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Mapmaker: Philip Turnor in Rupert's Land in the Age of Enlightenment
As the first inland surveyor for the Hudson's Bay Company, Philip Turnor stands tall among the explorers and mapmakers of Canada. Accompanied by Cree guides and his Cree wife, Turnor travelled 15,000 miles by canoe and foot between 1778 and 1792 to produce ten maps, culminating in his magnum opus, a map that was the foundation of all northern geographic knowledge at that time.
Barbara Mitchell's biography brings to life the man who taught David Thompson and Peter Fidler how to survey. In her search for Turnor's story, Mitchell discovers her own Cree-Orkney ancestry and that of thousands of others who are descendents of Turnor and his Cree wife.
Barbara Mitchell's biography brings to life the man who taught David Thompson and Peter Fidler how to survey. In her search for Turnor's story, Mitchell discovers her own Cree-Orkney ancestry and that of thousands of others who are descendents of Turnor and his Cree wife.
327 pages, Hardcover
Published October 7, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 5, 2019
This is a really interesting book and an enjoyable read, especially if you enjoy explorer/fur trade era Canadian history. The author, Barbara Mitchell, is a good writer. She has a gift for storytelling, and she chose an interesting subject, who happens to be a distant relative of hers.
To be clear, Philip Turnor was not a Samuel Hearne or a David Thompson or an Alexander Mackenzie. He wasn't an explorer and he didn't go on epic journey's into the unknown, though he did occasionally discover new lands and waters, at least as far as the Hudson's Bay Company was concerned. Instead, Turnor was surveyor and a map maker. He went to known places and ascertained there precise locations so that his superiors could use them to strategically develop trade routes, establish trading posts and undermine their rivals.
On top of learning about the particulars of Turnors role, I enjoyed this book for several reasons. It illuminated some additional chapters in Canadian history, it increased my knowledge of Canadian geography, especially around Hudson's bay, and it helped fill a deep desire I have to understand the incredible abilities to persevere in the face of adversity, in this case, starvation, climate, strenuous physical labour, disease, and fellow man.
One unusual thing about the way this book is written is that the author often likes to imagine what Turnor was thinking at various points and events in his life. She's forced to do this because she wants more insight into his personal life but is sorely disappointed by the lack of records about it and what Turnor was like as a person.
Read this book and you'll be sure to find it a page turner.
To be clear, Philip Turnor was not a Samuel Hearne or a David Thompson or an Alexander Mackenzie. He wasn't an explorer and he didn't go on epic journey's into the unknown, though he did occasionally discover new lands and waters, at least as far as the Hudson's Bay Company was concerned. Instead, Turnor was surveyor and a map maker. He went to known places and ascertained there precise locations so that his superiors could use them to strategically develop trade routes, establish trading posts and undermine their rivals.
On top of learning about the particulars of Turnors role, I enjoyed this book for several reasons. It illuminated some additional chapters in Canadian history, it increased my knowledge of Canadian geography, especially around Hudson's bay, and it helped fill a deep desire I have to understand the incredible abilities to persevere in the face of adversity, in this case, starvation, climate, strenuous physical labour, disease, and fellow man.
One unusual thing about the way this book is written is that the author often likes to imagine what Turnor was thinking at various points and events in his life. She's forced to do this because she wants more insight into his personal life but is sorely disappointed by the lack of records about it and what Turnor was like as a person.
Read this book and you'll be sure to find it a page turner.
February 9, 2019
A wonderful book. Mitchell is an excellent researcher and a very good writer. I enjoyed this more than Newman’s Company of Adventurers. For me, it is up there with Ken McGoogan’s Fatal Passage (about John Rae) because it explains history by focusing on the details of one man’s life and experiences. And what a life: surveying and mapping while canoeing rivers, making portages, suffering mosquitos and hunger. I also liked how she showed the vital role played by the Indigenous people.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews