Philip Turnor

In 1778 the Hudson’s Bay Company engaged Philip Turnor as a surveyor to determine the positions of its posts. Although best remembered for his charting of the route to Athabasca (1790-92), and as the teacher of the geographers David Thompson and Peter Fidler, Turnor in fact spent most of his North American career as a trader and explorer on the Moose and Albany river systems (1780-87), and produced the first accurate maps of much of this part of northern Ontario. In 1792 he returned to London, where he ended his days as a teacher of navigation.

En 1778, la compagnie de la Bale d’Hudson engagea Philip Turnor comme arpenteur, avec mission de déterminer l’emplacement de ses postes. Surtout connu pour avoir tracé la route de l’Athabasca (1790-1792) et formé les géographes David Thompson et Peter Fidler, Turnor consacra pourtant la majeure partie de sa carrière en Amérique au commerce et à l’exploration des rivières Moose et Albany (1780-1787). C’est lui qui, le premier, a dressé des cartes précises de l’Ontario septentrional. Rentré à Londres en 1792, il termina sa vie comme maître de navigation.