| Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl Of Selkirk |
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| 1771 births | |
| selkirk, thomas douglas, 5th earl of | |
| 1820 deaths | |
| earls in the peerage of scotland | |
| fellows of the royal society | |
| red river colony | |
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Thomas Douglas ( June 20 , 1771 — April 8 , 1820 ) was the 5th Earl Of Selkirk , born at Saint Mary's Isle, Kirkcudbrightshire , Scotland . He was noteworthy as a Scottish philanthropist who sponsored immigrant settlements in Canada . EARLY BACKGROUND Thomas Douglas was the seventh son of Dunbar Douglas, 4th Earl Of Selkirk , and Helen Hamilton . As he had not expected to inherit the family estate, he went to the University Of Edinburgh to study to become a lawyer. While there, he noticed poor Scottish crofters who were being Displaced By Their Landlords . Seeing their plight, he investigated ways he could help them find new land in the then British colonies. After his father's death in 1799, Douglas, the last surviving son (two brothers died in infancy, two died of tuberculosis and two died of yellow fever), became the 5th Earl of Selkirk. INVOLVEMENT IN CANADA When he unexpectedly inherited the estate, he used his money and political connections to purchase land and settle poor Scottish farmers in Belfast , Prince Edward Island in 1803 and Upper Canada in 1804 . Selkirk asked the , to make the arduous trip across the Atlantic to the Hudson Bay outpost of York Factory , then south through the lakes and waterways of Manitoba to the Red River Colony {Link without Title} . He traveled extensively in North America, and his approach and work gained him some fame; in 1807 he was named Lord-Lieutenant of Kirkcudbright District in Scotland, and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of London. As part owner, Selkirk wanted to stop the North West Company (NWC) from competing with HBC for furs in the region. Lord Selkirk tried unsuccessful to place law under the power of the British Crown while in northwestern Canada. His authority was largely challenged by the Métis people who already inhabited the area, and he spent much of his later life defending his actions in court. Lord Selkirk first appointed Miles Macdonell as governor of the Red River colony in 1812. They totalled 128 men and required a great deal of assistance from the .Chisholm, B. & Gutsche, A., ''ibid'', p. 26 They arrested several of its partners including Simon Fraser and William McGillivray , for whom Fort William was named. Selkirk planned to have those arrested transported by canoe to Montreal where they would be tried for the deaths of his men. But nine of the prisoners including Kenneth Mackenzie (a NWC partner), a British sargeant, two of the Swiss mercenaries and six native guides, drowned in a storm at Maple Island near Batchawana Bay , Ontario .Chisholm, B. & Gutsche, A., ''ibid'', p. 27 Arriving in Montreal, Selkirk was charged with responsibility for the deaths of the nine prisoners, and lost multiple court battles over the incident. Two years after his raid on Fort William, Selkirk returned to England. Suffering from Tuberculosis , bankrupt, his reputation tarnished, he died in 1820.Chisholm, B. & Gutsche, A., ''ibid'', p. 243 LEGACY Selkirk's colonizing ambitions have been memorialized in the names of the City Of Selkirk and the Village Of East Selkirk , as well as the Winnipeg neighborhood of Point Douglas (where Fort Douglas once stood) and Winnipeg's Selkirk Avenue. The City of Selkirk is served by the Lord Selkirk Regional Comprehensive Secondary School , which is administered by the Lord Selkirk School Division . The Métis peoples cite Lord Selkirk's intrusion as the period in time their identity as a people came into existence. The Métis existed prior to the confrontations with Lord Selkirk's men but their armed resistance to foreign encroachment became a rallying point for their shared identity. A flag and a national anthem were born during this period in time. Larry Chartrand. "The Definition of Metis Peoples in Section 35(2) of the Constitution Act, 1982. 67 Sask. L. Rev. 209 at p. 220-1. REFERENCES
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