Alexander Kennedy Isbister

Alexander Kennedy Isbister, (1822-1883) was born in Cumberland House, the Hudson Bay post where his father, Orcadian Thomas Isbister, was postmaster. His mother Mary was a daughter of Alexander Kennedy.

Alexander spent some time at school in Orkney but then returned to Canada and joined the Hudson Bay Company when he was sixteen. He helped set up a trading post on the Peel River and his exploration and mapping of the river were published in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society. As a half-breed, he could not expect promotion within the Company so, in September 1842, he sailed to Scotland and became a student at Aberdeen University.

He had a very successful university career, winning prizes in Mathematics and Chemistry, and spent his final year at Edinburgh University, graduating with an MA. His education was partly funded by a trust from his grandfather and by his uncle William Kennedy, but he also wrote geographical articles for the publisher Chambers and articles on ethnic topics for the British Association for the Advancement of Science. He won the Albert Medal of the Royal Geological Society.

Isbister went to London in 1849 and started work as a teacher at East Islington Preparatory School, becoming its headmaster in 1851. In 1855 he moved on to become head of the English Department at the Jews College in Finsbury Square and in 1861 was chosen to be the first headmaster of the Stationers’ Company School. In 1863 he gave evidence to the Taunton Commission, which was attempting to discover measures for the improvement of secondary education. He told the commission that he was in charge of the system of education at the school. “We make Latin and French essential subjects of study. We pay great attention to physical science, arithmetic and good writing as they have a direct application to the business of life, and we teach every boy in the school without exception, drawing. He emphasised the importance of science teaching as being "more than the mere application of reason, the power of judgment is brought into play". Teachers were instructed to "avoid rote lessons as much as possible and make it their object to call the mind into play".

James Sinclair, son of William Sinclair from Harray, and described by Governor Simpson as HBC’s ablest officer, brought a petition from the Red River settlers to London in 1847, complaining that the Hudson Bay Company’s monopoly was impoverishing the natives and that over-hunting was diminishing the food stocks. At the age of only 25, Isbister was asked to lead the delegation that presented the petition to the British Government.

From then on he represented the Metis people (descendants of Canadian Indians and white settlers) in Britain and fought hard for their rights. He was a committee member of the Aboriginal’s Protection Society and a member of delegations to the Colonial Office. He continued to admire the HBC while criticising some of their policies and his attitude towards Governor Simpson was described as exuberant antagonism rather than petty vituperation. He lobbied MPs and gave information to the Colonial Office that the HBC would have preferred it didn’t know. An article from the Manitoba Historical Society in 1964 says that he "fought with all his persistence, prestige and power to break the monopoly that throttled the development of our Canadian West" and suggests he could be described as the Father of Manitoba. In 1857 he gave evidence to the Select Committee that was considering HBC’s political control. John Rae gave evidence on the Company’s behalf. The Committee, chaired by Colonial Secretary Henry Labouchere, to whom Samuel Laing had been secretary, did not reach a decision but HBC sold its interests to the governments of Eastern Canada soon after this.

In 1909, Dr George Bryce, in his book, The Romantic Settlement of Lord Selkrik’s Colonists, wrote, “…a measure of amelioration came to the oppressed and indignant settlers of Red River. For this the people of Red River Settlement were largely indebted to the self-denying and persistent efforts of Alexander Isbister. The old settlers of Kildonan, the French and English half-breeds of the several parishes, and their descendants as well as the University of Manitoba and all friends of education ought to keep his memory green for what he did for them, for as a writer of his own time says, "He gained for himself a name that will live in days yet to come."

Meanwhile, in 1851 he became a member of the College of Preceptors. This organisation had been created five years previously to improve standards in education by monitoring schools and providing qualifications for teachers. In 1862 Isbister became editor of the official College publication, the Educational Times, now the Times Educational Supplement, and became Dean of the College in 1872. He held both these positions until 1882. His obituary says "Under his able and judicious guidance the prospects of the College gradually brightened." When he became Dean the College was poor, disorganized and struggling to exist in London. He left it strong and united, with a network of examiners spread around the country and administering standardised exams of recognized validity. It also had a bank balance of £10,000.

Finding time hang heavy on his hands he took a degree in law in 1864 and was called to the Middle Temple two years later, but never practised as a lawyer.

He supplemented his income and occupied any spare minute left by writing twenty-three school textbooks between 1861 and 1883. His first book was "Elements of Book-keeping by Single and Double Entry" and he went on to cover Caesar’s Gallic Wars, Euclid, English Grammar and Public Speaking. It seems very apt that the Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism awards the Alexander Kennedy Isbister Award for Non-Fiction every year. This is a cash prize of $3,500 for the best work of adult non-fiction written in English.

A later headmaster of the Stationers’ Company School published a slim volume on Alexander Kennedy Isbister, in which he observed, "The Court of the Stationers Company was pleased with its Headmaster, the Council of the College of Preceptors was pleased with its Dean, the Educational Times was pleased with its Editor, the settlers of the Red River were pleased with their champion - and his books sold very well indeed". It's perhaps unsurprising that he never found time to marry. His mother, and sister Emma, made their home with him in London.

He died in 1883 and left his books and most of his estate to the University of Manitoba, Canada's first university, which had only been founded in 1877. He left about $83,000, the equivalent of more than $1,000,000 today, to fund scholarships that were to be awarded regardless of race, creed, gender, nationality or language. The chairman of the Board of Governors of the university embezzled the fund in 1914 but the government of Manitoba took over the funding of the scholarships.

The Canadian Dictionary of Biography describes him as having, "a singularly simple and attractive manner, high character and benevolent disposition."

The Sociology and Geography Departments of the University of Manitoba is housed in the Isbister Building and the Isbister Scholarship is given to the outstanding science student.

His sister Mary married the naturalist explorer Roderick MacFarlane.