Daniel & Bernard McKAY - Hudson Bay

[aniph]

hi all

My first attempt at Canadian research so be kind

Oral history says Bernard and Daniel McKAY had a fleet of ships at Hudson Bay.

They were from Ireland and I estimate born maybe in the 1860's.

They came to USA or Canada with their mother, stepfather (names unknown)
and at least 2 sisters, Alice and Margaret.

I have googled them at Hudson Bay with no success.

I'd appreciate any help you can.

Cheers
Annie

[Jacquie in Canada]

Do you have any idea when they would have come to North America?

Jacquie

[aniph]

Unfortunately I don't.

I get the impression that they arrived as children after their mother remarried - all I have is another persons notes which have very few dates.

Thanks
Annie

[J.A.M.]

Hi Annie,

Unfortunately I think your oral history is false.

The Hudson's Bay Company was founded by royal decree in 1670 & they jealously guarded their territory.

As your boys were born about 200 years after the formation of the company they wouldn't have stood a chance of competing & if they tried would have been put out of business within days of their discovery.

The odds are that Bernard & Daniel were mere employees of the Hudson's Bay Company.

The company history can be found at

hbc.com

You can also find company records on microfilm at Library & Archives Canada at

collectionscanada.gc.ca

If the boys were in Canada have you checked the various census' online? They can also be found at LAC.

There is a Daniel McKay in Dauphin, Manitoba in 1911 that has a d.o.b. of 1860 but he's Scottish.
The web address for the census page is

http://data2.collectionscanada.ca/1911/pdf/e001946499.pdf

You might check the port arrivals also at LAC.

Good hunting.

J.A.M.

[aniph]

Thanks for the great info about the Hudson Bay Company. Don't worry, I don't believe the oral history until proven

Thanks for the links, I'll have a look.

Annie

[Jacquie in Canada]

The Hudson's Bay Company Archives are held at the Manitoba Archives in Winnipeg. Here's a link to that section of their website:
http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/index.html

You can search the 1901 and 1911 Canada census and the 1906 Census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta for free at this website:
http://automatedgenealogy.com/index.html
They link their transcriptions for the 1901 and 1911 census to images at Library and Archives Canada.

Here is a link to LAC's census databases:
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/census/index-e.html

If they were in Manitoba, here is a link to the Manitoba Vital Statistics genealogy database:
http://vitalstats.gov.mb.ca/Query.php

Jacquie

[aniph]

Thanks a million, Jacquie.

I'll have a good look for them.

Cheers
Annie

[aniph]

Well I've had a really good link through all the links you gave me and I don't think they are in Canada

Might need to check USA though not sure why Hudson Bay was so clearly mentioned!

Thanks
Annie