Series 0484.03 - Hodgson family

John Hodgson, son of Ephraim Hodgson from London, England, entered service with the Hudson’s Bay Company at the age of 12 in 1774. He was sent to Rupert’s Land (later Canada) because he had a good education in mathematics, and would be useful for “taking the Distance of Places and making Plans” (citation). The common practice in the fur trade at the time was for the Hudson’s Bay men to take Indigenous wives. This gave the trader negotiating power and protection as well as a partner who was skilled in surviving the wilds of Canada. It was either he or his son James who later married Caroline Goodwin, daughter of Robert Goodwin and Moostigoosh, daughter of Puckethwanish, a Cree Headman. John Hodgson, a grandson of the original, married Catherine Davis. Their son Albert was 28 years old when the Riel Rebellion and may have been involved in the rebellion. The census records are not reliable for First Nations and Metis, and they cannot be found in the 1891 Census, but in 1901 Albert and his family are living in Duck Lake, Saskatchewan, where the first battle of the Riel Rebellion was fought in 1885. Albert’s three sons, William, Arthur, and Llewellyn enlisted in the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Forces in World War I. William died overseas.

The series consists of six photographs identified as belonging to the Hodgson family. Three of these are World War I portraits of Albert Hodgson’s sons: William, Arthur, and Llewelyn.