Roderick Finlayson

{{Short description|Canadian Hudson's Bay Company officer, farmer, businessman and politician}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}

{{About||the New Zealand architectural draughtsman|Roderick David Finlayson|the Moderator of the Free Church of Scotland|Roderick A. Finlayson}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Roderick Finlayson

| image = Roderick Finlayson.jpg

| caption =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1818|03|16}}

| birth_place = Loch Alsh (Kyle of Lochalsh), Scotland

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1892|01|20|1818|03|16}}

| death_place = Victoria, British Columbia

| occupation = Fur trader, farmer, businessman and politicians

| office = Mayor of Victoria

| order = 12th

| term_start = 1877

| term_end = 1879

| predecessor = Montague Tyrwhitt-Drake

| successor = John Herbert Turner

| spouse = Sarah Work (m. 1849)

| children = 11

| resting_place = Ross Bay Cemetery

}}

Roderick Finlayson (March 16, 1818 – January 20, 1892) was a Canadian Hudson's Bay Company officer, farmer, businessman, and politician.

Born in Loch Alsh (Kyle of Lochalsh), Scotland, Finlayson came to North America in 1837. He moved to Lower Canada into an apprentice clerk position with the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC).

As an HBC clerk, Finlayson worked under Charles Ross in the building of Fort Victoria in 1843–1844. Upon Ross's death, which he mentions with sympathy in his autobiography, Finlayson was promoted to command of the HBC's Fort Victoria in 1844.{{Cite DCB |last=Stardom |first=Eleanor |title=Finlayson, Roderick |volume=12 |url=https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/finlayson_roderick_12E.html}} After Chief Factor James Douglas arrived from Fort Vancouver in 1849, Finlayson was reassigned to second in command. Also in 1849 he married Sarah Work, one of John Work's Metis daughters.

In 1850 Finlayson was promoted to the rank of Chief Trader, and in 1859 to Chief Factor.{{cite book |last= Watson |first= Bruce McIntyre |title= Lives Lived West of the Divide: A Biographical Dictionary of Fur Traders Working West of the Rockies, 1793-1858 |year= 2010 |publisher= University of British Columbia, Okanagen |location= Kelowna, BC |isbn= 978-0-9810212-7-0 |pages= 357, 1075}} Finlayson retired from the HBC in 1872.{{BCGNIS|12737|Finlayson Point}} In 1878 he was elected mayor of Victoria.

Finlayson was one of the few to see Victoria grow from bare ground to the Capital of British Columbia. He was called the "father of Victoria" by chronicler of BC history, John Walbran.

Finlayson Arm,{{BCGNIS|12732|Finlayson Arm}} Finlayson Point, Mount Finlayson{{BCGNIS|12734|Mount Finlayson}} and Roderick Island{{BCGNIS|30754|Roderick Island}} are named for Roderick Finlayson.