Lt.-Colonel The Hon. Roderick Mackenzie of Terrebonne (c.1761 − August 15, 1844) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

r, landowner and politician. He was a partner in the

North West Company The North West Company was a Fur trade in Canada, Canadian fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in the regions that later became Western Canada a ...

and a member of the

Beaver Club The Beaver Club was a gentleman's club, gentleman's dining club founded in 1785 by the predominantly English-speaking men who had gained control of the fur trade of Montreal. According to the club's rules, the object of their meeting was "to bring ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. He was a lifelong friend and the private

confidant The confidant ( or ; feminine: confidante, same pronunciation) is a character in a story whom a protagonist confides in and trusts. Confidants may be other principal characters, characters who command trust by virtue of their position such as ...

of his first cousin,

Sir Alexander Mackenzie Sir Alexander Mackenzie ( – 12 March 1820) was a Scottish explorer and fur trader known for accomplishing the first crossing of North America north of Mexico by a European in 1793. The Mackenzie River and Mount Sir Alexander are named afte ...

. He was an intellectual who established a

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

at Fort Chipewyan and both wrote and published works on the fur trade. In 1801 he made his home at

Terrebonne, Quebec Terrebonne () is an Greater Montreal, off-island suburb of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located in the North Shore (Laval), North Shore region of the Montreal area, north of Laval, Quebec, Laval across the Rivière des Mille-Îl ...

, purchasing the

Seigneury A seigneur () or lord is an originally feudal system, feudal title in Ancien Régime, France before the French Revolution, Revolution, in New France and British North America until 1854, and in the Channel Islands to this day. The seigneur owne ...

in 1814, although he was forced by a court action to relinquish his title to the property in 1824. He continued to live there until his death. He held many public appointments, most notably as a member of the

Legislative Council of Lower Canada The Legislative Council of Lower Canada was the upper house of the Parliament of Lower Canada from 1792 until 1838. The Legislative Council consisted of appointed councillors who voted on bills passed up by the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canad ...

Early life

Roderick Mackenzie was born in the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...

at Achiltibuie in about 1761. He was the second son of Alexander Mackenzie (1737−1789) of Achnaclerach, who was killed after falling from his horse following a dinner at Brahan Castle with his cousin, the Chief of

Clan Mackenzie Clan Mackenzie ( ) is a Highland Scottish clan associated with Kintail and Ross-shire. Its chiefs trace their lineage to the 12th century, though the earliest recorded chief is Alexander Mackenzie of Kintail, who died after 1471. The clan suppo ...

. Roderick's father was the grandson of James Mackenzie (d.1746) of Keppoch and Kildonan, a first cousin of John Mackenzie (d. 1731), 2nd Earl of Cromartie, and Sir Kenneth Mackenzie, 3rd Bt. Roderick's mother, Catherine Mackenzie, was the niece of Murdoch Mackenzie, 6th

Laird Laird () is a Scottish word for minor lord (or landlord) and is a designation that applies to an owner of a large, long-established Scotland, Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a Baronage of ...

of Fairburn. Her brother, Kenneth 'Corc' Mackenzie (1731−1780), of

Stornoway Stornoway (; ) is the main town, and by far the largest, of the Outer Hebrides (or Western Isles), and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland. The town's population is around 6,953, making it the third-largest island town in Scotlan ...

, was the father of

. In 1767, his father and grandmother lost the

tack Thermoproteati is a kingdom of archaea. Its synonym, "TACK", is an acronym for Thaumarchaeota (now Nitrososphaerota), Aigarchaeota, Crenarchaeota (now Thermoproteota), and Korarchaeota (now Thermoproteota), the first groups discovered. They ...

of Achiltibuie. It is widely thought that Roderick was sent to live with his uncle, Kenneth Mackenzie, at

, where he developed his lifelong friendship with his first cousin,

. He was educated with his cousin at the same school as

Colin Mackenzie Colonel Colin Mackenzie (1754–8 May 1821) was a Scottish army officer in the British East India Company who later became the first Surveyor General of India. He was a collector of antiquities and an orientalist and an indologist. He sur ...

. In 1784, at Alexander's invitation, Roderick came out to

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Fur trade

In 1785, Mackenzie was employed as a clerk and as his cousin

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

's assistant in the fur trading firm of Gregory, McLeod & Co., of

. Mackenzie spent the winter of 1786/87 at

Pinehouse Lake Pinehouse Lake () is a lake in northern Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Mani ...

