Undelivered Letters to Hudson's Bay Company Men on the Northwest Coast of America, 1830-57

This collection of correspondence – letters sent to Hudson's Bay Company men by their families and loved ones but never delivered – offers a rare and human history of ordinary people, many of whom were the early settlers of the Pacific Northwest. In The Early Nineteenth Century, When The Hudson's Bay Company Sent Men To Its Posts Along The Coast Of North America's Pacific Northwest, Letters From Loved Ones Followed In The Company's Supply Ships. The Messages From A Mother Or Father, A Wife Or Sweetheart Travelled For Many Months From London, Around The Southernmost Tip Of South America, And North To Isolated Trading Posts. By The Time A Letter Carrying The News And Gossip From Home Reached Its Destination, It Might Well Miss The Man Meant To Read It. The Company Returned These Letters To Its London Office, And Over The Years An Undelivered Letters File Built Up. Many Remained Sealed For 150 Years. Beattie And Buss Invite Us Into The Lives Of The Letter Writers, Threading Together Their Words With Contemporary Explanations. This Unique Collection Of Letters Will Be Compelling Reading For Social Historians, Literary Scholars, Genealogists, Students Of The Fur Trade, And Anyone Interested In British And North American Culture Of The Period. The News Of Everyday Life - From Parents On Farms And In Towns, Sisters In Domestic Service, Brothers And Friends In Trade - Reaches Out Across Two Centuries To Speak With Us With Startling Immediacy.--jacket. Letters To Men On The Ships -- Letters To Voyageurs -- Letters To Men At The Posts -- Letters To Emigrant Labourers -- Ships -- Posts. Edited By Judith Hudson Beattie And Helen M. Buss ; With Introductions And Narratives By Judith Hudson Beattie And Helen M. Buss ; And Notes By Judith Hudson Beattie. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [467]-474) And Index. "In the early nineteenth century, when the Hudson's Bay Company sent men to its posts along the coast of North America's Pacific Northwest, letters from loved ones followed in the company's supply ships. The messages from a mother or father, a wife or sweetheart travelled for many months from London, around the southernmost tip of South America, and north to isolated trading posts. By the time a letter carrying the news and gossip from home reached its destination, it might well miss the man meant to read it. The Company returned these letters to its London office, and over the years an "undelivered letters" file built up. Many remained sealed for 150 years. Beattie and Buss invite us into the lives of the letter writers, threading together their words with contemporary explanations. This unique collection of letters will be compelling reading for social historians, literary scholars, genealogists, students of the fur trade, and anyone interested in British and North American culture of the period. The news of everyday life - from parents on farms and in towns, sisters in domestic service, brothers and friends in trade - reaches out across two centuries to speak with us with startling immediacy." -- Publisher's Description "In the early nineteenth century, when the Hudson's Bay Company sent men to its posts along the coast of North America's Pacific Northwest, letters from loved ones followed in the company's supply ships. The messages from a mother or father, a wife or sweetheart travelled for many months from London, around the southernmost tip of South America, and north to isolated trading posts. By the time a letter carrying the news and gossip from home reached its destination, it might well miss the man meant to read it. The Company returned these letters to its London office, and over the years an "undelivered letters" file built up. Many remained sealed for 150 years." "Beattie and Buss invite us into the lives of the letter writers, threading together their words with contemporary explanations. This unique collection of letters will be compelling reading for social historians, literary scholars, genealogists, students of the fur trade, and anyone interested in British and North American culture of the period. The news of everyday life - from parents on farms and in towns, sisters in domestic service, brothers and friends in trade - reaches out across two centuries to speak with us with startling immediacy."--Résumé de l'éditeur "In the early nineteenth century, when the Hudson's Bay Company sent men to its posts along the coast of North America's Pacific Northwest, letters from loved ones followed in the company's supply ships. The messages from a mother or father, a wife or sweetheart travelled for many months from London, around the southernmost tip of South America, and north to isolated trading posts. By the time a letter carrying the news and gossip from home reached its destination, it might well miss the man meant to read it. The Company returned these letters to its London office, and over the years an "undelivered letters" file built up. Many remained sealed for 150 years.". "Beattie and Buss invite us into the lives of the letter writers, threading together their words with contemporary explanations. This unique collection of letters will be compelling reading for social historians, literary scholars, genealogists, students of the fur trade, and anyone interested in British and North American culture of the period. The news of everyday life - from parents on farms and in towns, sisters in domestic service, brothers and friends in trade - reaches out across two centuries to speak with us with startling immediacy."--BOOK JACKET. In the early nineteenth century, when the Hudson's Bay Company sent men to its furthest posts along the coast of North America's Pacific Northwest, the letters of those who cared for those men followed them in the Company's supply ships. Sometimes, these letters missed their objects -- the men had returned to Britain, or deserted their ships, or died. The Company returned the correspondence to its London office and over the years amassed a file of "undelivered letters." Many of these remained sealed for 150 years until they were opened by archivist Judith Hudson Beattie, when the Company archives were moved to Canada. The letters tell the stories of ordinary people whose lives are rarely recounted in traditional histories. Editorial commentaries fram, for contemporary readers, the words of early nineteenth-century working- and middle-class British folk as well as letters to "voyageurs" from Quebec. Their stories offer rare insights into the varied worlds of men and women who settled the Pacific Northwest.