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Abbott
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Adair, William Penn
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Adams, Charles Francis
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Adams, William Pitt
(1804-1852)
William Pitt Adams, born on December 11, 1804, was Her Majesty's Charge d'Affaires and Consul General to Peru. Adams expressed that British subjects in Peru showed interest in settlement on Vancouver Island in 1849, however he never followed through with promoting this settlement due to a lack of information provided to him by the Hudson's Bay Company.1
In 1817, Adams married Georgiana-Emily Lukin with whom he had one daughter.2 Adams died in Lima, Peru on September 1, 1852.3
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Addington, Henry Unwin
(1790-1870)
Addington was born in 1790 and educated at Winchester College. After joining the Foreign Office in 1807, he rose to the position of minister-plenipotentiary in the negotiations with the United States concerning the Oregon boundary during the mid 1820s. Recalled by Lord Palmerston in 1833 for his opinions and actions as minister to Spain, he was appointed by Lord Aberdeen as under-secretary of the Foreign Office where he served until 1854. With descriptions from colleagues and biographers that range from stupid to obstinate, it is perhaps not surprising that he acquired the nickname, “Pumpy,” in the Foreign Office.
-
Aiken, James
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Aikenson, William
William Aikenson appears in
this letter, in which he recommends that his nephew use the HBC to immigrate from
Cumberland to another area of
the island.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Aikin, George
Aiken, spelled as “Aikin” in
the despatch collection, was appointed British consul on for California on April 26, 1851,
1 and remained in the position until he retired in 1857.
2 During that time he acted as the president of the
San Francisco cricket club.
3 As
this and other documents show, Aikin reported to the Colonial Office on the gold deposits found in the “
Queen Charlotte Islands” in 1852.
- Alcalá-Galiano, Officer Dionisio
(1762-1805)
Dionisio Alcalá-Galiano was a Spanish naval officer and explorer. He was sent to the Northwest Coast by the Spanish Crown in 1791/1792 to search for the fabled Northwest Passage, which he did not discover, because it does not exist.1
After spending time in Friendly Cove on Nootka Island in the spring of 1792, he completed the first European circumnavigation of Vancouver Island, and while charting the region, he encountered Captain George Vancouver,2 with whom he collaborated by comparing notes and eating "a very hearty breakfast" that might have included sturgeon.3 A report of his journey was published in 1802,4 and though Galiano's conclusions about the economic potential of the area were generally positive, the Spanish government declined a massive colonial effort there, since Galiano did not find the Northwest Passage.5 He thus concluded his naval career in other parts of the world, with which these despatches are not concerned.6
Several local landmarks are named after Galiano, including, most notably, Galiano Island; others include Galiano Gallery and Alcala Point—there is also a Galiano Bay in Nootka Sound. All of these landmarks were named by 19th and 20th century British and Canadian surveyors, in honour of Galiano.7
- 1. Alcalá-Galiano, Dionisio, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 2. Derek Hayes, Historical Atlas of British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest (Vancouver: Cavendish Books, 1999), 77-78.
- 3. A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean, and Round the World [...], Internet Archive.
- 4. Relacion del viage hecho por las goletas Sutil y Mexicana en el ano de 1792, para reconocher el estrecho de Fuca con un Introduccion, Internet Archive.
- 5. Alcalá-Galiano, Dionisio, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 6. Ibid.
- 7. Andrew Scott, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Placenames (Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing, 2009), 38 & 213.
-
Aldrich, Stephan J.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Aldworth, Lieutenant, Royal Navy, Aldion
One of the Deptford officers.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Allan, George Traill
(b. 1810)
Allan, born in Crieff, county Perth, Scotland, joined the HBC in 1830 as a clerk. In 1831 he was transferred to the Columbia district where he worked as a clerk until 1842. During the next five years he worked as one of the company’s joint agents in Honolulu. Allen refused the position of HBC chief factor; he resigned in 1849 and worked as a commission merchant in Oregon until 1861.
-
Hartwell Bowsfield, ed., Fort Victoria Letters 1846-1851 (Winnipeg: Hudson's Bay Record Society, 1979).
