John Inkster

John Inkster (1799-1874), came to Canada from Orkney about 1821, to work for the Hudson Bay Company as a stonemason. He didn't serve out his contract but instead became an independent trader in Red River. He married Mary (1804-1892), daughter of Chief Factor William Sinclair from Harray and sister of James Sinclair, the independent trader who led two parties of settlers over the Rockies into Oregon.

Inkster prospered and built up a trade in local and imported goods. He also farmed, set up a water mill and became president of a company that established a steam grist and sawmill. He was also a Justice of the Peace, a magistrate for the Lower District, a member of the Council of Assiniboia and auditor of public accounts. He acted as Rector's Warden to David Anderson, the first bishop of Rupertsland, whose father came from Orkney.

His farm was called Seven Oaks, named for a stand of oak trees that had been the site of the Battle of Seven Oaks in 1816, between men of the HBC and the rival North-West Trading Company. The Inksters began to build a large house there in 1851, to accommodate them and their nine children and when the partly-built house was flooded the following year, John and Mary lived in a tent on the upper floor until the flood-waters receded. It became one of Winnipeg's oldest surviving houses and was given to the city after the death of the Inksters' oldest daughter Mary in 1912. It continued to be used as a residence until the 1950s, when it was restored and became the Seven Oaks House Museum.

John and Mary's son Colin was High Sheriff of Manitoba and another son, John, was the chief engineer on a Mississippi steam boat. The Inkster electoral district in north-west Winnipeg is named after the family.