Person

Wilcocke, Samuel Hull, approximately 1766-1833

approximately 1766-1833

Samuel Hull Wilcocke was born around 1766 in Reigate, England, and died in 1833 in Quebec. He was the son of Reverend Samuel Wilcocke. He married in England sometime before 1817, but his wife’s name is unknown. Wilcocke resided in the Netherlands for a significant part of his childhood and was said to have studied in continental Europe before returning to England with his family in 1794. He wrote articles for British literary journals and translated texts written in German, Dutch, and French. Several of his publications focused on the East Indies and Buenos Aires. In 1800, Wilcocke moved to Liverpool, England, where he remained for seventeen years and participated in the literary and theatrical life of his local municipal. In 1817, Wilcocke moved to Canada with some of his children and their families, and worked as a publicist for the North West Company during its dispute with the Hudson’s Bay Company over the attempts of Lord Selkirk (1771-1820, Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk) to establish a colony on the Red River. He published a book titled A Narrative of Occurrences in the Indian Countries of North America in 1817, and in 1818 and 1819, wrote reviews of three accounts of trials held during those years. In 1820, Wilcocke was suspected of possessing secret documents from the North West Company and fled to Burlington, Vermont, where he was arrested a few days later. He was imprisoned in Montreal for more than one year before going to trial and was acquitted of forgery and grand larceny, and was reimprisoned on charges of debt. He was released after pressure from the United States (where he was illegally seized) accomplished his release. In 1821, Wilcocke founded the newspaper called The Scribbler, in which he wrote about his critical stance against the North West Company and Montrealers of British origin. To avoid political discourse in The Scribbler, he founded the Free Press newspaper in 1822 to oppose the bill to unite Lower and Upper Canada. In 1823, Wilcocke moved to Rouses Point, New York, and founded the Harbinger newspaper. In 1827, he published The Colonial Magazine and returned to Montreal in 1828, where he wrote reports on the debates of the House of Assembly of Lower Canada. From his notes, Wilcocke published his book titled The History of the Session of the Provincial Parliament of Lower Canada for 1828-29.

Revised on June 11, 2024, by Leah Louttit-Bunker

http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/wilcocke_samuel_hull_6E.html