- E. E. Rich, ed., The Letters of John McLoughlin from Fort Vancouver to the Governor and Committee, Second Series, 1839-1844 (London: Champlain Society for the Hudson's Bay Record Society, 1941).
- Allen, Captain William
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Alleyne, Master of Public Policy
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Allison, John Fall
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Anderson, Alexander Caulfield (1814-1884)
A. C. Anderson was born near Calcutta, India, in 1814 but raised in Essex, England.1 He joined the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company in March 1831, sailing for Canada in April.2 In 1832, Anderson was posted to Fort Vancouver, in 1833 to Fort McLoughlin, and from 1836 to 1839 to Fort Fraser.3 Anderson also served at Fort George (1839-40), Fort Nisqually (1840-1841), and Fort Alexandria (1843-1848).4
Following the Oregon boundary treaty in 1846, Anderson lead three expeditions in search of a new fur brigade route from New Caledonia to the coast.5 On the first he travelled from Kamloops to the lower Fraser via Lillooet and Harrison River in May 1846; he returned via the Coquihalla and Nicola Lake, and in May 1847 he traveled from Kamloops and the Coldwater River and Uztlius Creek to the Fraser River near Yale.6 In 1848, Anderson took charge of Fort Colvile, serving there until 1851, when he was transferred to Fort Vancouver.7 He retired from the Hudson's Bay Company on 1 June 1854, settling near Cathlamet in Washington Territory.8
He moved to Victoria in 1858, was appointed postmaster of Victoria and collector of customs for British Columbia, and maintained several business interests as well.9 In 1876, he became dominion inspector of fisheries for British Columbia and also the federal representative to the Indian Reserve Commission.Anderson died on 8 May 1884 in Saanich, British Columbia.10
- 1. W. Kaye Lamb, Anderson, Alexander Caulfield, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Ibid.
- 5. Ibid.
- 6. Ibid.
- 7. Ibid.
- 8. Ibid.
- 9. Ibid.
- 10. Ibid.
- Anderson, Reverend David
(1814-1885)
Born in Edinburgh in 1814, David Anderson completed his education at Exeter College, Oxford, and was ordained as a deacon in the Anglican Church in 1837.1 After a decade of clerical positions in England, the support of the Archbishop of Canterbury led to his consecration in 1849 as the first bishop of the newly established diocese of Rupert's Land, which was partly endowed by the Hudson's Bay Company.2
Anderson did not prove a skilful church leader in a society divided by religious and ethnic differences. The associate governor of Rupert's Land lamented that the bishop "not only never thinks of what he is going to say [...] he is utterly incapable of remembering what he has said."3 During Anderson's 15 years as bishop, the Red River Settlement was torn by a series of religious and socio-ethnic conflicts, some exacerbated by his junior clerics, and some by the bishop himself.4
- 1. F. Pannekoek, Anderson, David, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. E.E. Rich, ed., London Correspondence Inward from Eden Colvile, 1849-1852, (London: Hudson's Bay Record Society, 1956), 250.
- 4. S. Van Kirk, Women in Fur Trade Society in Western Canada, 1670-1870 (Winnipeg: Watson & Dwyer Pub., 1980), 220-30; F. Pannekoek, A Snug Little Flock: The Social Origins of the Riel Resistance, 1869-70, (Winnipeg: Watson & Dwyer Pub., 1991), 119-59.
-
Anderson, George H.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Anderson, John
John Anderson was inspector of the Machinery Department at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, England.
Imperial Calendar, 1858, p. 187.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Andoe, W.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Andrews, J. A.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Appleton, John (1815-1864)
John Appleton, an American lawyer, politician, and statesman, was born in Beverly, Massachusetts, 11 February 1815. He became a lawyer and editor before becoming chief clerk in the United States Navy Department. In 1848, he was transferred to the State Department, headed by James Buchanan, and a few weeks later President James K. Polk appointed him U.S. chargé d'affaires in Bolivia.
Appleton served one term in Congress (1851-53) and in 1855 was appointed secretary of the US legation at London under Buchanan and returned to the U.S. the following year to assist in Buchanan's successful campaign for the presidency. Appleton served as assistant secretary in the State Department from 1857 to 1860, when he was appointed ambassador to Russia. He died in Portland, Maine, on 22 August 1864.
