Person Record

Metadata

Name

Kennedy, William, 1814-1890

Born

1814

Birthplace

Cumberland House, Rupert's Land

Deceased

Jan. 25, 1890

Deceased

St. Andrew's, Manitoba

Father

Alexander Kennedy

Mother

Aggathas Margaret (Mary) Bear

Relationships

Kennedy's marriage(s), common-law unions "a la facon du pays", and children are not reflected in this biography.

Occupation

Captain William Kennedy, born 1814, was one of the first permanent European settlers to arrive in the Southampton area (known as Saugeen until the 1850s), Bruce County, along with Captain John Spence whom he met in 1838 in the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company.

William Kennedy was born on April 26, 1814 at Cumberland House, Rupert's Land, an isolated northern outpost settlement on the Saskatchewan River. His parents were Aggathas Margaret (Mary) Bear, of Cumberland House Cree Nation, and Alexander Kennedy, Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) Chief Factor, born in Orkney Islands, of the north coast of mainland Scotland. Including William, the couple had nine children: John Frederick, Mary, Alexander, Elizabeth, William, George, Philip, Isabella, and Roderick.

William spent his early years at Cumberland House. There, he met Sir John Franklin, an English explorer who wintered there. Sir Franklin took an interest in William, teaching him reading and religion. Later, William went to the Orkney Islands to complete his education. At the age of 18, he was ready to follow his father into the service of the HBC.

As an apprentice clerk with HBC, Montreal department, William was first assigned to Fort Coulonge on the Ottawa River. In 1838, he was reassigned to the Ungava District, where he served with John Spence, John McLean, and Robert Reid, all of whom would play major roles as the Southampton area opened for settlement.

In 1847, both Captains William Kennedy and John Spence were retired from HBC. So, how did they wind up in Saugeen? The "Dictionary of Canadian Biography" states that William Kennedy's religious convictions led him to disagree with HBC policy of selling liquor to Indigenous people, so he resigned in 1846. He took up residence in Kingston, where he ran a general store. Spence soon joined him there and, in the spring of 1848, they left Kingston westward bound, to investigate rumours of a rich fishing industry and fur trading on the shores of Lake Huron. They travelled to Toronto, then to Lake Simcoe where they purchased a canoe at Chippewas of Rama First Nation, and journeyed down the Severn River into Georgian Bay, and on to Sydenham (Owen Sound). From there, they travelled on foot along the Indigenous path to the mouth of the Saugeen River, arriving in June 1848. Satisfied with the location and prospects there, they made their way back to Sydenham to obtain supplies, returning to Saugeen on the portage route west of Wiarton. Close to the river mouth, they pitched their tent and resided there for the summer. That same summer, they were able to erect a log house before returning to Kingston for the winter. Upon their return to Saugeen in 1849, they purchased the Niagara Fish Company from Tiger Dunlop of Goderich, and began living in the area year-round. Captain Spence's wife, Jane Harold, joined them in 1850.

The fishing industry proved unsuccessful. After two years fishing around the Saugeen River mouth, William Kennedy was likely disappointed with the life of a fisherman. Kennedy and Spence were unlikely fishermen as their experience lay in clerking and boatbuilding/skippering. Although they could recruit workers - Kennedy's obituary stated that he employed 28 men in the fishery - they encountered other setbacks. In preparation for the October/November fishing season (during which they were fishing without a license), they'd made hundreds of barrels to hold the salted fish in, with Spence overseeing. These barrels were all seized (except about 100) by a government official from Goderich, who claimed they were made from timber on government land - he then sold them to other fishermen. Kennedy and Spence had no choice but to place most of their catch directly into the ship's hold, pile on the salt, and hope the fish would keep until they got to market. Unfortunately, the weather turned unseasonably warm as they sailed through lakes Huron, St. Clair, and Erie, and the smell became unbearable. They had to stop at St. Catharine and pay to have the worthless cargo unloaded. Spence managed to sell the 100 barrels of salted fish which had kept well, but they suffered a loss. He wrote, "The loss was about $1200, all the money that I had". (Hilborn, Robin R. "Heart of the Great Lakes, Lake Huron and the Saugeen to 1850". BCM&CC A2015.096.002) Finding wood to make fishing barrels would be an ongoing problem.

