Browse "History/Historical Figures"

Walter Patterson, army officer, colonial administrator (b 1735? in County Donegal, Ire; d at London, Eng 6 Sept 1798).

The term “war brides” refers to women who married Canadian servicemen overseas and then immigrated to Canada after the world wars to join their husbands. The term became popular during the Second World War but is now also used to describe women who had similar experiences in the First World War.

Wickananish, or Wikinanish, meaning "having no one in front of him in the canoe," Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka) chief (fl 1788-93). Wickananish was the leading chief at Clayoquot Sound, on the West coast of Vancouver Island, during the period of initial European contact.

William "Tiger" Dunlop, army surgeon, soldier, politician, author (b at Greenock, Scotland, 19 Nov 1792; d at Côte-Saint-Paul 29 Jun 1848).

William Alexander, Earl of Stirling, poet, courtier, colonizer (b at Menstrie, Scot c 1577; d at London, Eng 1640). Although he never visited North America, he is remembered for his nationalistic foresight, and for providing Nova Scotia with its name, flag and coat of arms.

William Baffin, explorer (probably born in London, England, ca. 1584; died 23 January 1621 or 1622 in the Persian Gulf).

William Eppes (Epps) Cormack, merchant, explorer, naturalist (b at St John's 5 May 1796; d at New Westminster, BC 30 Apr 1868).

William Grant Stairs, explorer, soldier (b at Halifax 28 Feb 1863; d at Chinde, Mozambique 9 June 1892). He was discoverer of one source of the Nile, the Semliki River, and the first non-African to climb Mount Ruwenzori.

William Henry Steeves, senator (1867–73), politician, merchant, lumberman (born 20 May 1814 in Hillsborough, NB; died 9 December 1873 in Saint John, NB).

William Jackman, sealing captain, sailing master (b at Renews, Nfld 20 May 1837; d at St John's 25 Feb 1877). William, like his famous brother, Capt Arthur JACKMAN, was at an early age involved in the Labrador cod fishery and in the seal hunt.

William Kennedy, explorer (b probably at Cumberland House, Rupert's Land 26 Apr 1814; d at St Andrews, Red River Settlement 25 Jan 1890).

William Kirby, novelist, journalist (b at Kingston-upon-Hull, Eng 23 Oct 1817; d at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont 23 June 1906).

William Lyon Mackenzie, journalist, politician (born 12 March 1795 in Dundee, Scotland; died 28 August 1861 in Toronto, ON). A journalist, Member of the Legislative Assembly, first mayor of Toronto and a leader of the Rebellions of 1837, Mackenzie was a central figure in pre-Confederation political life.

William Lyon Mackenzie King, prime minister of Canada 1921–26, 1926–30 and 1935–48 (born 17 December 1874 in Berlin [Kitchener], ON; died 22 July 1950 in Kingsmere, QC [near Ottawa, ON]).

William McDougall, QC, lawyer, journalist, politician, lieutenant-governor of Rupert’s Land and the North-Western Territory (born 25 January 1822 near York, Upper Canada; died 29 May 1905 in Ottawa, ON).

During the War of 1812 he commanded a company of voyageurs, assisting General BROCK at the capture of Detroit. As leader of the NWC, he presided over a period of intense competition with the Hudson's Bay Co that ended when the companies united in 1821.

William McIntosh, fur trader (b at Grand Rapids, US 1784; d 16 Feb 1842). By 1816 a wintering partner in the North West Company, he had previously been positioned at Lesser Slave Lake (1803) in the Peace River country (1805) and at Fort Vermilion (1815).

William Peyton Hubbard, politician, inventor, baker, coachman (born 27 January 1842 in Toronto, ON; died 30 April 1935 in Toronto). Hubbard was Toronto’s first Black elected official, serving as alderman (1894–1903, 1913) and controller (1898–1908), and as acting mayor periodically. A democratic reformer, he campaigned to make the city’s powerful Board of Control an elected body. Hubbard was also a leading figure in the push for public ownership of hydroelectric power, contributing to the establishment of the Toronto Hydro-Electric System.

William Yellowhead, or Musquakie, Ojibwa chief (d at the Rama Reserve, Lk Simcoe, Canada W 11 Jan 1864). During the WAR OF 1812 Yellowhead, then in his thirties or forties, fought for the British. He had his jaw shattered by a musket ball.

A wintering partner (also "winterer") was an inland trader and shareholder, most notably in the North West Company. The wintering partner system evolved in New France, where fur merchants divided their profits with associates conducting the trade.