Pierre-Esprit Radisson c. 1640-1710

In 1659 the coureur de bois Pierre Radisson and his brother-in-law, Médard Chouart Des Groseilliers, left Montréal on an illicit voyage of trade and exploration north of Lake Superior. Here they conceived the idea of tapping this fur-rich region from Hudson Bay. Failing to enlist French support for the scheme, they turned to England; the result was the founding of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1670. The next two decades saw the erratic Radisson alternately in the service of France and England, in Hudson Bay, Canada and the Caribbean. In 1687 he became an English subject, and he spent the rest of his life in London.