A Tangled Tale

In the rogues’ gallery of Canadian history, few figures measure up to the men of the Kirke family, who carved a remarkably eventful swath through the 17th century. These English wine merchants, with French roots and an elbows-up attitude, tried hedging their risks by diversifying into the St. Lawrence fur trade through brute force. Beginning with a privateering raid on French assets in the St. Lawrence in 1628, they were best known for booting Samuel de Champlain out of his Quebec habitation in 1629, and keeping it until diplomacy allowed Champlain and the French to return in 1632. Less appreciated is the prominent role Sir David Kirke (knighted in 1631) went on to play in Newfoundland’s colonization and inshore fishery at Ferryland. Less appreciated still is that his brother, John, was one of the original investors in 1667 in the Hudson’s Bay Company; John’s daughter married Pierre Radisson, whose exploration efforts helped open up Rupert’s Land for the HBC.

Some...