River Settlement (now Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada). He was appointed to the Council of Assiniboia in 1839. In 1844, he became a member of the Board of Public Works, being the executive committee of the Council of Assiniboia. He served on the quarterly court as part of his office and in 1851, Eden Colville, the Associate Governor of Rupertsland offered him an appointment as a magistrate. However now at age 73 Pruden declined, citing his increasing age and ill health.
However, afterwards, Pruden went on to live more than a decade longer in his retirement at Red River. He died there on May 28, 1868 after a lengthy illness, at the age of almost 90. He was laid to rest at St. John's Cathedral Churchyard, in the Red River Colony.
A pioneer in every sense of the word Pruden lived a long, full life and left behind at his death a large family of children, grand-children and great-grandchildren.
His "country" wife, "Patasagawis" or "Patasagausk" also known as "Nancy Pruden" (probably from the old site of Norway House, now called Oxford House), had borne him many children and predeceased him in August, 1838. His second wife, British schoolteacher Ann Armstrong, whom he married at Red River on December 4, 1839, was 49 years old at the time of their marriage and his second marriage was childless. By his will, John Peter Pruden left a number of bequests to family members, including a bequest to his wife Ann of a modest 250 English pounds and a further 30 pounds if she wished to return to England. By September, 1869, Ann did return to England. She died at Ore, near Hastings in Sussex, England in 1887.
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[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Salt Lake City Family History Library, Repository (2009) [Microfilm]. (Sheet 09, Batch 9026881, Serial 00011)
- ^ MacDonald, Graham A. (2009). The Beaver Hills Country: A History of Land and Life, 55.
[edit] Further reading
- Hargrave, Letitia MacTavish (May 8, 1969). Letters of Letitia Hargrave (MacLeod), 218.
- Mitchell, Elaine (1961). "A Red River Gossip," The Beaver, pp. 4–11
- Morton, Arthur S. (1939). A HISTORY OF THE CANADIAN WEST TO 1870-1871
- Pruden, Hal (1990. THE PRUDENS OF PEHONANIK: A FUR-TRADE FAMILY
[edit] External links
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