Andrew Bannatyne

Andrew Graham Ballenden Bannatyne (October 31, 1829 – May 18, 1889) was a Canadian politician, fur trader and leading citizen of Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Biography

Bannatyne was born on the island of South Ronaldsay, Orkney, in Scotland and was three years old when his father, a British government fisheries official in Stromness, died. He joined the Hudson's Bay Company as a 14-year-old apprentice clerk and set sail for Canada. His family had had a long association with the company. Bannatyne's great-grandfather was governor of a Hudson's Bay Company district in Rupert's Land, his grandfather had been governor of York Factory, and his uncle was chief factor of the company. Bannatyne became possibly the wealthiest and most influential citizen in Red River Colony.

He was appointed magistrate in 1861 and became a member of the Council of Assiniboia in 1868, which was the appointed administrative body of Rupert's Land.