Samuel Black

Samuel Black (May 3, 1780 – February 8, 1841) British fur trader and explorer, Clerk in the New North Nest Company (XYC) and Wintering Partner in the North West Company (NWC), and later Clerk, Chief Trader, and Chief factor in the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) for the Columbia District. In 1824, he explored the Finlay River and its tributaries in present-day north-central British Columbia, including the Muskwa, Omineca and Stikine for the HBC, his journals later published by the Hudson's Bay Record Society in 1955.

Black was born in Tyrie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, the oldest and only son to John Black, from the parish on Tyrie, and Mary Leith, from the parish of Bodichell. Black also had two sisters, Ann and Mary. His baptism was witnessed by George Leith and Janet Black. It is noted in the baptism record that Black was "illegitimate," though, in June 24, 1781, John Black and Mary Leith are noted in the parish marriage records in Pitsligo as "having been contracted and claimed were married" prior to the birth of Samuel. Black's father died four years after Black's birth.

Black came to Lower Canada (present day Quebéc) in 1802 in the service of the XY Company as a clerk, perhaps encouraged by his maternal uncle and fur trader, George Leith, and probably joined the firm of Leith, Jamieson and Company, part of the XYC. He already had relatives living in Canada at the time of his arrival. At the joining of the XYC and NWC in 1804, Black "passed with the Company's organisation," and went to work for the North West Company, headquartered in Montreal. Assigned to work in the Athabasca Department (mostly in present-day Alberta) in 1805, Black served as a clerk there for fifteen years. For much of this time, he took an active role in the sometimes violent competition between the NWC and the HBC. In 1816, Black was made Wintering Partner.

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