McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
James Bissett Collection
General material designation
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
- Source of title proper: Title based on the content of fonds.
Level of description
Fonds
Repository
Reference code
CA RBD MSG 333
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
Physical description area
Physical description
10 cm, originals, Photostats, and photographs
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
(1830-1904)
Biographical history
James Bissett was born in 1830 in Lachine, Quebec and died in 1904. He was the son of Alexander Bissett and Jane Bissett (her maiden name is unknown). Bissett was a carpenter in 1827 and became Superintendent of the Lachine Canal from 1843 to 1868. He spent eight years as a mercantile trader before joining the Hudson’s Bay Company as an Accountant at the Lachine Depot in 1854. He also served as Officer-in-Charge for the Hudson’s Bay Company post in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1859 and 1860, as Chief Trader in Victoria and Esquimalt (British Columbia) between 1860 and 1871, and as Chief Factor in Montreal from 1872 to 1880.
Custodial history
The two volumes of Photostats were received from the Public Archives of Canada in 1935. The original documents were received in 1962 from the estate of Miss Alice M. Bissett and from Bissett’s granddaughter Miss Alison Cole.
Scope and content
Correspondence, accounts, journals maps, etc., documenting Bissett’s career with the Hudson’s Bay Company. The Photostats (in C.1 and C.2) include Bissett’s journal and accounts at the Red River, 1854-1855, and a journal “Lachine to the Sandwich Islands” 1858-1859. There are also journals for 1859 and 1867. The original documents (in C.3) include correspondence with the Hudson’s Bay Company, 1858-1875, and accounts, 1860-1873. There are Bissett’s commissions as Chief Trader (1858) and as Chief Factor (1872), and a list of Chief Traders and Factors, 1855-1879. There are also some plans / maps, sketches, and photographs including a sketch of the Hudson’s Bay Post at Honolulu, ca. 1860.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script note
English.
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Digitized version available (Provider: Canadiana Héritage. Digitized from microfilm.)
Restrictions on access
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
Also described in the McGill Libraries catalogue.
Associated materials
Accruals
General note
Comprises 7 folders (C.3).
Physical description
Includes:
2 bound volumes
1 box (Box R-333-01)
Alternative identifier(s)
Wikidata Q identifier
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q72009507
Standard number area
Standard number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Hudson's Bay Company (Subject)