author
John McLean
1799–1890
A fur trader, explorer, and memoirist, this Scottish-born traveler crossed vast stretches of British North America by canoe and on foot, then turned those hard journeys into vivid firsthand writing. His life links the Hudson’s Bay Company, early Canadian exploration, and one of the classic travel narratives of Labrador and the interior.
2 Audiobooks
About the author
Born on the Isle of Mull in Scotland around 1799, he emigrated to British North America and joined the Hudson’s Bay Company in the early 1820s. Over the years he worked as a fur trader and chief trader, traveling enormous distances across the continent and building the deep practical knowledge that later shaped his books.
He is especially remembered for exploring Labrador and for a remarkable overland journey across the Labrador Peninsula in 1838. He later wrote about these experiences in Notes of a Twenty-Five Years' Service in the Hudson's Bay Territory, a memoir valued for its firsthand picture of travel, trade, and daily life in northern North America.
After his fur-trade years, he lived in Canada in several other roles, including business and civic work, before eventually dying in 1890. For listeners interested in exploration writing, his appeal lies in the mix of endurance, observation, and lived experience behind every page.