<P> The company was incorporated by English royal charter in 1670 as The Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson 's Bay . It functioned as the de facto government in parts of North America before European states and later the United States laid claim to some of those territories . It was once the world 's largest landowner , controlling the area of the Hudson Bay watershed , known as Rupert 's Land , which has 15 % of North American acreage . From its long - time headquarters at York Factory on Hudson Bay , the company controlled the fur trade throughout much of the English and later British - controlled North America for several centuries . Undertaking early exploration , its traders and trappers forged relationships with many groups of aboriginal peoples . Its network of trading posts formed the nucleus for later official authority in many areas of Western Canada and the United States . In the late 19th century , with its signing of the Deed of Surrender , its vast territory became the largest portion of the newly formed Dominion of Canada , in which the company was the largest private landowner . </P>
<P> The company was incorporated by English royal charter in 1670 as The Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson 's Bay . It functioned as the de facto government in parts of North America before European states and later the United States laid claim to some of those territories . It was once the world 's largest landowner , controlling the area of the Hudson Bay watershed , known as Rupert 's Land , which has 15 % of North American acreage . From its long - time headquarters at York Factory on Hudson Bay , the company controlled the fur trade throughout much of the English and later British - controlled North America for several centuries . Undertaking early exploration , its traders and trappers forged relationships with many groups of aboriginal peoples . Its network of trading posts formed the nucleus for later official authority in many areas of Western Canada and the United States . In the late 19th century , with its signing of the Deed of Surrender , its vast territory became the largest portion of the newly formed Dominion of Canada , in which the company was the largest private landowner . </P>
when did the hudson 's bay company start
when did the hudson 's bay company start
1670
1670