Andrew McDermot

Andrew McDermot (1790 – 12 October 1881) was a Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) employee who became an independent fur trade merchant and member of the Council of Assiniboia.

McDermot was born in Belangare Castle, Castlerea, County Roscommon, Ireland in 1790, the eldest son of Miles MacDermot, The MacDermot and Catherine (Kitty Bhan) O'Conor, an illegitimate daughter of Charles O'Conor of Belanagare.

Andrew's sister, Bridget Maria MacDermot, also daughter of Kitty Bhan, married Francis Mclaughlin, a prosperous Catholic Belfast merchant.

Through his uncle Charles he was a first cousin of Thomas O'Conor (United Irishman who fled to New York and became a journalist).

Thomas was the father of Charles O'Conor of New York, the American Attorney and Bourbon Democrat Nominee to the Presidency of the United States in 1872 In Norway House, he married Sara McNab, mixed-blood daughter of Thomas McNab, another Hudson's Bay Company employee.

Daughter Mary Jane married Joseph Taillefer he was a farmer, lawyer and political figure in Manitoba.

With few opportunities in Ireland, he engaged with the Hudson's Bay Company in Sligo and arrived at York Factory on the ship Robert Taylor on August 26, 1812, initially signing on for a three-year contract.

Unhappy with slow advancement within the HBC, he left the employ of the company when he was permitted to retire in 1824.

He was part of a committee on the council which was responsible for the construction of roads and bridges, surveying, the operation of ferries, and public improvements.

McDermot and his partner, James Sinclair were two of the main forces behind the Guillaume Sayer free trade trial of 1849.