Erland Erlandson

Erland Erlandson
Born	c. 1790 Copenhagen, Denmark
Died	1875-01-23 Port Hope, Canada West (present-day Ontario)
Occupation(s)	Craftsman, mariner, Hudson's Bay Company factor
Known for	First documented European to cross the Labrador Peninsula; establishment of HBC posts in Ungava District

Erland Erlandson (circa 1790–1875) was a Danish craftsman and mariner who, after being taken prisoner by the British during the Napoleonic Wars, joined the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in what was then British North America. Although his English skills were limited, his sharp intellect and hard work led to successive promotions from carpenter to clerk and eventually to factor. Together with Nicol Finlayson, he traversed northern Quebec to help establish the HBC’s Ungava District—an expedition later fictionalized in R. M. Ballantyne’s 1857 novel Ungava. In 1834, guided astray by Indigenous escorts, Erlandson became the first documented European to cross the Labrador Peninsula. He also founded several inland trading posts, notably the prosperous Fort Nascopie. Nevertheless, his modest origins and foreign background effectively prevented further advancement within the company, prompting him to retire on a homestead in Canada West (present-day Ontario). Remaining unmarried, his substantial estate—often linked by Canadian historians to two bank robberies—was predominantly donated to Toronto General Hospital.

Early life

Erlandson was born around 1790 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Both he and his father worked as carpenters at Copenhagen’s dockyards, which were preemptively attacked by British forces during the Second Battle of Copenhagen in 1807 amid the Gunboat War and Anglo-Russian conflicts. In December 1813, during the War of the Sixth Coalition, at age 23, Erlandson was captured by the Royal Navy while sailing in the Kattegat and detained aboard a prison ship at Chatham, Kent. Following the war’s conclusion in 1814, the Hudson's Bay Company recruited Erlandson along with other Scandinavian workers for assignments in northern and western Canada.

With the Hudson's Bay Company

As an adult, Erlandson was a robust man approximately tall with light brown hair and hazel eyes. His initial assignment was at East Main House on Hudson Bay’s eastern shore, where he oversaw much of HBC’s operations in that region. Despite limited English proficiency, he earned a reputation as "an excellent servant... strictly honest, sober, and active, and very intelligent," quickly advancing through roles: foreman of carpenters at Moose Factory District headquarters by 1817, clerk in 1819, and factor of East Main House by 1822.

In 1830, working under factor Nicol Finlayson, Erlandson helped establish the new Ungava District—a venture later dramatized in Ballantyne’s novel Ungava. They constructed Fort Good Hope (later renamed Fort Chimo, now Kuujjuaq, Quebec) near where the Koksoak River meets the sea. However, early reports from Moravian missionaries were outdated; supply challenges and weak local trade prospects hindered fur collection. The Inuit showed little interest in British goods compared to their traditional sealskins and deerskins. In February 1831, Erlandson was dispatched overland to deliver a report to Governor George Simpson but lost his documents when his canoe overturned; nonetheless, he reached York Factory personally with the message and returned to Fort Chimo by September aboard the sloop Beaver.

In 1832, Erlandson founded a trading post at South River House roughly upriver but abandoned it within a year due to poor returns that detracted from Fort Chimo’s trade.

By 1834, Erlandson and Finlayson determined that inland posts should be situated in southeastern highlands with overland supply routes connecting to St Lawrence River posts. On April 6 of that year, Erlandson led five Innu guides toward Mingan but was redirected eastward by them to Goose Bay on Groswater Bay by June 22—thereby becoming the first known European to cross the Labrador Peninsula from Hudson Strait to the Atlantic coast. Discovering a rival company there, he traveled back north via a longer western path and arrived at Fort Chimo on July 17. His accounts of abundant hunting grounds led Governor Simpson to order construction of interior posts supplied from Quebec through Groswater Bay.

Erlandson acted as factor at Fort Chimo following Finlayson’s departure in 1836 until John McLean arrived in 1837. Although Simpson acknowledged his talents, company officials declined to promote Erlandson—a foreign-born individual who had risen through lower ranks—to chief trader.

On June 18, 1838, despite deteriorating health, Erlandson led nine HBC employees and two Innu guides south along the Koksoak River and its tributaries to establish Fort Nascopie on Lake Petitsikapau. He spent that winter there with two companions while most others returned north. In 1839, he accompanied McLean’s party that discovered Grand Falls (now Churchill Falls) on the Grand River (now Churchill River). He wintered at Fort Trial on George River before departing Ungava in 1840. Later explorations confirmed that direct routes from Ungava Bay to the St Lawrence River were impractical due to challenging terrain south of Groswater Bay.

Starting in 1841, Erlandson managed posts within the Lake Superior District—first Long Lake until 1843 and then Pic post until 1848—but these assignments offered no opportunities for promotion. He retired from service in 1848.

Later life

Erlandson chose to remain unmarried and established his residence in Port Hope, Canada West (present-day Ontario), close to the home and shop of George Gladman, a retired chief trader and former associate. In 1853 and 1854, he journeyed to London and Denmark before coming back to Canada to join John McLean, who had launched a Bank of Montreal branch in Guelph. Erlandson worked there as a clerk. During this time, two thefts totaling £1300 occurred; McLean stood by Erlandson amid suspicions and compensated the losses from his own funds.

Erlandson passed away in Port Hope on 23 January 1875, leaving behind an estate valued at C$14,000, with a significant portion bequeathed to the Toronto General Hospital. Despite a probate dispute that was resolved with a £100 settlement involving "the Misses Olsen of Copenhagen," some have speculated about Erlandson’s connection to the bank robberies, while others believe the missing funds were linked to financial dealings during his European travels.