The Travels, Explorations and Surveys of Peter Fidler 1789-1821

Artist rendition of Peter Fidler and Philip Turnor

Peter Fidler (1769 –1822) was a British-Canadian surveyor, map-maker, fur trader and explorer who had a long career in the employ of the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) in what later became Canada. He was born in Bolsover, Derbyshire, England and died at Fort Dauphin in present-day Manitoba. In 1788 he signed on as a laborer with the HBC, beginning his career at York Factory on Hudson Bay. In 1790 he began his training as a surveyor with Philip Turnor, the company’s chief surveyor. He married Mary Mackagonne at York Factory in 1795 , a Cree woman, and for the next 17 years they traveled extensively and his exploits were many; together they had 14 children. Peter died in 1822 at Dauphin House, and Mary died in 1826 in the Red River settlement.

Like Thompson, the distance covered by Fidler can be measured. Linear and point datasets were created to encompassed Fidler’s explorations and travels and were researched from Fidler’s unpublished journals and other numerous records. The linear data contains the attributes Year, Route, Leg, Departed, Arrived, Origin, and Destination. The point data contains the attributes Point Type, Date, Notes, Year, and Route.

The results of of  measuring the linear data, show that the distances travelled by Peter Fidler between 1789 and 1822 equate to 80,838 km. Fidler was a remarkable surveyor and unfortunately has not received the recognition he has deserved.