Oswald Sterling Finnie
Oswald Sterling Finnie [r]: Klondike Gold Rush prospector, mining engineer, and a senior bureaucrat in Canada's Department of Mining [e]
| Oswald Sterling Finnie | |
|---|---|
| |
| Born | 1876 |
| Died | 1948 |
| Occupation | mining engineer |
| Known for | Accompanied the Governor General of Canada on a trip down the Mackenzie River |
Oswald Sterling Finnie was a mining engineer.[1]
He participated in the Klondike Gold Rush.[1] Following the Gold Rush he spent close to 30 years working for Canada's Department of Mining. He eventually became the second in command to H.H. Rowatt, when he was director of the "Mining Lands and Yukon" branch of the Department. When the Department was reorganized, in 1921, creating a new branch for the "Northwest Territories and Yukon", Finnie was made it director, instead of his former superior, Rowatt.
As part of his duties, Finnie made an annual trip north to oversee the distribution of annuities First Nations people were given under Treaty 11.[2]
He accompanied Governor General Lord Byng on a trip down the Mackenzie River, to meet First Nations people, in 1925.[2]
Through seniority, Rowatt was eventually promoted to Deputy Minister of the Department, in 1931, its highest unelected position.[1] Rowatt then dissolved Finnie's branch, which forced him into early retirement.
Finnie's son, Richard Sterling Finnie, became a well-known Arctic explorer and director of documentary films.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Terry Cook. "Some of the Books are Worn Out": The Klondike Gold Rush and Records Conservation, Archivaria, 1986. Retrieved on 2024-01-02. “Oswald Sterling Finnie is an important figure in northern administration. After his Yukon career, he became Chief Mining Inspector of the Department of the Interlor and thus second-in-command in the large Mining Lands and Yukon Branch.”
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Charles Arnold. Treaty declined, Tusaayaksat Magazine, Spring 2018. Retrieved on 2024-01-02. “Once Treaty 11 came into effect, the government was obliged to send officials north each year to pay the annuities and to conduct business relating to it. For some years this task fell to Oswald Sterling Finnie, who was the director of the government's Northwest Territories and Yukon Branch, from 1921 to 1931.”