Hudson's Bay Company

Timeline

1. 1670London, England · LondonOn 2 May 1670, King Charles II issued a royal charter granting the 'Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading into Hudson's Bay' a trade monopoly and quasi-sovereign jurisdiction over Rupert's Land (the entire Hudson Bay watershed), with the king's cousin Prince Rupert as first governor, launching Britain's fur-trade monopoly in the North American interior.
2. 1670–1690Hudson Bay coast, Rupert's Land · Hudson Bay watershedThe company successively established trading posts along Hudson Bay, including Fort Rupert (preceded by the 1668 expedition) and Fort Albany, exchanging European manufactured goods for beaver and other furs supplied by Cree and Assiniboine hunters, gradually forming a trade network radiating inland from Hudson Bay.
3. 1870Canada · CanadaIn 1870 the Hudson's Bay Company sold Rupert's Land to the Canadian federal government, ending nearly two centuries of quasi-sovereign jurisdiction. The company then pivoted to retail, becoming a major Canadian department-store chain in the 20th century, and still operates under the brand 'The Bay / La Baie', one of the oldest chartered companies in North America.