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Writer's pictureOntario Métis Facts

Turner Family Pt. 5: Charlotte Turner


Charlotte Turner was born in Moose Factory, in the Hudson’s Bay Company’s (HBC) Rupert’s Land territory, on or about July 11, 1828.


Charlotte’s father, Joseph Turner Sr., was a lifelong HBC employee, who worked for the Company for nearly 70 years. Throughout that time, he and his Métis wife, Emma, had seven children born in Moose Factory.


On June 21, 1841, Charlotte Turner married James Harper, another long serving HBC employee, “a la façon du pays” (in the custom of the country) at Martin Falls.


Upon James’ retirement from the HBC in 1844, he and wife moved westward and retired to the Red River Settlement. There, they joined Charlotte’s brothers, Joseph Jr. and Philip, who had previously moved westward through their own careers with the HBC.


Charlotte and James quickly grew their Métis family and deepened their roots in the Red River Settlement’s St. Andrew’s Parish, raising a family of over a dozen Métis children.


On July 28, 1875, Charlotte successfully applied for Métis scrip in the St. Andrew’s Parish, on behalf of her husband and children. In her application, Charlotte identifies herself as a “Half-breed head of a family”, grounding her claim in her Métis family from Moose Factory.


Charlotte would not be the last member of the Métis Turner family from Moose Factory to advocate for and receive Métis scrip. In 1886, Charlotte’s nephew, Joseph A. Turner, successfully applied for Métis scrip in Alberta. Her other nephews, William and George McLeod, would later lead the Métis of Moose Factory in petitioning for Métis scrip in 1905, seeking equal rights and treatment as their Métis family living farther west.


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