SIMPSON, Sir George, British traveller, born in Loch Broom, Ross-shire, Scotland, in 1796; died in Lachine, near Montreal, 7 September, 1860. From 1809 till 1820 he was in the employ of a London firm engaged in the West India trade, of which his uncle was a member. His energy and active business habits attracted the attention of the Earl of Selkirk, then at the head of the Hudson bay company, and Andrew Colville, the earl's brother-in-law, a large stockholder, and in February, 1820, he was selected to superintend the affairs of the company in America. In May he left Montreal for the northwest, and in 1821 he succeeded in terminating the long rivalry that had existed between the Hudson bay company and the Northwest company by their union. He was soon afterward appointed governor of the northern department, and subsequently became governor-in-chief of Rupert's land, and general superintendent of all the Hudson bay company's affairs in North America. In that capacity he planned the successful expedition under his cousin, Thomas Simpson (1836-'9), and greatly aided other travellers in their explorations. In 1841-'2 he made the overland journey round the world, going from London to Montreal, thence to Vancouver and Sitka, thence by New Archangel and the Aleutian islands to Ochotsk, across Russian Asia to Moscow and St. Petersburg, and home by the Baltic. He claimed to be the first traveller to make the overland journey. For many years preceding his death he resided at La-chine, entertained the Prince of Wales during his visit in 1860, and was a director of the Bank of British North America and of the Bank of Montreal. In 1841 he was knighted for his services in connection with the cause of arctic exploration. He published "Narrative of an Overland Journey round the World during the Years 184l-'2" (2 vols., London, 1847).--His cousin, Thomas, British explorer, born in Dingwall, Ross-shire, Scotland, 2 July, 1808; died near Turtle river, British America, 14 June, 1840, was graduated in 1828 at the University of Aberdeen, where he won the Huttonian prize. In 1829 he entered the service of the Hudson Bay company as secretary to his cousin, Governor Simpson, and soon afterward accompanied the latter on a tour through the southeastern part of the Hudson bay territory. In 1836 an expedition was arranged by Governor Simpson to connect the discoveries of Sir John Ross and Sir George Back, and it was placed under the command of Thomas Simpson. After passing the winter at Fort Chipewyan, on Great Slave lake, Simpson and his party reached Mackenzie river in July, 1837, and a few days afterward arrived at Foggy Island bay, the farthest point that had been attained by Sir John Franklin. They then traced the arctic coast of North America from the mouth of Mackenzie river to Point Barrow, and from the mouth of Coppermine river to the Gulf of Bothnia. The expedition was occupied in this service about three years, and, as it was claimed at the time, resulted in solving the problem of the existence of a passage by water between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. While returning with the valuable results of his discoveries, Simpson was either killed or met his death by suicide, as was asserted by some of the members of his party. The weight of evidence is in favor of the former assumption. See "The Life and Travels of Thomas Simpson, the Arctic Discoverer," by his brother, Alexander Simpson (London, 1845).--Thomas's brother, Alexander, author, born in Ross-shire in 1811, was educated at the University of Aberdeen. He spent several years in the service of the Hudson bay company, and was afterward British consul at the Sandwich islands. He published "The Sandwich Islands" (London, 1843); "Life and Travels of Thomas Simpson, the Arctic Discoverer" (1845); and "Oregon Territory Considered" (1846).--Another brother, Aemilius, a lieutenant in the royal navy, who died in 1831 on the Pacific coast of British North America, was also engaged in the work of exploration, and was superintendent of the Hudson bay company's marine department on the Pacific from 1826 till 1831.