Major The Hon. Archibald Norman McLeod (17 March 1772 – after 1837) J.P., was a partner of 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 political figure 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 ...

. In 1805, he built Fort Dunvegan. He was 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 ...

and represented Montreal West in the

Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada The Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada was the lower house of the bicameral structure of provincial government in Lower Canada until 1838. The legislative assembly was created by the Constitutional Act of 1791. The lower house consisted of e ...

from 1810 to 1814. He fought in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

as a Major with the Corps of Canadian Voyageurs and the Canadian Voltigeurs. McLeod Lake, British Columbia is named for him. Born at Kilfinichen, he was the fifth son of Rev. Neil McLeod (1729-1780) M.A., a native of St Kilda, and Margaret MacLean (1737-1789), daughter of Rev. Archibald MacLean (b.1683) M.A., of the MacLeans of Boreray, North Uist. Archibald's grandfather, John McLeod (1696-1792), 4th

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 Pabbay and Steward of St Kilda, was directly descended from the 6th Chief of

Clan MacLeod of Lewis Clan MacLeod of The Lewes, commonly known as Clan MacLeod of Lewis (), is a Scottish Highlands, Highland Scottish clan, which at its height held extensive lands in the Western Isles and west coast of Scotland. From the 14th century up until the be ...

, of

Dunvegan Castle Dunvegan Castle (Caisteal Dhùn Bheagain) is located to the north of Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye, off the west coast of Scotland. It is the seat of the MacLeod of MacLeod, chief of the Clan MacLeod. Probably a fortified site from the earlie ...

. In 1773,

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

and

James Boswell James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 ( N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of the English writer Samuel Johnson, '' Life of Samuel ...

stayed as guests of Archibald's father, who Boswell described as, "a Minister that lives upon the coast, whose elegance of conversation and strength of judgment would make him conspicuous in places of greater celebrity... We were very agreeably entertained at his house. Dr. Johnson observed to me that he was the clearest headed man that he had met with in the Western Islands". Fort Dunvegan

Archibald entered the

as a clerk, probably through the interest of one of the partners, Alexander McLeod, some time before 1793, and became a partner in the NWC in 1796. He was stationed in the Lower Fort des Prairies department in 1794–5, and in 1800-1 he was in charge of the Swan River district, wintering at Fort Alexandria, where he kept a journal that survives. From 1802 to 1808, he was working in the Athabaska district. In 1805, he established Fort Dunvegan, named for his family's ancestral home,

. He retired from wintering in the wilds in 1809. He was named a justice of the peace for the Western Territories in 1809 and then for Montreal district in 1810. McLeod was an officer in the militia and served during the

. He did not run for reelection to the assembly in 1814. McLeod was one of the instigators of the Battle of Seven Oaks. After the merger of the North West Company with the Hudson's Bay Company, he moved to

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, settling at Sunnybank,

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...

. During his time in the western territories, he had married a native woman. McLeod later served as master of the barracks at

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

until around 1838. He was dead by 1845, when his widow's death is recorded. McLeod Lake in British Columbia was named in his honour.

References

;General *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McLeod, Archibald Norman Members of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada Canadian fur traders 1772 births Year of death unknown North West Company people Canadian people of the War of 1812