George Flett
| George Flett | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | 10 February 1817 Moose Lake on the Saskatchewan River |
| Died |
28 October 1897 (aged 80) Strathclair, Manitoba |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Occupation | Presbyterian missionary |
George Flett (10 February 1817 – 28 October 1897) was a Presbyterian missionary in what is now Manitoba, Canada. Flett was of Orkney and Cree descent. As a young man he farmed on the White Horse Plains, led a gold exploration party to Edmonton and then became the first post master for the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Victoria, Alberta. Flett was an interpreter to the first Presbyterian mission to the northwest between 1866 and 1867. After serving as a delegate in the provisional government of Louis Riel during the Red River Rebellion, he became a missionary among the Ojibwa of Okanese Reserve, serving from 1873 to 1895.
George Flett's father, George Flett Senior, came from the Orkney Islands. He arrived in the northwest in 1796, aged twenty-one, under contract to work as a laborer and boatman at York Factory. In 1810 he became an assistant trader and later a clerk at Moose Lake, Manitoba, on the Saskatchewan River near Cumberland House, retiring in 1822 to become a farmer. George Senior was described as "a faithful interested old Servant, deficient in Education but a good trader". George Flett's mother, Margaret Whitford, was the daughter of an Englishman James Peter Whitford, who came to the York Factory district in 1788, and an Indian woman, probably Cree. Margaret Whitford was said to be related to the Okanase chiefs.
George Flett was born on 10 February 1817 at Moose Lake, the third of five sons. Flett's parents had originally been married "according to the custom of the country". They formalized the union in December 1823, when they were married by a Church of England minister and their sons were baptized. George Flett was educated at the parish school. He married Mary Ross on 26 November 1840. Mary was daughter of Alexander Ross, an immigrant from the highlands of Scotland who had been a chief trader for the Pacific Fur Company and then for the North West Company. Her mother was Sally Timentwa, daughter of an Okanase chief. In later years, Mary's familiarity with Indian languages and customs was to prove an advantage in their mission work. In 1861 their daughter Letitia married Alexander Murray, who was to be elected to the Manitoba parliament in 1874 and to have a distinguished career in politics.
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