English: Simon McGillivray (1783-1840) was the son of Donald McGillivray and Anne McTavish (sister of Simon McTavish, fur-trade merchant). He first worked in the family’s business establishments, becoming a partner in McTavish, Fraser and Company of London in 1805, and then a partner in the Montreal firm of McTavish, McGillivray and Company in 1811. While in Canada, like his older brother William, he helped bring about the union of the Hudson's Bay and North West Companies in 1821. After the bankruptcy of his company in 1825, he worked in Mexico for a London mining company, returning to London in 1835. He then became an owner of the London Advertiser and the Morning Chronicle, marrying Anne Easthope, the daughter of a fellow business proprietor in 1837. It is known that Andrew Robertson painted two portraits of this sitter, but the author of this work remains uncertain. /