The Madras College Archive

     


Former Pupil Biographies

Joseph James Hargrave (1841 – 1894)
 

Born in 1841 at York Factory on the Hudson Bay in Manitoba, Western Canada. The son of James Hargrave and Letitia Mactavish Hargrave, York Factory was an important Hudson Bay Company depot and Joseph's father was a Chief Trader for the company. Young Joseph was sent to Scotland for his education and attended Madras College in 1847 boarding with the English Master Mr Young. His sister "Tash" joined him in 1852 also boarding with Mr Young and his family. He returned to Canada, joining the Hudson's Bay Company in 1861 as an apprentice clerk to his uncle, William MacTavish, governor of Assiniboia in Red River. From 1869 to 1884, Hargrave was active in the fur trade, coming to Fort Edmonton in 1884. He retired to Montreal in 1889 and died there in 1894.

He wrote "Red River" , an account of events leading to the Red River Rebellion, based on the letters of his father James Hargrave.