Habitants

This name referred to the peasant settlers of New France. The French feudal customs were not suited for the ways of the new land so the habitants were given certain privileges. These included a reduction in the corvée or forced labour duty to six days and the use of the seigneur’s mill.

Lawren Harris (1885-1970)

Born in 1885, Harris became one of the founding artists of the Group of Seven. The Harris family of Brantford was part owner of the Massey-Harris farm equipment business. For the time, Harris had a typical childhood as part of a relatively wealthy family. Part of this was the rare opportunity to go to university (most children then never even went to high school). However, Harris did not do well during his first year of university. Recognizing his artistic interests, his parents in 1904 sent him to study art in Berlin, Germany, where an aunt and uncle of his lived. He settled back in Toronto in 1909 and worked as a commercial artist. Like many commercial artists at the time, Harris also did painting as a hobby. This brought him into contact with a number of other commercial artists/painters. Among these was J.E.H. MacDonald whom he met in 1911, along with A.Y. Jackson, the founding members of the Group of Seven. Harris is best known for his haunting paintings of the Canadian Arctic and western Canada.

Sir Francis Bond Head (1793-1875)

He was Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada in 1835. As an advocate of the Family Compact, his popularity waned. He faced open rebellion from reformers led by Mackenzie King in 1837 and although he was able to stop the uprising, he left Canada to retire.

Sir Francis Hincks (1807-1885)

As editor of the Canada West reform party newspaper, the Examiner, he worked with Louis Lafontaine in the campaign for responsible government. As Prime Minister in 1851, he initiated reciprocity negotiations with the U.S.A.

Adelaide Hoodless (1857-1910)

When Adelaide's baby son died from drinking contaminated milk, she dedicated her life to teaching girls and women the science of child care and home management, especially in rural areas where even basic education was still rare. Her idea of a practical, educational, self-help association for rural women became reality in the form of the extremely successful Women's Institutes. Adelaide, who died at the age of 52, also founded or helped to found the National YWCA, the National Council of Women, and the Victorian Order of Nurses.

Frances Anne Hopkins (1838-1919)

An artist of early Canada, who worked in Ontario and Quebec, Frances travelled the fur trade routes between Fort William (now Thunder Bay) and Lachine, Quebec. She turned her sketches made along the way into huge, dramatic paintings, showing the large fur trade canoes and the colourful voyageurs who manned them. Most Canadians have probably seen a number of her scenes reproduced for book covers, ads or other purposes, but most equally do not know the name of Frances Anne Hopkins.

Joseph Howe (1804-1873)

As a politician in Nova Scotia’s assembly in 1836, he was instrumental in winning the case for Responsible Government in 1848. He opposed Confederation during his reign as Premier of Nova Scotia in 1860-1863, but entered the first Canadian government at Ottawa.

Hudson’s Bay Company

In 1670, this London-based trading company was granted a Royal Charter to trade in furs in most of north and west Canada called Rupert’s Land. It took over control of the industry with its annexation of its rivals such as the North West Company in 1821. Rupert’s Land was purchased by the Canadian government in 1870.

Hundred Associates

This name was given to the French colonization company organized by Cardinal Richelieu in 1627. Its ambition was to settle 4,000 colonists in New France within 15 years and support them for three years after their arrival. In return, the Associates were given a monopoly of the fur trade and a claim to the North America continent from the Arctic Circle to Florida. Their first two fleets were captured by privateers and Quebec was lost in 1629. The fur trade was sublet to another company and their charter was revoked in 1663 with only 2,500 settlers.