Identity area
Type of entity
Corporate body
Authorized form of name
Hudson's Bay Company
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
The Hudson's Bay company was incorporated by royal charter in 1670 for the trade in furs in North America and was given a grant of land, called Rupert's Land (for Prince Rupert, first governor of the Company). The first fort established was Fort Charles (Rupert's House) built in 1668. Gradually, the company built posts further inland for trading with the Indians. The H.B.C. attempted to keep the west as a fur preserve, but with the spread of settlement the Company slowly lost its monopoly and the source of furs began to decline. The Company built colonies on the West Coast beginning with Vancouver Island (1849) which it eventually turned over to the Crown, along with the B.C. mainland in 1867.