The minutes cover the decade following the amalgamation of the Hudson’s Bay Company and its rival, the North West Company, under the Hudson’s Bay Company charter in 1821. The newly consolidated company faced the task of reorganizing its operations in response to American and Canadian competition. The volume covers two distinct periods: the first, to 1826, concerns attempts to establish an effective system of direction; the second, from 1826 to 1831, follows the reorganization that accompanied the decision to appoint George Simpson, already Governor of the Northern Department of Rupert Land, as Governor of the Southern Department as well. Contents include: I. Letters from the Governor and Committee to the Northern Department, 1821–22; II. Reports of George Simpson to the Governor and Committee, 1822; III. Selections from the Correspondence of the Northern Department, 1821–22.
