GARLAND, THOMAS, a seaman with the HBC; fl. c. 1678–87.
He sailed in the Prince Rupert (Capt. Richard Power) to James Bay in 1678 and returned to England next year. In 1680 he was appointed chief trader at New Severn where Capt. Thomas Draper was commissioned to establish and command a factory, a plan not completed at that time.
During the winter of 1681–82, which Garland spent at Charlton Island under Governor John Nixon, friction developed. Garland allied himself with Capt. Nehemiah Walker’s “discontented party” against Nixon, who sent home a lengthy and damaging account of the situation. In spite of this adverse report, when Garland returned to England he was made master of the yacht Colleton in 1683. He spent the three following seasons in James Bay and was among those taken prisoner when de Troyes captured the Company’s three factories there in 1686. He managed to secure release and wintered either at New Severn or Port Nelson on Hudson Bay and evidently severed his connection with the Company after he had returned to England in 1687.
His wife Katherine is mentioned in HBC records, requesting on occasion that he be allowed to return home.