Genealogy of the Bryan and Martin Families

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James Laurence Cotter

Male 1838 - 1889  (50 years)


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  • Name James Laurence Cotter 
    Birth 24 Dec 1838  Jaulnah, India Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Death 6 Aug 1889  Sault Ste. Marie, Algoma County, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Siblings 1 brother and 1 sister 
    Half-siblings 1 half sister (family of George Sackville Cotter and Katharine Mann
    Notes 
    • From the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online:

      COTTER, JAMES LAURENCE, HBC fur-trader and photographer; b. 24 Dec. 1839 at Jaulna (Jalna), India, son of Colonel George Sackville Cotter and Agnes Kilgour; m. 13 Sept. 1868 at Sault Ste Marie, Ont., Frances Symington Ironside, daughter of George Ironside*, and they had 11 children; d. 6 Aug. 1889 at Sault Ste Marie.

      James Laurence Cotter, a descendant of an Irish baronet, was brought up by his grandmother near Edinburgh, where he attended Loretto School. He arrrived in Canada in 1857 and joined the Hudson’s Bay Company that fall as an apprentice clerkrnor George Simpson* described him as “a young gentleman of good education” and sent him to Fort La Cloche (Ont.) on Lake Huron, where he was to be kept “actively engaged” and pick up the “French & Indian” languages. Cotter served two seasons at Bersimis (Betsiamites, Que.) and another at Fort Chicoutimi (Que.) as a clerk and was then transferred to Moose Factory (Ont.), the administrative headquarters of the HBC’s Southern Department. At Moose Factory, where he arrived in October 1867, Cotter was initiated into the complexities of a large fur-trading centre. In 1872 he was assigned to the Eastmain District and made junior chief trader the following year. He recommended to George Simpson McTavish, officer-in-charge at Moose Factory, that the district headquarters be moved from Little Whale River (Petite rivière de la Baleine, Que.) to Fort George (Que.). McTavish agreed, and the move was made in the summer of 1874. Cotter was promoted to chief trader in 1875, and remained at Fort George for another year, until he was sent to Rupert’s House (Fort-Rupert, Que.) to take charge of Rupert’s River District.

      In 1879 Cotter returned to Moose Factory to take charge of the Southern Department, which comprised the districts of Albany, Rupert’s River, Eastmain, Moose Factory, New Post (on the Abitibi River), and Kenogamissi (on the Moose River). Ths were a period of important changes in the development of northern Ontario: the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway and the opening up of the northwest to settlement were, in Cotter’s words, “beginning to have their effect in unsettling the minds of the people.” This general instability was reflected in the difficulty Cotter experienced in retaining qualified staff, especially skilled mechanics and boat builders. He was, however, successful in obtaining higher wages and better pensions for the men. He also succeeded, despite the restrictions on space in company ships, in having the wives and families of his staff brought out and housing provided for them. As settlement advanced to the north and west, the Indians too were affected. They were exposed to epidemics of whooping cough and influenza, which invariably meant death and sorrow, a decrease in fur returns, and an increase in their debts. To protect the Indians, Cotter prevailed upon them not to travel in areas afflicted by contagious diseases. During this unsettling period, Cotter, who attained the rank of chief factor in 1883, kept the fur returns for the Southern Department reasonably stable. His interests went beyond the fur trade. He established a sawmill for the HBC at Moose Factory, brought in livestock to improve the company’s herd, and planted several productive vegetable gardens.

      It is perhaps as a photographer, however, and not as a company officer that Cotter is best remembered. He made his own camera, and took some of the first photographs of the area around Hudson Bay. Nine drawings in Harper’s Weekly (New Yf 7 June 1879, for instance, were based on Cotter’s photographs. Historians and anthropologists are particularly interested in the artistically composed, sharp, clear photographs of people, buildings, and transportation. One of his photographs, taken at Moose Factory in 1871, shows a flat-roofed building which probably dates from 1762. Others show the Moose Factory bell tower, double-masted coastal vessels, the fort cannon pointing out to James Bay, and Indians and canoes. His pictures capture scenes reminiscent of a life which had changed little since the establishment of the fort in 1673. Cotter’s photographs of the Inuit of the Eastmain District at Little Whale River, with their skin tents and kayaks, are probably the first photographs from that area.

      During the winter of 1888/89 Cotter was too ill to work. He and his family left Moose Factory for Sault Ste Marie, where he died on 6 August.
    Person ID I13374  Private
    Last Modified 25 Oct 2009 

    Father George Sackville Cotter,   b. 1808, Ireland Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1878 (Age 70 years) 
    Mother Agnes Kilgour,   b. cir 1810 
    Marriage 1836 
    Family ID F5263  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Frances Symington Ironside,   b. 1842, Manitoulin Island, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 20 Jul 1912, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 70 years) 
    Marriage 13 Sep 1868  Sault Ste. Marie, Algoma County, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. Agnes Mary Cotter,   b. 25 Aug 1869, Moose Factory, James Bay, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this locationd. Montréal, Québec, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location
     2. George Sackville Cotter,   b. 16 Aug 1870, Moose Factory, James Bay, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1942 (Age 71 years)
     3. Wemyss McKenzie Osborne Cotter,   b. 23 Jan 1872, Sault Ste. Marie, Algoma County, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1935 (Age 62 years)
     4. Henry Martin Stuart Cotter,   b. 17 Sep 1873, Little Whale River, Hudson Bay, Québec, Canada Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1940 (Age 66 years)
     5. Evadne Kilgour Cotter,   b. 2 Oct 1874, Fort George, James Bay, Québec, Canada Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 16 Jan 1948 (Age 73 years)
     6. Ada Margaret Cotter,   b. 12 Nov 1875, Fort George, James Bay, Québec, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location
     7. Katherine Cotter,   b. 1 Sep 1877, Moose Factory, James Bay, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 6 Jul 1973, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 95 years)
     8. Arthur Douglas Cotter,   b. cir 1878, Rupert House, James Bay, Québec, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location
     9. Oliver Wendell Holmes Cotter,   b. 16 Sep 1879, Moose Factory, James Bay, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location
     10. Ann Winnifred Ruth Cotter,   b. 29 Jan 1881, Moose Factory, James Bay, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location
     11. James Laurence Rogerson Cotter,   b. 23 May 1882, Moose Factory, James Bay, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 21 Jan 1942 (Age 59 years)
    Family ID F9080  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 20 Feb 2023 

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBirth - 24 Dec 1838 - Jaulnah, India Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - 13 Sep 1868 - Sault Ste. Marie, Algoma County, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDeath - 6 Aug 1889 - Sault Ste. Marie, Algoma County, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth