François' great grandparents were New Englanders who were captured by the Abenaki as children and grew up among them, marrying as young adults.  His father, Francis Annance, was one of a group of four boys who, as a result of Protestant missionary activity, were sent to school in New Hampshire.  Francis Noel attended Moor's Indian Charity School as a young adult.  He was in the Columbia District in 1820 as an employee of the North West Company and was retained by the Hudson's Bay Company.  He returned to the Abenaki village of St. Francis in 1845.  For biographies, see Fleming 1940:426; Williams 1975:200; and Maclachlan 1993:35-9.

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François was listed as the father of three boys in the report McDonald sent in February 1830.  One son was born on 23 December 1826 (McDonald 1826:13d), and one of the three was drowned (Annance 1832)

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François found that a whiteman's education did not bring him the privileges he desired.  The Native strain in his mixed blood prevented him from rising above the role of Indian Trader or postmaster.  Foster 1975 describes the position of Indian trader as one to which the mixed-blood children of the fur trade aspired, but François was not born or raised in fur trade society and had undoubtedly been given reason to believe that his superior education would provide him with the same opportunities as other clerks.  James McMillan felt that either François Annance or Donald Manson could have taken charge of Fort Langley, and he found François "as usual very useful" (McMillan 1827b:17) but George Simpson chose to leave Archibald McDonald in that position.

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Annance 1832 is Annance, Francis N. 1832.  Annance to Yale, 13 October, Yale Family, BCA Add Mss 182, Vol. 2, Folder 2, Letter 17

Fleming 1940:426 is Fleming, R. Harvey, ed. 1940.  Minutes of Council, Northern Department of Ruperts Land, 1821-31. London: Champlain Society for the Hudson's Bay Record Society 3, page 426

Foster 1975 is Foster, John E. 1975.  The Indian trader in the Hudson's Bay fur trade tradition. In  Proceedings of the 2d Congress, Canadian Ethnology Society 2:571-85.  Mercury Series Paper 28.  Ottawa: National Museum of Man.

HBCA is Hudson's Bay Company Archives

Maclachlan 1993:35-9 is Maclachlan, Morag. 1993.  The case for Francis Annance.  The Beaver 73(2):35-9

McDonald 1826:13d is McDonald, Archibald. 1826-7.  Journal of Occurrences at Thompson's River.  HBCA B.97/a/2

McMillan 1827b:17 is McMillan, James. 1827b.  Letter to McLoughlin, 15 September.  HBCA D.4/121:16-17

Williams 1975:200 is Williams, Glyndwr, ed. 1975.  Hudson's Bay Miscellany, 1670-1870.  Winnipeg; Hudson's Bay Record Society 30

source: footnotes and references in Morag MacLachlan's Fort Langley Journals: 1827-30

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