Dumas Malone, ed., Dictionary of American Biography
(New York: Scribner's, 1964).
1, pp. 329-30.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Arbuckle, Colonel Benjamin Vaughan
Royal Artillery commander. Father of E. Vaughan Arbuckle.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Arbuckle, E. Vaughan
Son of Colonel Benjamin Vaughan Arbuckle.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Arbuthnot, George (1802-1865)
George Arbuthnot was a junior clerk in the Treasury Department from 18 July 1820 to 12 October 1832, when he was promoted to assistant clerk. While assistant clerk, he served as private secretary to the senior parliamentary secretary from 4 March 1823 to February 1838, to the assistant secretary from 16 February 1838 to February 1843, to the first lord from 3 February 1843 to July 1846, and to the chancellor of the exchequer from 7 July 1846 to November 1850. He was promoted to senior clerk on 22 March 1850 and on 12 November appointed auditor of the civil list. This post he held until his death at his home in Surbiton, a suburb of London, on 28 July 1865.
Dictionary of National Biography (New York and London: Oxford University Press, 1900-) Office-Holders, Treasury, p. 110; Gentleman's Magazine 1865, pp. 394-95, Sir William Arbuthnot, The Descendents of George Arbuthnot of Kinghornie (http://www.kittybrewster.com/members/i.htm, accessed 23 April 2008).
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Arrowsmith, John
(1780-1873)
John Arrowsmith was a British cartographer famous for his maps of the world. Many explorers used Arrowsmith to convert their own maps into more accurate representations.1 In one correspondence to Pakington, Govenor James Douglas refers to the inaccuracy of Arrowsmith's map of Vancouver Island, and in a later correspondence to Newcastle he includes "Arrowsmiths improved map of Vancouver's Island". Mount Arrowsmith on Vancouver Island is named after John and his uncle, Aaron Arrowsmith.2
Arrowsmith was born in 1780 in Durham, England. He travelled to London in 1810 to learn map making from his uncle Aaron Arrowsmith, and in 1821 published a map of North America along with his uncle.3 In 1830, he was one of the founders of the Royal Geographical Society,4 and in 1863, he recieved the society’s gold medal.5 Arrowsmith retired in 1861, and died twelve years later on May 2, 1873.6
- 1. Elizabeth Baigent, Arrowsmith, John, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online.
- 2. Captain John T. Walbran, British Columbia Coast Names (Vancouver, BC: Douglas & McIntyre, 1971), 24.
- 3. Andrew Scott, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Placenames (Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing, 2009), 404.
- 4. Elizabeth Baigent, Arrowsmith, John, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online.
- 5. Andrew Scott, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Placenames (Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing, 2009), 404.
- 6. Elizabeth Baigent, Arrowsmith, John, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online.
- Arthur, Alex
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Aspinwall
(1807-1875)
Aspinwall, born in 1807, took control of a powerful New York shipping firm during the 1830s. He acquired the US Mail contract between Panama and the Oregon Territory in 1848, and organized the Pacific Mail Steamship Company to provide service for it. The California Gold Rush caused the concern to flourish, and it negotiated for coal for its steamers from Vancouver Island.
In 1850 Aspinwall organized the Panama Railroad Company and pushed a line across the isthmus in five years. The Atlantic terminus, Colon, became known as Aspinwall. After retiring from business in 1856, Aspinwall founded the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and played a role in the establishment of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Atherley, Mark Kerr
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Atkins, Thomas S.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Auckland, Lord
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Austin, William F.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Bacon, C. A.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Bacon, K.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Baines, Matthew Talbot
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Baird, F. C.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Balch
According to
this letter, Balch co-owned the trading vessel
Damariscove, along with
Lieutenant Palmer.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Ball, H. M.
Assistant Gold Commissioner for the District of Lytton.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Ball, John
(1818-1889)
John Ball was parliamentary under-secretary of state from 1855 to 1857.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Ballenden, John
(1812-1856)
HBC officer John Ballenden was chief factor of the
Columbia District from 1851 to 1853.
1 Pelly mentions him in
this letter, which describes “great excitement among the American population of that quarter” at the discovery of gold in
Haida Gwaii.
Born in Stromness, Scotland, Ballenden was recruited by the HBC in 1829 and, after serving at York Factory and Red River, he was promoted to accountant at Upper Fort Garry in 1836.2 That December he married Sarah McLeod, the part-Indigenous daughter of Chief Trader Alexander Roderick McLeod, which was seen as a significant social event given the recent arrival of British wives in fur trade settlements.3
In 1840, Ballenden moved his family to Sault Ste Marie and took charge of its HBC depot, assuming additional responsibility for the Lake Huron district in 1844.4 Ballenden helped develop Sault Ste Marie, serving as its first postmaster from 1846 to 1848, and justice of the peace for the Western District of Upper Canada from April 1844.5 He also invested in the Montreal Mining Company, and the Montreal and Lachine Railroad.6
He was promoted to chief factor in 1848, and placed in charge of the Lower Red River district, but during the move he suffered a stroke that lead to partial paralysis.7 In his weakened condition he struggled to control the HBC trade monopoly, along with the social scandal that engulfed his marriage when malicious settlers circulated rumours about his wife.8 Although she was cleared in a trial, the rumours persisted, and Ballenden was transferred to Fort Vancouver without his family, where his health continued to deteriorate.9
The family was briefly reunited in Scotland in the fall of 1853, before Sarah’s death in December.10 After a failed placement back in Red River, Ballenden retired on June 1, 1856, and died in Edinburgh on December 7, leaving the five youngest children in their aunt’s care.11
- 1. Sylvia van Kirk Ballenden, John, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Ibid.
- 5. Ibid.
- 6. Ibid.
- 7. Ibid.
- 8. Sylvia van Kirk McLeod, Sarah, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 9. Sylvia van Kirk Ballenden, John, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 10. Ibid.
- 11. Ibid.
-
Balthasar, André
John Ball was parliamentary under-secretary of state from 1855 to 1857.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Bandon, Lord Francis (1810-1877)
Lord Francis Bandon, the third earl, was born on 3 January 1810. He was a representative peer of Ireland and lord-lieutenant for the county of Cork, and also served as honorary colonel of the Royal Cork city militia artillery. Bandon died on 17 February 1877 and was succeeded by his son James Francis.
Sir Bernard Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage (London: Harrison and Sons, 1885).
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Banfield, William E.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Banister, Thomas
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Barclay, Doctor Archibaldus (1785-1855)
Archibald Barclay, from Shetland Islands, became secretary to the governor and committee, the London board of directors of the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1843, and served until 1855. He opposed the HBC venture on Vancouver Island. In 1848 he wrote to George Simpson that “It is the last place in the globe to which (were I going to emigrate) I should select as an abode” (Galbraith, 285).
- Hartwell Bowsfield, ed., Fort Victoria Letters 1846-1851 (Winnipeg: Hudson's Bay Record Society, 1979).
- J. S. Galbraith, The Hudson's Bay Company as an Imperial Factor, 1821–1869 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1976).
- Hudson's Bay Company Archives (HBCA), Barclay, Archibaldus [PDF], HBCA.
- Baring, Baron Ashburton Alexander
(1773-1848)
As British ambassador he negotiated the Webster-Ashburton treaty of 1842, which resolved disputes concerning the boundary between the British North American colonies and the United States from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes.1
Alexander Baring was born in London in 1773 and travelled to the United States at 22 as the representative of his father's merchant house.2 He played a key role as financier in the American Louisiana Purchase of 1803.3
In the decade that followed, he became the dominant senior partner in the Baring Brothers firm.4 After being elected to the House of Commons in 1806, he moved from the Whigs to the Tories.5
For his service as an officer in Peel's ministry from 1834-35, he was elevated to the House of Lords as Baron Ashburton.6
-
Barker, F.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Barkley, Captain Charles William
(1759-1832)
Captain Charles William Barkley was a sailor and trader who began his career at 11 when he sailed under his father’s command on an East India Company voyage.1 By 1786, Barkley sailed from Ostend, Belgium, in the Imperial Eagle, bound for the Pacific Northwest.2 Just prior to the departure, Barkley married Frances Hornby Trevor who joined him on the sojourn.3 They reached Nootka Sound in June of 1787, where Barkley was fortunate to encounter John Mackay, who shared his geographic knowledge of Vancouver Island, and his experiences with the Nuu-chah-nulth people, with whom Barkley wanted to trade.4 Barkley traded successfully in the area, particularly in Nootka Sound, Clayoquot Sound, and Barkley Sound, which Barkley named after himself.5
Despite Captain Cook's claims that the then unnamed Straight of Juan de Fuca did not exist, Barkley sailed through it in July of 1787, titling it on his charts after its original discoverer.6
Eventually, and through a series of unfortunate events, Barkley was betrayed by his partners, who sold Imperial Eagle, and gave his charts to John Meares, a fur trader who later claimed credit for much of Barkley’s work.7
Barkley went on to captain several other ships, but without much documented success.8 He died in England in 1832.9 Frances Barkley is believed to be the first European woman to see British Columbia,10 and the first to sail around the world openly as a woman.11 She was also the first woman to write about what would become British Columbia, and her life experiences “Reminiscences” were published over a century after her death in The Remarkable World of Frances Barkley: 1769–1845.12
- 1. Barry M. Gough, Barkley, Charles William, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Andrew Scott, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Placenames (Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing, 2009), 59.
- 5. Barry M. Gough, Barkley, Charles William, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 6. Ibid.
- 7. Ibid.
- 8. Ibid.
- 9. Ibid.
- 10. Andrew Scott, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Placenames (Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing, 2009), 59.
- 11. Beth Hill and Cathy Converse, eds., The Remarkable World of Frances Barkley, 1769-1845 (Surrey, BC: Heritage, 2003), 6.
- 12. Alan Twigg, First Invaders: The Literary Origins of British Columbia, Vol. 1 (Vancouver, BC: Ronsdale Press, 2004), 150-155.
- Barnard, Edward
Edward Barnard is listed as the agent general for crown colonies in 1858, with offices at 5, Cannon Row, London. Sometime during the year he entered into a partnership with Penrose Goodchild Julyan. In 1863 the agency name was changed to that of Crown Agents for the Colonies, which function the the firm of Barnard and Julyan continued to serve until 1876.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Barnes, Sherriff
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Barnston
According to
this despatch by
Douglas, from 1861,
Barnston is "another respectable traveller from
Carriboo," there to mine for gold, and who knew, reports
Douglas, of "one company of four men working on
Antler Creek, who each receive 1000 dollars a week from their mining claim."
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Barr, Robert
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Barrington, C. J.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Bartholomensy
A Clerk in the Department of the Surveyor
General.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Bartlett, Columbus
Editor of the Victoria Gazette.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Barwise, Jackson
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Batchelor, Reverend J. W.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Bathurst, 5th Earl William Lennox
(1791-1878)
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Batineau, Buzie
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Bauerman, Hilary (1835-1909)
Hilary Bauerman was the geologist with the British boundary commission.1
- 1. T.K. Rose, rev. Anita McConnell, Bauerman, Hilary, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Bayley
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Bayley, C. A.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Baynes, Rear Admiral Robert Lambert (1796-1869)
Robert Lambert Baynes was rear admiral and commander in chief of the Pacific Station, with headquarters in Valparaiso, Chile.1 He entered the Royal Navy in 1810, served with distinction in the Mediterranean and was appointed rear admiral on 7 February 1855, while serving in the Baltic.2 Appointed commander in chief of the Pacific Station on 8 July 1857, Baynes was ordered north on 28 June 1858 to help maintain order during the Fraser River gold rush, arriving in his flagship, the Ganges, in time to attend the inauguration of the government of British Columbia at Fort Langley on 19 November.3
He then returned to Valparaiso and returned to Esquimalt again in August 1859 at the height of the San Juan Island dispute, rejecting James Douglas's request to land marines on the island to oust the Americans.4 The San Juan boundary dispute, combined with the events of the gold rush, prompted Baynes to press the Admiralty to transfer the headquarters of the Pacific Station from Valparaiso to Esquimalt, which was done in 1862.5 Baynes was knighted for services on 18 April 1860, departed Esquimalt in the Ganges in September 1860, and arrived in England in April 1861.6 He was promoted to vice-admiral in 1861 and to admiral in 1865, by which time he had retired from active service.7 He died on 7 September 1869 in London.8
- 1. Barry M. Gough, Baynes, Sir Robert Lambert, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Ibid.