In 1849, the government called for tenders, bidding for fishing leases, and an agreement with the Ojibway, in the area of the Fishing Islands near Oliphant. Eventually, Alexander McDonald, who was also acting for William Kennedy, was successful in obtaining the lease on the fishery at the Fishing Islands. By the end of 1849, William Kennedy and John Spence were operating legally at the Fishing Islands; previously, this had not been the case.

Described as an explorer, adventurer, fur trader, sea captain, visionary and God-fearing man, William Kennedy was at home in a canoe, aboard a schooner, behind a dog sleigh, or on snowshoes. His stay in Southampton was only four years. Upon receiving word in 1850 that Lady Franklin was searching for a commander to lead her fifth expedition in search of her husband, Sir John Franklin, who had vanished while seeking the Northwest Passage, Kennedy volunteered his services.

Before leaving to join that expedition, he needed to complete the fall fishing with Spence. In the collaboration between the two ex-HBC men, Kennedy appears to have been the senior partner. He arranged the fishing lease through Alexander McDonald, he went to Goderich to hire coopers and to buy salt, and he was in charge of selling the catch down south in 1850. An account in the Winnipeg Free Press, February 17, 1923 said when Kennedy left for England, "to the foreman, Spence, he gave charge of his whole fishing industry, directing the men to obey Spence as they would himself".

At season's end, Spence and Kennedy wanted the larger revenue of a distant market. Hiring a schooner (Agnes Ann) out of Sarnia, they loaded it with barrels of whitefish and herring. Kennedy accompanied the captain from Sarnia south, to find a buyer on Lakes Erie or Ontario. Inclement weather forced them to dock at Cleveland. Here, he refused an offer of $6 a barrel for the whitefish, believing that Hamilton would have better prospects. But the Welland Canal was frozen, making Hamilton unreachable by boat. The Agnes Ann was stuck for the winter at Port Maitland, full of fish. Kennedy wrote to Spence from Guelph on December 17, 1850, to update him on the situation, and promised to go to Hamilton and try to get a merchant to take all of the fish in one parcel.

However, the news of Kennedy's invitation from Lady Franklin resulted in offers of assistance in joining the expedition. When he arrived in Hamilton, the mayor gave Kennedy a train ticket from Buffalo to New York. Ultimately, he received numerous donations towards his journey to England. It is unclear whether Kennedy returned to Southampton or headed directly for Buffalo. In Goderich, the Huron Signal newspaper, January 16, 1851, reported "Mr. W. Kennedy, of Kingston, latterly of Sauguine, has proceeded to New York on his way to England at the request of Lady Franklin".

Kennedy led two of the Franklin search expeditions. He discovered the Bellot Strait Arctic passage and was the first to use dogs and sleds from an exploring ship; however, he was not successful in locating Franklin.

Around 1860 or 1861, he moved to Fairford, Manitoba, intending to work as an Anglican missionary. But, soon after, he settled at St. Andrew's on the Red River. He operated a store and eventually built a two-storey house attached to the original log home. On January 25, 1890, William Kennedy passed away. His home on the Red River, the Kennedy House, is now a museum.

Sources

Sources:

Armitage, Andrew. "Anniversary Celebrations", "Pair of adventurers founded Southampton", Copyright 1978 (Owen Sound Sun Times). Bruce County Historical Society Yearbook 1983, pages 3-7

Calder, George. "The William Kennedy Story" Allenford: Bruce County Historical Society, 2015. Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre, Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre, A2016.107.001

Hilborn, Robin R. "Heart of the Great Lakes, Lake Huron and the Saugeen to 1850". Southampton: Family Helper Publishing, 2015. Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre, A2015.096.002

Manitoba Historical Society. Memorable Manitobans: William Kennedy (1814-1890) https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/people/kennedy_w.shtml#:~:text=He%20died%20at%20his%20home,Andrew%27s%20on%20the%20Red. Accessed December 2024.

Robertson, Norman. "The History of the County of Bruce and of the minor municipalities therein." Toronto: William Briggs, 1906.

Saugeen Metis Council. Patsy Lou Wilson McArthur, editor. "Historic Saugeen & Its Metis People." Port Elgin: The Saguingue Metis Council, 2005. Page 124

Shaw, Edward Charles. "Kennedy, William. Dictionary of Canadian Biography , Volume XI (1881-1890) (www.biographi.ca/en/bio/kennedy_william_11E.html). Accessed January 2025.

Weichel, John. "Forgotten Times: Marine history of Southampton & the Bruce Coast." Southampton: Bruce County Museum & Archives, 2002. Print