James Cantley (1896-1969)

Abstract

On August 7, 1969, at the age of 73, James Cantley died, ... Some 56 years ago in the summer of 1913 ..., not yet out of his teens, ["Jim" Cantley] ... stepped ashore at Cartwright, Labrador, off the Pelican, the last of the Hudson's Bay Company's sailing ships. ... During his early years fur trading in Arctic Canada by small boats and dog teams he travelled extensively through the eastern Arctic. He carried out exploratory work on the east coast of Baffin Island in search of promising locations for Hudson's Bay Company trading posts. He established in 1914 the first post at Ward Inlet, Frobisher Bay, some 40 miles from the present site of the community, which has now become the main centre for the eastern Arctic. This was at a period when truly Arctic posts designed specifically to trade with the Eskimos for white foxes were being opened in the Arctic. ... In 1921 Jim Cantley was transferred south and appointed District Accountant and later Assistant District Manager of the Hudson's Bay Company's eastern operations with headquarters first at St. John's, Newfoundland and later at Montreal. In 1930 he moved to Winnipeg as Assistant Fur Trade Commissioneer and during the next eight years he made numerous trips throughout the Northwest Territories and the northern parts of all the provinces from coast to coast. He left the Hudson's Bay Company in 1938 and the following year organized and, for the next ten years, managed the Baffin Trading Company Limited which was engaged in trading and transportation in the eastern Arctic. In 1950 he joined the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development .... Part of his work was to carry out a survey of economic conditions in the Arctic. ... he retired from the Department in 1956. In 1957 he was appointed a Fellow of the Arctic Institute of North America and around that time he helped set up and was the Director of the Ottawa office of the Institute. With the closing of this office, Jim Cantley continued his association with the north in one way and another, corresponding with many people who were doing northern research. He also served the Arctic Circle Club for many years as one of the auditors.