HOY TO HUDSON BAY AND BACK
In 1871 I made a voyage in the Hudson Bay Company’s ship Ladie Head going to moose factory in Hudson’s Bay and back to London, England. The following year I came to Moose factory to work for the Hudson’s Bay Company.
William Sinclair Ritch from Rackwick stayed 38 years in the company’s service. When he came back to his native island, he lived with his brother for four years in the cottage in Rackwick which would later become the home of the composer Peter Maxwell Davies. It’s in the Hoy Heritage Centre and there’s more information online about the exhibition.
There’s also an evening event in the Hoy Kirk with Curator Janette Park of Stromness Museum describing the long Orkney links with the Hudson’s Bay Company and the people of the region and polar historian Dr Maria Pia Casarini telling the story of the company itself.
