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The Hourie Line

Episode 5 of the Family‑Line Series – A Bridge Between Orkney and the North

THE HOURIE LINE

“Orkney seafarers, Cree matriarchs, and the northern Métis families who carried the fur trade on their shoulders.”

From Orkney recruits to Cree–Métis kinship — a family shaped by the northern fur‑trade world

From the Orkney Islands to the river systems of Rupert’s Land, the Hourie family represents the enduring partnership between Orkney labourers and Indigenous women that shaped the northern Métis Nation. Their story unfolds across the Red River Settlement, the inland posts of the Hudson’s Bay Company, and the prairie communities that followed.

I. John Hourie (1779–1857) — The Orkney Beginning

John Hourie was born around 1779 in South Ronaldsay, Orkney.¹
In 1800, he entered Hudson’s Bay Company service, boarding the Prince of Wales at Stromness and arriving at York Factory that same year.²

Like many Orcadians recruited by the Company, he served as a:

  • labourer
  • steersman
  • inland transport worker

These roles placed him within the demanding transport and provisioning systems that sustained the fur‑trade network.

By the 1820s, John had established himself as a farmer in the Red River Settlement.
The Red River censuses from 1827 to 1843 consistently identify him as an Orkney‑born Protestant farmer with a growing household and an expanding operation at Lot 174.³
These records document steady increases in livestock, acreage, and equipment — evidence of stability and permanence.

John died on 15 August 1857 and was buried in St. Andrews Parish.⁴

II. Marriage and Family Structure

On 10 May 1825, at St. John’s, Red River, John married Margaret (Cree).⁵
She was baptized as an adult on 30 September 1833.⁶
Her Cree ancestry rooted the Hourie family within the northern Métis world, shaping the cultural identity of their children.

Their household grew quickly.
The children of John and Margaret — John Jr., Robert, Thomas, George, Peter, Betsy, James (died in infancy), and Jane (died 1834), along with additional sons recorded in the Red River censuses but unnamed in surviving parish registers — were born into the emerging Métis world of the interior.

From this generation, George Hourie, baptized in 1825, carries the direct line forward.⁷

III. George Hourie (1825–?) — A Métis Man of the Fur‑Trade Generation

George was baptized at St. John’s on 19 April 1825.⁷
On 13 October 1845, at the Rapids Church (St. Andrews), he married:

Eleanor “Ellen” Cook (1827–1859)
Daughter of Jeremiah Cook and Eleanor Spence.⁸

This marriage linked the Houries to the Cook, Cocking, Spence, and Batt families — each with deep roots in the fur‑trade world.

Their daughter Mary Ann “Marion” Hourie (1846–1913) carries the direct line forward.⁹

After Eleanor’s death, George married Elizabeth Knight in 1859.¹⁰
His widow’s 1875 scrip application confirms his parentage and Métis identity.¹¹

IV. Mary Ann “Marion” Hourie (1846–1913)

Mary Ann was born on 15 September 1846 in St. Andrews.⁹
She lived through the final decades of the fur‑trade era and the transition into prairie settlement, witnessing:

  • the decline of the HBC monopoly
  • the rise of prairie agriculture
  • the westward movement of Métis families

On 11 December 1862, she married:

William Edward Cromartie (1841–1926)
Son of John Cromartie and Catherine Park.¹²

This marriage united the Hourie line with the Cromartie, Park, Cook, Cocking, Spence, and Batt families — forming one of the most interconnected branches of this ancestry.

V. Why the Hourie Line Matters

The Hourie lineage is historically significant because it represents:

  • the Orkney–HBC labourer tradition
  • the northern Métis world rooted in inland posts
  • the fusion of Cree and Orkney cultures
  • connections to major Métis dynasties
  • the movement from Red River to Saskatchewan
  • the merging of multiple fur‑trade families through marriage

This line embodies the endurance, adaptability, and cultural blending that defined the early Métis Nation.

VI. A Lineage of Endurance and Quiet Strength

The Houries were not officers or treaty signers.
They were the workers who kept the fur trade alive — paddling canoes, building posts, hunting game, and raising families in remote regions.
Their descendants carried that resilience into the prairie era and beyond.

⭐ ENDNOTES

  1. Orkney origins of John Hourie (Appendix D, item D1).
  2. Voyage of the Prince of Wales in 1800 (Appendix D, item D2).
  3. Red River census entries for the Hourie household (Appendix B, item B1).
  4. Burial of John Hourie in St. Andrews Parish (Appendix D, item D3).
  5. Marriage of John Hourie and Margaret (Appendix A, item A1).
  6. Adult baptism of Margaret Howrie (Appendix A, item A3).
  7. Baptisms of the Hourie children, including George (Appendix A, item A2).
  8. Marriage of George Hourie and Eleanor Cook (Appendix A, item A4).
  9. Baptism of Mary Ann Hourie (Appendix A, item A5).
  10. Marriage of George Hourie and Elizabeth Knight (Appendix C, item C1).
  11. Scrip applications confirming Hourie family relationships (Appendix C, item C2).
  12. Marriage of William Edward Cromartie and Mary Ann Hourie (Appendix A, item A6).

⭐ APPENDIX A — HBC REGISTER & PARISH EXTRACTS

A1 — Marriage (1825)
Entry for the marriage of John Howrie and Margaret, St. John’s, 10 May 1825.

A2 — Baptisms (1823–1825)
Entries for John Jr., Robert, Thomas, and George Hourie.

A3 — Adult Baptism (1833)
Entry for the baptism of Margaret Howrie, 30 September 1833.

A4 — Marriage (1845)
Entry for the marriage of George Hourie and Eleanor Cook.

A5 — Baptism (1846)
Entry for the baptism of Mary Ann Hourie.

A6 — Marriage (1862)
Entry for the marriage of William Edward Cromartie and Mary Ann Hourie.

⭐ APPENDIX B — RED RIVER CENSUS EXTRACTS (1827–1843)

B1 — Household of John Hourie, Lot 174
Summaries of acreage, livestock, equipment, and household composition across the 1827–1843 censuses.

⭐ APPENDIX C — SCRIP & CIVIL RECORD EXTRACTS

C1 — Marriage Record (1859)
Entry for the marriage of George Hourie and Elizabeth Knight.

C2 — Scrip Applications (1875–1885)
Applications confirming the parentage and Métis identity of the Hourie family.

⭐ APPENDIX D — BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

D1 — Orkney Origins
Notes on the South Ronaldsay origins of John Hourie.

D2 — HBC Voyage Records
References to the 1800 voyage of the Prince of Wales.

D3 — Burial Record
Entry for the burial of John Hourie in St. Andrews Parish.

⭐ BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Sources

  • HBCR, Hudson’s Bay Company Register of Anglican Church Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials for the Red River Settlement, 1821–1841
  • HBCA E5/1–E5/11, Red River Settlement Census
  • Manitoba Vital Statistics
  • Saskatchewan Vital Statistics

Genealogical & Archival Compilations

  • Denney Papers, Charles D. Denney, Glenbow Archives
  • NWHBSI, North‑West Halfbreed Scrip Applications, RG15‑20
  • MBS, Manitoba Scrip Applications, RG15‑19

Scholarly Works (Context Only)

  • Brenda Snider Research (Qu’Appelle and Peter Hourie materials)