Born in 1841 at York Factory on the Hudson Bay in Manitoba, Western Canada. the son of James Hargrave and Letitia Mactavish Hargrave, York Factory was an important Hudson Bay Company depot and Joseph's father was a Chief Trader for the company.

Here is an extract from a letter that Joseph's mother Letitia wrote to her mother dated 14 June 1841 concerning the birth of Joseph:

 

As the late winter was very severe there is a possibility that the ship may not arrive in time to return

this season, so I write again by Red River as I am sure you will be glad to know that Baby was born on

Thursday 1st April and has been with the exception of a cough which does not reduce him at all

perfectly well ever since. I soon got well as I was up in a week & quite recovered in 3?They said that

nursing disagreed with me but I am well now & Baby gets nothing but milk. They all say he is a very

strong child as he fights well & can perch himself up quite stiff. He is very knowing at any rate as he

knows well when he is attended to & shouts if I speak to any one but himself. He knows Hargve and

Margaret but allows himself to be kissed by all the squaws, who exclaim when they meet him, "Very

fat! Very white!" A band of them came the day after he was born to ask for me & to see the Speaking

Cushion (which is son) and were surprised that they were not admitted to our room. Mrs Gladman was

very kind, she came over when I was ill and staid two days, nursed Baby for nearly a week as his first

exploit was to insist on drink before he was dressed so the Dr said I had better let her give him some.

The consequence was that his stomach was stretched to such a width that my life was a burden to me

for a fortnight when he took a fancy to walking up & down the room so that we are kept marching all

the time he is not asleep or drinking. He is a tremendous screamer & will not allow himself to be

dressed or even taken out of his tub without a tremendous disturbance?.I suppose Baby will be

christened by the Methodists for want of others. I much fear his name will be Joseph as it is the name

of Hargves father. (The Letters of Letitia Hargrave, Margaret Arnett Macleod (ed.) Toronto: The

Champlain Society, 1947, pp. 95-96)

 

In her next letter to her mother dated 16th Sept. 1841, she reports on Joseph's progress:

 

When he was born he was small & thin but now there is no smallness about him, & he is as tall & erect

and much broader than 2 little half-breeds who have been trotting about the Fort all spring. The

pitching & tossing that he insists on having is inconceivable, but when he is attended he is never cross.

The Dr says he is the biggest boy he ever saw & the most precocious as regards bodily acquirements

for he cut his 2nd tooth on the 13th of July & very often bites his thumb til it is cut. I wish you cd

hear him laughing, the least thing sets him off & he never stops while he has strength to cackle. The

only thing that invariably makes him cry is when Hargve goes out of the room before he happens to be

tired of his company, & then he does shriek, & it is the same when he comes in & does not take him..

(Ibid., p. 103)

 

In a subsequent letter Joseph has acquired the nickname "Beppo":

 

Beppo has been walking alone since the 7th of March, but poor Margt has to run after him with arms

open from ? past 5 in the morng till 7 at night, for he is so careless that he cant be trusted to stand

for a moment, he has no sense of fear & does not know how to steady himself if he had. He has been

perfectly well ever since I wrote & tries hard to speak, though he can only say distinctly papa, Mama, &

bull, meaning the oxen for which he has a great admiration. I weaned him the first Monday after his

birthday?He likes Margt so much that when he sees me he gets quite frightened that I will take him

& clutches to her gown & yells as loud as he can bawl-- She does nothing now but sew & keep him & she appears to like the occupations. The sewing is altogether at his frocks & he has a legion, covered with

puffs & buttons & made as intricate as possible to hinder Madame Daunais from making little Jean

Battiste's on the same model. (Ibid., p. 105)

 

In 1844 Joseph's sister was born, named Letitia ["Tash"] Lockhart after Letitia's mother.

 

Poor Doi Dame [her nickname for Joseph James] got a shock when he saw her. 'Mama's in her bed, Mary [their servant] is holding that little boy & nobody is taking care of Doi Dame,' was his lamentation to Gibeault [their butler]. He is very fond of her now & declares vehemently that he will tell nobody that the little sister is a dirty pig. He too is perfectly well, and already improved in looks & manners." (ibid., p. 190).

 

Letitia relied heavily on her woman servant Mary, for child care though, as she notes:

 

She has not quite lost her eccentricities, as Doi came in to my room the other morn[in]g laughing like to suffocate himself, & told me that he had asked her for a drink of milk in the night & she had held the candlestick to his mouth in place of the jug, the candle lighted too." (ibid., p. 195).

 

In 1846 the family went back to Scotland on the Prince Rupert so that Joseph could attend school. This was a hard separation for his mother to endure, but one that was common in fur trade families when academic opportunities were limited in Rupert's Land. Joseph was sent to St. Andrews where he attended Madras College in 1847 boarding with the English Master Mr Young. His sister "Tash" joined him in 1852 also boarding with Mr Young and his family. He returned to Canada, joining the Hudson's Bay Company in 1861 as an apprentice clerk to his uncle, William MacTavish, governor of Assiniboia in Red River. From 1869 to 1884, Hargrave was active in the fur trade, coming to Fort Edmonton in 1884. He retired to Montreal in 1889 and died there in 1894.

 

He wrote "Red River"* , an account of events leading to the Red River Rebellion, based on the letters of his father James Hargrave.

 

*Red River. By Joseph James Hargrave, F.R.G.S. Montreal: Printed For The Author By John Lovell. 1871.

Correspondence:

To James Hargrave (Father) 21/10/1851 Describing his trip to London where he saw the Great Exhibition

Links:

The Letters of Letitia Hargrave (Toronto : Champlain Society, 1947.) This publication is on-line and contains transcripts of many letters written by Joseph's mother Letitia. They are searchable.