DCHP-1 Online

governor

• 1 n. Hist. the person in charge of a fort or factory of the Hudson's Bay Company.

  See also: factory  fort  

  • 1739  (1744)  I was this Year at Churchill Factory, where Mr. Norton is Governor.
  • 1819  Some of the Hudson's Bay Company's clerks have three hundred pounds sterling, others less, and I believe few have more except those who are styled "Governors," these have five hundred.
  • 1937  Though the strictly official designation of these officers was "Chief Factor," the officer in charge of such a fort or factory at this period was generally designed "Governor" or "Chief," while the officer commanding an "inland" or subordinate trading post was usually styled "inland trader" or "master at So-and-So House."

• 2 n. the principal officer of the Hudson's Bay Company in Canada.

  See also: governor-in-chief (def. 2)  

  • 1894  In 1856, the affairs of 152 establishments were managed by a governor, 16 chief factors, and 29 chief traders, assisted by 5 surgeons, 87 clerks, 67 postmasters, 500 voyageurs, and 1,200 permanent servants, besides sailors on sea-going vessels and persons temporarily employed—about three thousand men in all.

• 3 n. Obs. the representative of the monarch in executive control in one of the provinces of British North America; in modern use, the representative appointed on the advice of the Canadian government to act on behalf of the Queen (or King) of Canada.

  See also: governor general  

  • 1845  That Civil List was secured by the Union Bill, and the Governor's Salary fixed at £7000 sterling a year, a larger income than that of the President of the United States.