, reporting that the rival between their firm and the

had resulted in the murder of one of their firm's wintering partners. To end the tension, Simon McTavish invited Gregory, McLeod & Co., to become part of the

. In 1787, Alexander persuaded Roderick not to leave the

(viewing his position as a clerk akin to slavery) and he joined Alexander in Athabasca to establish Fort Chipewyan as the NWC's headquarters in the region. It was here that Roderick established a

(see section 'Private Life'). During Alexander's many absences on his voyages, Roderick was left in charge, eventually succeeding him in 1794 when Alexander returned to

. In 1795, Roderick was made a partner of the

. Returning to

in 1800, Mackenzie was made a partner in the newly organised firm of McTavish, Frobisher & Co. Other partners included

William McGillivray Lt.-Colonel The Hon. William McGillivray (1764 – 16 October 1825), of Chateau St. Antoine, Montreal, was a Scottish-born fur trader who succeeded his uncle Simon McTavish as the last chief partner of the North West Company until a merger be ...

, Duncan McGillivray and William Hallowell. He agreed to spend one last winter (1800/01) in

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West, or Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a list of regions of Canada, Canadian region that includes the four western provinces and t ...

, before settling down to live at Terrebonne. Having retired as a wintering partner of the NWC, he surrendered one of his two shares, and gave up the other when the NWC absorbed the

XY Company The XY Company, also known as the New North West Company, was a joint-stock fur trading enterprise based in Montreal that conducted business chiefly in the Canadian Northwest between 1798 and 1804.Fort William until 1808. In 1806, McTavish, Frobisher & Co. became McTavish, McGillivrays & Co., and Mackenzie retired from the firm in 1813. His one fifteenth share was bought out by the other partners for £10,000. From about 1805 until 1825, he had entered into a business partnership with his brother, Henry, in the firm of Mackenzie, Oldham & Co., whose partners included the Hallowells and several other prominent fur traders. He had retained a financial connection with McTavish & McGillivrays which went bankrupt in 1825. Mackenzie successfully sued the partners (that included his brother Henry) for £7,308 plus interest. He was unable to collect on the debt and in 1832 sold his claim to Samuel Gerrard for £6,500.

Public appointments

In 1812, Mackenzie was commissioned Lt.-Colonel of the Terrebonne

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

. From 1804 to 1816, he was Justice of the Peace for the Indian Territory, and from 1821 to 1839 he was the same for the districts of

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, ; ) is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

, Gaspé, and Saint-François. He was Commissioner of Roads and Bridges for Effingham County in 1817 and promoted improvements to the

Rivière des Prairies The Rivière des Prairies (; ), called the Back River in English, is a delta channel of the Ottawa River in southwestern Quebec, Canada. The Kanien'kehá:ka called it ''Skowanoti'', meaning "River behind the island". The river separates the citi ...

in 1819. He was also Commissioner for free schools at Terrebonne–Effingham in 1809, and on a commission to study the best means of building a bridge between

and the mainland in 1832. His most important appointment came in 1817, when he was placed on the

, solidifying his standing as one of the most important men in

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada () was a British colonization of the Americas, British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence established in 1791 and abolished in 1841. It covered the southern portion o ...

. He was very active in the 1820s and enjoyed a close relationship with the Governor,

George Ramsay, 9th Earl of Dalhousie General George Ramsay, 9th Earl of Dalhousie, (23 October 1770 – 21 March 1838), styled Lord Ramsay until 1787, was a British Army officer and colonial administrator. He served as the Governor of Nova Scotia from 1816 to 1820, Governor Genera ...

. He supported the joining of

Lower Lower may refer to: * ''Lower'' (album), 2025 album by Benjamin Booker *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is sit ...

and

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...

, and vigorously opposed the Patriote majority in the Legislative Assembly.

Private life

Mackenzie was a tough and resourceful man, but he was also an intellectual and fluently

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

.Roderick Mackenzie - ABC Bookworld
/ref> While wintering in the North West he not only had books sent for him on a regular basis, but also established a

for

employees at Fort Chipewyan in Athabasca, which led them to refer to the Fort as "the little

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

of the

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

regions". On settling at Terrebonne he spent much of his time collecting information on the Canadian

, native Indians and the natural history of

. Much of the information that he gathered was collected and published as ''Les Bourgeois de la Compagnie du Nord-Ouest'', by his granddaughter's husband, The Hon. Louis-Rodrigue Masson. Mackenzie collected and posthumously published a copy of Simon Fraser's journal relating to his voyage from the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

to the

Pacific coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas North America Countries on the western side of North America have a Pacific coast as their western or south-western border. One of th ...

in 1808. He is also credited as the author of the introduction to his cousin,

's, book ''Voyages from Montreal'', which gives an overall history of the fur trade at that time. Roderick Mackenzie was a member of the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec and of the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society in ...

. He was also a fellow of the "Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries" at

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. Roderick Mackenzie, though less of a maverick, was a great deal more diplomatic than his better known cousin, Sir Alexander. The two were close friends and Roderick publicly supported his cousin throughout his many ventures, while being Alexander's private

. When Alexander quarrelled with Simon McTavish and left the

, Roderick reluctantly filled the vacancy offered to him by McTavish. This incident resulted in Alexander ceasing his correspondence with Roderick from 1800 to 1805. However, from 1805 they resumed their close friendship uninterrupted until their deaths.

