Date Published:
May 2005

L’Encyclopédie de l’histoire du Québec / The Quebec History Encyclopedia

Peter Warren Dease

Dease, Peter Warren (1788-1863), fur-trader and explorer, was born at Michilimackinac on January 1, 1788, the fourth son of Dr. John Dease, who was a nephew of Sir William Johnson, and first cousin of Sir John Johnson. He was named after Admiral Sir Peter Warren, an uncle of Sir William Johnson. He entered the service of the North West Company; and for some years prior to the union of the North West and Hudson's Bay Companies in 1821 he was in the Mackenzie river district. At the time of the union he became a chief trader in the Hudson's Bay Company; and in 1825 he was placed in charge of the commissariat in Sir John Franklin's second) expedition to the Arctic. In 1826 he was made a chief factor; and in 1831 be succeeded William Conolly in charge of the New Caledonia district. In 1836-9 he was, with Thomas Simpson, in command of the expedition which explored the Arctic coast of North America from the mouth of the Mackenzie to Point Barrow; and for his services in connection with this expedition he is said to have been offered the honour of knighthood, but to have refused it. He retired from the Hudson 's Bay Company in 1842, and settled in the immediate vicinity of Montreal. There he died on January 17, 1863. He married in the North West Elizabeth Chouinard, a half-breed; and by her he had eight children.

Source  : W. Stewart Wallace, ed., The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. II, Toronto, University Associates of Canada, 1948, 411p., p. 189.