Eden Colvile

Eden Colvile
Governor of Rupert's Land
In office 1849–1852
Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company
In office 1880–1889
Preceded by	George Joachim Goschen
Succeeded by	Donald Alexander Smith
Personal details
Born	(1819-02-12)12 February 1819 Langley Farm, Beckenham, Kent
Died	2 April 1893(1893-04-02) (aged 74) Lustleigh, Devon
Nationality	British
Spouse	Anne Maxwell
Relations	Andrew Colvile (father)
Alma mater	Trinity College, Cambridge
Occupation	Administrator, company director

Eden Colvile (12 February 1819 – 2 April 1893) was born at Langley Farm, part of the Langley Park Estate, near Beckenham, Kent, England, son of Andrew Colvile and Mary Louisa Eden. His father was a merchant and member of the Hudson's Bay Company's Board of Governors. His mother was fifth daughter of William Eden, 1st Baron Auckland, and thus connected to an influential family of politicians and diplomats. Eden had many siblings.

Colvile was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge. After graduating from Cambridge in 1841, he travelled to Lower Canada (Quebec) to manage the seigneury of Beauharnois for the North American Colonial Association of Ireland, of which his father was deputy governor. He served one year in the Legislative Assembly in 1844.

His relationship with the Hudson's Bay Company began in 1848 when he accompanied George Simpson to Rupert's Land, travelling as far as the Red River Colony. After his return to England, he was soon appointed Governor of Rupert's Land, relieving Simpson of his obligations inland. After seeing the troubles which rocked the Red River Colony in the late 1840s with the Guilleume Sayer trial, the Foss-Pelly slander trial and the difficulties between the Presbyterian Scots and the Anglicans, the Company needed someone like Colvile who would wield a firm hand in the Settlement. However, he spent his first winter on the Pacific coast, sorting out the affairs of the troubled Pugets Sound Agricultural Company.

In August 1850, he arrived in the Red River Colony with his wife, Anne Maxwell. They took up residence in the "Big House" at Lower Fort Garry. He quickly took charge of the affairs of the colony. He took over as president of the Council of Assiniboia, removed Adam Thom from his position of power, and arranged a compromise between the Presbyterians and Anglicans. Solving the difficulties which arose from the Foss-Pelly slander trial took more delicate maneuvering, but he succeeded by removing the major players in the trial from the Settlement. After accomplishing the tasks he was sent to fix, he and his wife returned to England in 1852.

He took on many of his father's directorships which included the chairmanship of the board of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. He joined the London committee of the HBC in 1854. After a reorganization of the HBC in the mid-1860s where he was only one of two to remain, he became deputy governor in 1871, governor in 1880 and retired in 1889. He died in Lustleigh, Devon, on Easter Sunday 1893.

References

Notes

Bibliography

• "Biography". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.