Page 112 - Fortier Family History

MACTAVISH, LETITIA (Hargrave), letterwriter; b. 1813 in Edinburgh, eldest of nine children of Dugald Mactavish and Letitia Lockhart; d. 18 Sept. 1854 in Sault Ste Marie, Upper Canada. Letitia McTavish spent most of her early life at Kilchrist House, the family home near Campbeltown, Scotland, where, as daughter of the sheriff of Argyllshire and granddaughter of the chief of the clan Tavish, she received a good education and the social training befitting her family’s position. The name of McTavish (Mactavish) was renowned in the fur trade of British North America. Letitia married HBC Chief Trader James Hargrave in 1840. After their wedding the couple travelled in the spring of 1840 to London, where they were hospitably entertained by HBC governor George Simpson. Letitia formed a lasting friendship with Simpson’s wife, Frances Ramsay Simpson, and her sister Isobel Graham Simpson, the wife of Chief Factor Duncan Finlayson. The Hargraves sailed from Gravesend (England) aboard the Prince Rupert on 6 June 1840, accompanied by Isobel Finlayson, and arrived at York Factory early in August. Although Letitia’s first reaction to the bleak expanse of the factory was “to turn my back to the company & cry myself sick,” her practical and optimistic nature enabled her to adapt readily to life on Hudson Bay. She wrote to her family as frequently as possible, describing her situation in lively detail. This unique collection of letters, written by one of the few white women living in the HBC territories in the 1840s, provides an intimate picture of the social life of the fur trade in the mid 19th century from a feminine point of view. As the only white woman at York Factory, Letitia was an object of curiosity to the native people. The Indian women called her “Hockimaw Erqua,” meaning chieftainess, and often brought presents of berries and flowers. Letitia was much impressed by the cradle and moss bag in which the Indian women carried their babies and remarked on their great kindness to their children. It was difficult for a white woman to look with equanimity upon certain social customs of the fur trade, many men having taken an Indian or Métis wife “after the fashion of the Country.” To her credit, Letitia realized that the too rigid enforcement of European morality could lead to unnecessary suffering. She strongly censured the Reverend John Macallum, schoolmaster at the Red River settlement, for refusing to allow Métis children to visit their mothers if they had not had a church marriage. “This may be all very right, but it is fearfully cruel for the poor unfortunate mothers did not know that there was any distinction & it is only within the last few years that any one was so married.” In her private letters Letitia was often highly critical of people she met. With her sharp wit, she delighted in regaling her family with the gossip of the country, but her uncharitable remarks were usually motivated by her dislike of hypocrisy and affectation. Although she expected the deference due her social position, she did not shun the companionship of Métis women such as Harriet Vincent, wife of Chief Trader George Gladman and godmother of the Hargraves’ first child. Because official HBC post journals and correspondences only dealt with official HBC business, most of what we know today of Nicol’s personal life while in the service of the HBC, especially after he married Elizabeth Kennedy in 1829, is through some of Letitia Hargrave’s letters. It’s through her letters that we know how Nicol reacted to the death of Elizabeth at Red River in 1842 while he was stationed at Lac la Pluie (Fort Frances), and we also can find references in some of the letters regarding the whereabouts of Nicol’s and Elizabeth’s children (Roderick, Kenneth, Mary) in that crucial period between the first born in 1830 (Roderick), to Nicol’s furlough back to Scotland in 1836/7when he brought the two boys to Inverness and left them in the care of his sister Anne MacKenzie, through Elizabeth’s death in 1842 and his retrieval of Mary at the Red River Colony (Settlement) when he then brought her to Scotland to also be cared for by his sister Anne and her husband Hector MacKenzie in 1844/5. The Following pages contain samples of her many letters published in the HBC’s Beaver magazine. One of these does mention Duncan and Isobel Finlayson at Fort Garry.