The Bird Line

Episode 1 of the Family‑Line Series – Birds, Shaping a Nation

THE BIRD LINE

“From Warwickshire parish lanes to the heart of the Hudson’s Bay Company.”

From English parish registers to the Métis homeland of Red River

The Bird family story begins far from the rivers and forests of Rupert’s Land.
It begins in Dunchurch, Warwickshire, where James Bird (1749–1793) is believed to have been born into the rural English countryside — a world of hedgerows, parish lanes, and the early stirrings of industrial change.¹

For many young men of his generation, the Hudson’s Bay Company offered a rare path outward — a chance to cross the Atlantic and enter a world of trade, danger, and possibility. By the late 1700s, James Bird had done exactly that, becoming part of the early wave of English officers who pushed inland from the Bay and helped shape the fur‑trade empire that would define the next century.²

I. Origins of the Bird Line

The Bird lineage in Rupert’s Land begins with James Curtis Bird, born in 1773 in Acton, Middlesex.³
At just fifteen years old, he entered HBC service as a Writer at York Factory.⁴ His rise was swift:

Clerk in Charge at South Branch House, Nepawi, and Carlton House
Trader at Edmonton House
In Charge of all inland posts along the Saskatchewan River
Chief of District at Edmonton and Carlton
Acting Governor of Rupert’s Land (1817–18)
Chief Factor of the Red River District⁵

His administrative career placed him at the centre of the Company’s inland operations during the most turbulent years of the fur‑trade wars and the arrival of the Selkirk settlers.

II. A Métis Family Takes Shape

Around 1795, James Curtis Bird formed a long‑term partnership with a Cree woman named Oomenahowish, whose name appears in the 1815–16 baptism of their son George at Mitcham, Surrey. The final letter in the parish register is unclear, but the Selkirk Settlers Association now uses the spelling Oomenahowish as the preferred form. In Company and parish contexts she was also called Mary, reflecting the dual naming practices common in the fur‑trade world.⁶

Their children — George, James Jr., Joseph, Levi, William, and Henry — were born into the blended world of the fur trade, where Indigenous kinship networks and European administrative structures intertwined.
This was the world in which the Métis Nation emerged — a people shaped by both Indigenous and European ancestry, and by the economic and cultural realities of the fur‑trade frontier.

III. Our Direct Ancestor in the Bird Line

Our branch descends through George Bird, born in 1796 at South Branch House, in the Saskatchewan District, to Oomenahowish and James Curtis Bird.⁷
His 1815 baptism at Mitcham, Surrey records him as 20 years old, confirming his birth year and establishing him as the eldest of the Oomenahowish children.

George grew up within the inland posts of the Saskatchewan District, part of a family deeply embedded in the Company’s operations. During the winter of 1818–19 at Cumberland House, the Bird and Thomas families lived side by side. It was there that George formed a lifelong partnership with Mary Anne “Nancy” Thomas, daughter of Thomas Thomas — another senior HBC officer and a signatory to the Selkirk Treaty.⁸

Their marriage united two influential fur‑trade families and anchored our line in both the Bird and Thomas traditions.

IV. The Birds in the Métis Homeland

George Bird’s life unfolded across the heart of the fur‑trade world.
He served as one of Governor George Simpson’s personal assistants during the 1824–25 Columbia Expedition — a journey marked by hardship, survival, and the unforgiving realities of the northern plains.⁹

By the 1820s and 1830s, George and Nancy were settled in the Red River Settlement, recorded in the 1827 and 1835 censuses with growing children, livestock, and cultivated land.¹⁰ Their household reflected the emerging Métis community: multilingual, mobile, and deeply connected to both Indigenous and European worlds.

George died in 1855 and was buried at St. Paul (Middlechurch), leaving behind a large family whose descendants would spread across the prairies.

V. Our Line — Descent Through the Bird Family

Our direct line through the Bird family proceeds as follows:

James Curtis Bird (1773–1856)
→ George Bird (1796–1855)
→ William Thomas George Bird (1840–1912)
→ William Bird (1869–1939)
→ Elsie Evelyn Bird (1908–1965)
→ Brager line → our line

Through these generations, the Bird family carried forward the legacy of the fur‑trade world into the settlement era of Saskatchewan and, eventually, into British Columbia.
This line bridges the early HBC inland posts, the Métis homeland of Red River, the prairie homesteads of Birch Hills, and the westward movement into the 20th century.

VI. Descendants and Branches

The Bird family produced numerous branches that shaped the history of Red River and beyond.

Children of James Curtis Bird & Oomenahowish (Mary)

George Bird — b. 1796, South Branch House
James “Jimmy Jock” Bird — b. 1798, Sturgeon River; Blackfoot‑country trader
Joseph Bird — b. 1801
Levi Bird — b. 1803
William Bird — b. 1806
Henry Bird — b. 1808

Children of James Curtis Bird & Elizabeth Montour

John Bird — married Mary McKay
Chloe Bird — married James Flett
Charlotte Bird — married John Flett, Métis leader in the Pacific Northwest and participant in the 1855 Stevens Treaties
Elizabeth Bird — married James Sinclair, leader of the Oregon migrations
Nicholas Garry Bird
Mary Bird

Children of James Curtis Bird & Kelly (Catherine) Lowman

Curtis Bird
Elizabeth Bird
Harriet Bird

These branches connect the Bird family to the Thomases, Fiddlers, McKays, Fletts, Sinclairs, and many other foundational families of the Métis homeland.

