The Travels of William Tomison 1766-1803

William Tomison was enlisted by the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1760 and served as a laborer for the first 7 years of his service. Tomison was sent inland in 1768 along the shore of Lake Winnipeg and again in 1769/70 to winter near Lake Winnipeg and Lake Manitoba with indigenous groups. His journals were among the first to chronicle the inland expansion of fur trade, especially the rise of Montreal-based traders, the North West Company.

In 1776 he assisted at Cumberland House, and by 1778 was made Inland Master, launching HBC’s policy of building posts closer to indigenous trappers and the North West Company or independent traders. However, because of his trade practices and his rigid leadership style, tensions eventually arose with his superiors and his peers which ultimately lead to a diminished influence after the mid 1790s. After officially retiring in 1803, William Tomison was soon recalled by the Hudson’s Bay Company to lead an expansion into the Athabasca country. This venture, however, did not result in the establishment of any new posts, and he served the rest of his career in small posts in the Canadian north. He eventually retired to Scotland in 1810.

It should be noted that during the devastating smallpox epidemic of 1781–82, Tomison’s detailed journals provides critical insight and serve as the most thorough contemporary record of the Plains epidemic. Furthermore, his efforts in response to the epidemic reflect a compassionate, proactive approach during the crisis.

Wiliam Tomison’s travels were researched from unpublished journal and other records. From the completed research, spatial data was created and is organized into the fields Year, Route, Leg, Departed, Arrived, Origin, and Destination. The data is in ESRI shapefile format and can be acquiredd HERE.

A Map of the Travels of William Tomison 1766-1803