Rupert's Land

This article is about the trading territory. For the ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Church of Canada, see Ecclesiastical Province of Rupert's Land. For the Anglican diocese, see Diocese of Rupert's Land.

Rupert's Land, showing location of York Factory

Rupert's Land, also sometimes called "Prince Rupert's Land", was a territory in British North America, consisting of the Hudson Bay drainage basin, that was owned by the Hudson's Bay Company for 200 years ^{[citation needed]}. The area once known as Rupert's Land is now mainly a part of Canada, but a small portion is now in the United States of America. It was named after Prince Rupert of the Rhine, a nephew of Charles I and the first Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company.

Areas once belonging to Rupert's Land include all of Manitoba, most of Saskatchewan, southern Alberta, southern Nunavut, northern parts of Ontario and Quebec, as well as parts of Minnesota and North Dakota and very small parts of Montana and South Dakota.

Colonial history

In 1670, the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) was granted a charter by King Charles II, giving it a trading monopoly over the watershed of all rivers and streams flowing into Hudson Bay, thereby making the HBC owners of the whole of Rupert's Land (named in honour of Prince Rupert of the Rhine, the king's cousin and the company's first governor). This covered an area of 3.9 million square kilometres (1.5 million sq mi), over one-third the area of Canada today.

On 19 November, 1869 the Hudson's Bay Company sold Rupert's Land to the newly formed Canadian Government for £300,000. Control was originally planned to be transferred on December 1 of that year, but due to setbacks caused by the Red River Rebellion, the government assumed control on 15 July, 1870. The region then became part of the The North-West Territories.

See also

• 49th parallel north
• British Arctic Territories
• Hudson's Bay Company
• Hudson's Bay Company Archives
• Canadian Confederation

Further reading

• Davis, Richard Clarke (1988). Rupert's Land A Cultural Tapestry. Waterloo, ON, Canada: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. ISBN 0889209766. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Gillespie, Greg (2007). Hunting for Empire Narrative of Sport in Rupert's Land, 1840-70. Vancouver, BC, Canada: UBC Press. ISBN 9780774813549.
• Hudson's Bay Company. An Ordinance for the More Effectual Administration of Justice, In the Colony of Rupertsland. London: J. Brettell.
• Stubbs, Roy St. George (1967). Four Recorders of Rupert's Land; A Brief Survey of the Hudson's Bay Company Courts of Rupert's Land. Winnipeg, MB, Canada: Peguis Publishers.
• Tucker, S. (1851). The Rainbow in the North A Short Account of the First Establishment of Christianity in Rupert's Land. London: J. Nisbet and Co.