VII. Why the Bird Line Matters

The Bird lineage is one of the most historically significant lines in our ancestry because it stands at the intersection of:

English HBC administration
Indigenous kinship networks
The birth of the Métis Nation
The Selkirk Treaty
Red River governance
Prairie settlement
BC migration

It is a line that shaped — and was shaped by — the major events of early Canadian history.
Through the Birds, our family story is woven directly into the political, cultural, and economic foundations of the Métis homeland.

ENDNOTES

Warwickshire origins of James Bird (see Appendix B, item B1).
Early English HBC officers entering inland service.
Birth of James Curtis Bird in Acton, Middlesex (Appendix B, item B1).
Entry into HBC service as Writer at York Factory (Appendix B, item B2).
HBCA appointments and promotions (see Appendix C, item C2).
Identity and naming of Oomenahowish (Appendix B, item B4).
George Bird’s age 20 in the 1815–16 Mitcham baptism (primary source).
Cumberland House winter marriages (Appendix B, item B38).
Columbia Expedition hardship (Appendix B, item B43).
Red River census entries (Appendix B, items B44–B45).

APPENDIX A — GEOGRAPHIC ANCHORS

A1. England (Warwickshire & Middlesex)
Origins of James Bird and James Curtis Bird documented in parish registers and genealogical reconstructions.
Primary; parish registers (Dunchurch, Acton); Red River Ancestry: James Curtis Bird.

A2. Saskatchewan District (South Branch House, Carlton House, Cumberland House)
Locations associated with the birth and early life of George Bird and the inland postings of the Bird family.
Primary; HBCA post records; Red River Ancestry: George Bird.

A3. Red River Settlement (St. John’s, St. Paul, Point Douglas)
Parishes and river lots where the Bird family lived, farmed, and appear in census and parish records.
Primary; Red River Parish Registers; 1827 & 1835 Red River Censuses.

A4. British Columbia (Richmond, Steveston)
Later‑generation locations associated with Bird descendants in the 20th century.
Primary; BC Vital Records.

APPENDIX B — GENEALOGICAL EXTRACTS

B1. Birth of James Curtis Bird (1773)
“James Curtis BIRD was born Feb 5, 1773 Acton, Middlesex, England.”
Genealogical; Red River Ancestry: James Curtis Bird.

B2. Entry into HBC service (1788)
“On Apr 23, 1788 James…entered the service of the Hudson’s Bay Company as a ‘Writer’.”
Genealogical; Red River Ancestry: James Curtis Bird.

B3. Early family summary (Bird–Oomenahowish)
“Mary Oo‑menahomisk” listed as mother of George Bird; children George, James, Joseph, Levi, William, Henry.
Genealogical; Red River Ancestry: George Bird.

B4. Cumberland House winter marriages (1818–19)
“…romance blossomed between…George BIRD and Nancy THOMAS…”
Genealogical; Red River Ancestry: George Bird; Red River Ancestry: Thomas Thomas.

B5. Columbia Expedition hardship (1824–25)
“…the two famished men…turned up at the HBC Swan River post…”
Genealogical; Red River Ancestry: George Bird.

B6. Red River census entries (1827 & 1835)
“George…recorded on Lot 198…one acre under cultivation.” / “Lots 24–25…three acres under cultivation.”
Genealogical; Red River Ancestry: George Bird.

APPENDIX C — HBCA EXTRACTS

C1. HBCA Header — James Curtis Bird
“NAME: BIRD, James Sr. PLACE OF BIRTH: Acton, Middlesex…b. ca. 1773…d. 18 Oct. 1856.”
Primary; HBCA Biographical Sheet: James Curtis Bird.

C2. HBCA Appointments — James Curtis Bird
“1788–1792 — Writer, York Factory… 1793–1795 — In Charge, South Branch House… 1799–1803 — Trader, Edmonton House… 1817–1818 — Acting Governor of Rupert’s Land…”
Primary; HBCA Biographical Sheet: James Curtis Bird.

C3. HBCA Land Grant
“Granted land: 1245A, Lot 582, East Bank Red River (modern lots 100–110, St. Paul’s).”
Primary; HBCA Biographical Sheet: James Curtis Bird.

C4. HBCA Family Listing
(Parents, siblings, wives, and children as listed in the HBCA sheet.)
Primary; HBCA Biographical Sheet: James Curtis Bird.

APPENDIX D — ADDITIONAL EXTRACTS

D1. Birth of George Bird (corrected)
“George BIRD was born 1798 at York Factory…” (secondary; corrected to 1796 at South Branch House by primary baptism).
Genealogical; Red River Ancestry: George Bird.

D2. Church marriage of George Bird & Nancy Thomas (1823)
“On Aug 23, 1823 George and Nancy were church‑wed at St Johns, Red River.”
Genealogical; Red River Ancestry: George Bird.

D3. Death of George Bird (1855)
“On Feb 28, 1855 George BIRD died; buried in St Paul (Middlechurch).”
Genealogical; Red River Ancestry: George Bird.

D4. Children of George & Nancy Bird
(Amelia, Frederick, Catherine, George Jr., Thomas, Charles James, Sara, William George, Ann Elizabeth, Harriet Sophia.)
Genealogical; Red River Ancestry: George Bird.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Sources

HBCA Biographical Sheet: BIRD, James Sr.
HBCA Post Records (South Branch House, Carlton House, Cumberland House)
Red River Parish Registers
1827 & 1835 Red River Censuses
Mitcham Parish Register (1815–16 baptism of George Bird)

Genealogical & Archival Compilations

Red River Ancestry: James Curtis Bird
Red River Ancestry: George Bird
Morin, Gail. Métis Families

Scholarly Works (Context Only)

Brown, Jennifer S.H. Strangers in Blood
Devine, Heather. The People Who Own Themselves
MacGregor, J.G. The Czar of the Prairies
Oregon Pioneers Biographical File (John Flett)