Andrew McDermot

Andrew McDermot (1790 – 12 October 1881) was a Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) employee who became a prominent independent fur trade merchant and member of the Council of Assiniboia.

McDermot was born in Bellangare House, Castlerea, County Roscommon, Ireland in 1790, the eldest son of Miles MacDermot and Catherine (Kitty) O’Connor. He was raised a Roman Catholic and educated at home. In Norway House, he married Sara McNab, mixed-blood daughter of another Hudson's Bay Company employee. He and Sara had 15 living children, nine daughters and six sons. Many of his daughters married prominent gentleman from Winnipeg's elite. Eldest daughter Marie, born in 1816, married Richard Lane, HBC clerk; Ellen married Thomas Bird; Catherine married Thomas Truthwaite; Mary Sally married William McTavish, Governor of Red River and Assiniboia; Anne married Andrew Graham Ballenden Bannatyne, who became a partner with Andrew McDermot and became the second wealthiest man in the settlement; Harriet married Alexander Ralph Lillie, an HBC postmaster. Though born Roman Catholic, he was married and buried by the Church of England. He is buried at St. John's Cathedral, Winnipeg.

With few opportunities in Ireland, he engaged with the Hudson's Bay Company in Sligo and arrived at York Factory on the ship Robert Taylor on August 26, 1812, initially signing on for a three-year contract. He was employed as a writer, trader and clerk in various fur trade posts in what is now north-central Manitoba. He was described as “Sober. Honest. Ready and willing in the discharge of his duty. Obedient & respectful of his superiors. . . . He has a tolerably good knowledge of the Indian language.” In 1821, he was allowed to move south to a post in the Lower Red River Colony. Unhappy with slow advancement within the HBC, he left the employ of the company when he was permitted to retire in 1824.

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