Document Record

Creator

Bissett, James, ca. 1831-1900

Title

James Bissett fonds
Fonds James Bissett

Identifier

MIKAN: 100621
Reels/Bobines: H-1565
Archival Reference/Référence Archivistique: MG 19 A 49|MG 19 A 47
oocihm.lac_mikan_100621
lac_mikan_100621

Subject

Papers
Hudson's Bay Company
Papiers
Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson

Document source

Library and Archives Canada / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada

Notes

1854/1914

Language

English

Description

James Bissett (ca. 1831 - 1900) was born in Lower Canada and was the son of Alexander Bissett (1806 - 1869) and his wife Jane. Alexander rose from being a carpenter in 1827 to Superintendent of the Lachine Canal from 1843 to 1868. James, meanwhile, spent eight years as a mercantile trader before joining the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) as Accountant at the Lachine Depot in 1854. He also served as Officer-in-Charge for the HBC in Honolulu in 1859 and 1860, as Chief Trader in Victoria and Esquimalt in British Columbia between 1860 and 1871, and as Chief Factor in Montreal from 1872 to 1880.
This collection features diaries written by James Bissett, and correspondence from Bissett family members. Bissett kept a daily journal principally when engaged in travelling on behalf of the HBC. Included in the letters is correspondence written by Bissett's daughter Florence at the age of seven, and two letters written by Edwin Bissett to his mother Phoebe describing parts of his journey to Honolulu and Victoria in 1914.
No finding aid is available. However, a two-page list of the contents of the journals and correspondence is presented near the start of microfilm reel H-1565.
Series consists of constitutions, minutes of the Head Executive Board and other branches of executive; correspondence; records related to membership, insurance services, financial and legal matters, and the Travel and Tour Committee. The series also contains constitutions, minutes and correspondence of affiliates including the Polish Alliance Press, credit unions, ladies' auxiliaries, the Polish Canadian Alliance Youth, Boy Scouts and Girl Guides, Amateur Theatrical Group and Polish schools. Also included are licences for contracts in sickness and funeral benefits, 1931 to 1956, from the Department of Insurance, Ontario. This material is located in horizontal storage, containers 65 to 78, 80 and 85.

URL

https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_mikan_100621