William Tomison

William Tomison was a Scottish fur trader who helped to establish and build a number of trading posts for the Hudson's Bay Company, such as Edmonton House. He was involved in the fur trade for over thirty years, during which time he served in York Factory and Severn House. He managed the Cumberland House during the smallpox epidemic that affected the Cree from 1780 to 1781, providing assistance to First Nations people. Tomison served the Hudson's Bay Company for fifty-one years before retiring in 1811. During retirement, Tomison founded a school for poor children in South Ronaldsay.

Early life Tomison was born at South Ronaldsay on the Orkney Islands in 1739.

Career

William Tomison's career with the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) started in 1760 as a laborer. At this time, there were few trading posts in some regions of Canada; in particular, there were none in the Western interior. Tomison helped the company to expand by establishing posts near existing Canadian traders along the Saskatchewan River. He was able to move through the ranks to become the Chief Inland Master of HBC in North America. However, due to his observation, new procedures were used by traders; they shipped furs during the night to avoid being seen by the natives. Tomison died in March 1829 at the age of .

Smallpox epidemic At the beginning of the 1780s, there was an outbreak of smallpox in Western Canada and the Northern Great Plains. The epidemic severely affected the Cree nation, causing the population to be reduced by an estimated 70-80%. During the smallpox epidemic, Tomison's journals detailed the work that he and the employees of Cumberland House attempted to do to help the Aboriginal people. Giving detail and updates regarding the Cree who were struck by smallpox, he wrote about those that sought the traders help. From records and accounts of the time, the non-native employees did not contract smallpox during this epidemic; this is because they had developed immunity from prior exposure to smallpox, cowpox, or chickenpox. were printed in The Beaver, a magazine that was founded in 1920 by the Hudson's Bay Company. The journals showed a personal perspective of events such as the daily function of the Hudson's Bay Company, the smallpox epidemic, and relations with indigenous peoples. Entries included his private thoughts regarding how the epidemic affected the land, the people, and the business.

Tomison's journal entries give insight into the spread of smallpox in the 1780s, enabling historians, sociologists, and biologists to understand when this particular epidemic occurred, where it spanned geographically, and how it affected the region. The personal account also shows the extent to which the epidemic impacted the natives as well as the non-native workers. Tomison made many observations and accounts of daily life and the way the smallpox, starvation, and presence of workers burdened those in the surrounding area. In one journal entry on December 25, 1781, it states, "In the Evening Traded with the Indians & made them presents as Usual, but never expect to see them again." The feeling of fatalism was evident in the personal accounts of Tomison exposing his experiences of working firsthand in the fur trade and negotiating, experiencing the epidemics and starvation that spanned across Western Canada, and the violence that occurred between the indigenous people and the foreign traders.