Report of the Proceedings Connected with the Disputes Between the Earl of Selkirk, and The North-West Company, at the Assizes, held at York in Upper Canada October 1818. From Minutes Taken in Court
Canadian edition of the controversial Selkirk trials. Following the attack on the Red River Settlement and the 1816 massacre at Seven Oaks of Governor Semple and 20 of his men, Lord Selkirk instituted legal proceedings against the North West Company. The subsequent trial was little more than a farce. All of the North West Company's influence was brought to bear on behalf of its employees and partners; some prisoners were released, others escaped, and the place of trial was shifted from Lower Canada to York [Toronto] where the Company was linked with some of the province's leading figures through family ties. The delays and setbacks seriously damaged Selkirk's finances and health and the trial that finally took place in 1818 saw each of the accused acquitted. Several months later, Lord Selkirk, along with his agent, Miles Macdonnell, and other supporters, were indicted for conspiracy to ruin the trade of the North West Company. Selkirk was fined 2,000 pounds for damages. This report is divided into three parts: 1) The Trial of Paul Brown and Francois Firmon Boucher. II) The Trial of the Accessories, John Siveright, Alexander Mackenzie, Simon Fraser, and others. III) The Trial of John Cooper and Hugh Bennerman. The postscript relates the indictment of Selkirk and the preface contains a defence of the North West Company against the "calumnies" of the Press. Former owner Frederick William Torrance (1823-87) was a Quebec lawyer and some time judge. Lande 1367. Peel 112n. Sabin 79016. TPL 1146. cfDionne III 113. cfGagnon I 2988. cfStreeter VI 3687. cfVlach 563 (Montreal Edition).
