Joseph Robson was an 18th-century

stonemason Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. Stonemasonry is the craft of shaping and arranging stones, often together with mortar and even the ancient lime mortar ...

, surveyor and author, best known for writing about the decades he spent constructing forts for the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

. Robson's place and date of birth are unknown. It is known he came to Hudson's Bay in 1733, and spent three years building the stone fort at Prince of Wales Fort, and returned in 1744, for another three-year stint, first at

York Factory York Factory was a settlement and Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) factory (trading post) on the southwestern shore of Hudson Bay in northeastern Manitoba, Canada, at the mouth of the Hayes River, approximately south-southeast of Churchill. York ...

, where he held the position of ''"Surveyor and Supervisor of the Buildings"'', and then back at Fort Prince of Wales. Robson surveyed the lower reaches of the Churchill,

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

and Hayes rivers. After Robson returned to the United Kingdom, Robert Pilgrim the factor (ie governor), would describe Robson's conflict with him amounted to a ''"near-mutiny"''. In 1749 Robson testified before a Parliamentary Committee. In 1752 Robson published his account of his time working in the Hudson's Bay Company's outposts on Hudson's Bay. Historians view his memoirs as particularly valuable. In 1763 he published a second book, on ''The British Mars'', on building fortifications.

References

{{Authority control Robson, Joseph Robson, Joseph Robson, Joseph