Terrebonne

In 1814, Mackenzie purchased the

of Terrebonne from the estate of his deceased brother-in-law, Simon McTavish. He paid an initial £8,000 and agreed to pay a further £1,200 a year until the total of £28,000 was settled. Mackenzie intended to continue McTavish's developments and had made plans to raise the annual revenue from £1,000 to £3,000. However, his sister-in-law, Marie-Marguerite (Chaboillez) McTavish, disagreed with the sale stating that the executors of her late husband's will had exceeded their authority in allowing it to be sold. A court action was brought against Mackenzie and in 1824 he was forced to relinquish his title to the property.
Roderick Mackenzie's home in Terrebonne
was one of the best-known in the area, with a six-stepped porch and four white columns supporting a second floor balcony. Mackenzie's brother-in-law, Joseph Bouchette, visited Terrebonne in 1815 and remarked, "...the mansion of Roderick Mackenzie, which is worthy of remark for the elegance of its construction; indeed there are several houses in a very superior style to be found in this village, it being a favoured spot, where many gentlemen, who have realised large fortunes in the

fur trade retire to enjoy the comforts and luxuries of private life".Les Écossais: The Pioneer Scots of Lower Canada, 1763-1855 (2006) By Lucille H. Campey Mackenzie lived there with his family from 1801 until his death at the house in 1844.

Family

While in the North West, Mackenzie took a country wife, by whom he had four children. In 1803, at

, he married Marie-Louise-Rachel Chaboillez, daughter of Charles Chaboillez. Through this marriage he became the brother-in-law of Simon McTavish and connected to Joseph Frobisher, who was married to his wife's first cousin. They were the parents of two sons and three daughters who survived infancy. Roderick Mackenzie's nine surviving children were: * Nancy Mackenzie (c. 1790−1851), was the country wife of John George McTavish, partner of the

and member of the

, through his kinsman Simon McTavish. He was the second son of the Chief of Clan MacTavish, Dugald MacTavish (1782−1855), of Kilchrist Castle; Sheriff of

Campbeltown Campbeltown (; or ) is a town and former royal burgh in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies by Campbeltown Loch on the Kintyre Peninsula. Campbeltown became an important centre for Scotch whisky, and a busy fishing port. The 2018 populatio ...

. They were the parents of five children. *Anne Louisa Mackenzie (c. 1793−1833), married Angus Bethune, the eldest of the several distinguished sons of the Rev. John Bethune. Anne Louisa Mackenzie is great-grandmother to Norman Bethune, famous Canadian physician. *Lieut. John Mackenzie (1794−1871), a wealthy merchant, entrepreneur and

Postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

of Terrebonne. At

, he married Mary Catherine Oldham, daughter of The Hon. Jacob Oldham (1768−1824), nephew of The Hon. Jacob Jordan, and his wife Madeleine Campion. They were the parents of six children. *Catherine Margaret Mackenzie (b. 1800), married Robert Lester Morrogh, formerly of

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

, nephew of The Hon. Robert Lester. Their eldest daughter, Susan, married Sir Charles Boucher de Boucherville, Prime Minister of Quebec. *Rachel Mackenzie. In 1843, she married Jean-Baptiste Bruyère (1809-1859), of Châteauguay. *Lt.-Colonel Alexander Mackenzie (1805−1862), was an officer in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

and a partner in the

. In 1833, at

, he married Marie-Louise Trottier DesRivières (1812−1890), youngest daughter of François-Amable DesRivières (1764−1830) and a niece of The Hon.

James McGill James McGill (6 October 1744 – 19 December 1813) was a Scottish-born businessman, politician, slaveholder, and philanthropist best known for being the founder of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. He was elected to the Legislative Assembl ...

. They were the parents of fourteen children. Their eldest daughter, Louise, married The Hon. Louis-Rodrigue Masson,

Lieutenant Governor of Quebec The lieutenant governor of Quebec (; , ) is the representative in Quebec of the monarch, who Monarchy in Quebec, operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the Canadian federalism, ten other jurisdictions of Canada. T ...

. *Charles Roderick Mackenzie (b. 1816), became a lawyer at

. *Anne Caroline Mackenzie (1822−1867), married Joseph Wilfrid Antoine Raymond Masson, a brother of the previously mentioned Louis-Rodrigue Masson - two of the sons of The Hon. Joseph Masson, of Terrebonne. *Henry Oldham Mackenzie (1825−1879), of

References

External links

Roderick Mackenzie's home at TerrebonneRoderic Mackenzie: Forts and Fur
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackenzie, Roderick 1760s births 1844 deaths Scottish emigrants to Canada North West Company people Businesspeople from Quebec Pre-Confederation Quebec people People from Ross and Cromarty Members of the Council of Assiniboia 19th-century Canadian businesspeople