James Givins

Who was James Givins?

Colonel James Givins was a British Army officer and militiaman who fought in the American Revolution and the War of 1812. He was also an Indian agent of Upper Canada, rising to Chief Superintendent of the Indian Department. He is the namesake of Givins Street in Toronto.

Givins place of birth is unknown, but it has been suggested he was born in Ireland. He may have been related to Henry Hamilton, as John Graves Simcoe referred to him as having been "bred up" by Hamilton. Givins came to Fort Detroit with Hamilton when Hamilton was posted there in 1775. Part of a British unit that seized Fort Vincennes, Indiana in 1778, Givins was captured by American forces when they retook the fortress in 1779 and spent two years as a prisoner of war.

Givins was released in 1781. No record exists of his activities until he was appointed a lieutenant with the Queen's Rangers on November 30, 1791. Knowledgeable in Ojibwe, he served as a courier and interpreter for Lieutenant Governor Simcoe in Simcoe's dealings with the province's Indians. In June 1797 he was appointed the post of Indian Agent for the town of York by Peter Russell.