- 5. Ibid.
- 6. Ibid.
- 7. Ibid.
- 8. Ibid.
-
Bazalgette, Captain George
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Beam, Adam M.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Beardmore, Owen Charles
Owen Charles Beardmore had a short-lived career with the Hudson’s Bay Company as a service clerk.1 After being stationed in Montreal in 1846, he was transferred to Temiskaming and eventually to Fort Rupert where he stayed until his dismissal in 1851.2
Beardmore was to be second in command to George Blenkinsop at Fort Rupert while Captain W.H. McNeill was away, but ran into difficulties with his superiors because of his penchant for finding faults in others and comparing his education with them.3
Perhaps his most noteworthy experience was his involvement in the investigation of a murder of three sailors at the Fort during the time that George Blenkinsop was acting as an HBC agent—after travelling to a Nahwitti First Nation camp, he learned of the sailors’ murders and reported a partially fabricated story to Helmcken regarding their deaths.4
Beardmore was subsequently dismissed from service in 1851 and moved to Australia where he successfully owned and ran a sheep ranch.5
- 1. BC Metis Mapping Resarch Project, HBC employee 1848-1851, Metis Nation British Columbia, 172.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Hubert Howe Bancroft, The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft Volume XXXII, History of British Columbia 1792-1887 (San Francisco: The History Company, Publishers), 273-275.
- 5. J.S. Helmcken, ed. D.B. Smith, The Reminiscence of Doctor John Sebastian Helmcken (UBC Press, 1975), 319.
-
Bedford, C. J. R.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Begbie, Matthew Baillie (1819-1894)
Matthew Baillie Begbie was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, educated at St. Peter's College, Cambridge, and called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1844. He practiced law for fourteen years before being appointed judge for the colony of
British Columbia by
Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, on the recommendation of
Sir Hugh M.Cairns.
Begbie arrived in
Victoria on 15 November 1858 and proceeded immediately to
Fort Langley, where he swore in
Douglas as governor. Until the arrival of George Hunter Cary, the colony's first attorney general, Begbie assisted
Douglas in framing legislation and regulations to manage the gold rush, and quickly developed a reputation as a firm and fearless administrator of British justice on the mainland. In 1871, following confederation with Canada, Begbie became the province's first chief justice, and in 1875, was made a knight bachelor. He died in
Victoria on 11 June 1894.
For more details, see David R. Williams, The Man for a New Country: Sir Matthew Baillie Begbie (Sidney, B.C.: Gray's Publishing, 1977).
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Begbie Juniour, Thomas Stirling
Thomas Stirling Begbie Jr. was the younger brother of
Matthew Baillie Begbie. He worked in
London as an iron-merchant and shipowner, and on at least one occasion attempted to promote road development in
British Columbia. Upon
Matthew's death in 1894, Thomas travelled to
Victoria for the funeral.
David R.Williams,
The Man for a New Country (Sidney, B.C.: Gray's Publishing Country, 1977). See
his letter in 1859.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Belleau, N. T.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Bennett, Thomas
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Bentson, General
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Bere, M.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Berens, Henry Hulse
Henry Hulse Berens was the 20th governor of Hudson's Bay Company from 1858 to 1863. He died in Kent in 1883.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Beresford, William Marcus Joseph ( -1883)
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Best, Edie
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Bethell, Sir Richard
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Bevis, William Henry (1830-1879)
William Henry Bevis was born in England and came to Vancouver Island in 1858. He had previously been a purser on steamships travelling between Panama, Lima, and Callao. Bevis was appointed revenue officer of Fort Langley in July 1858. In 1860 he was part of the Victoria Police Force for a short time.
He was appointed the first lighthouse keeper at Fisgard Lighthouse, Esquimalt, in 1861, and remained in that office until his death. In 1873 he compiled a meteorological report for 1872, which demonstrated Victoria's excellent climate. He died after a prolonged illness in August 1879, aged approximately 50.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Bew, Robert
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Bidwell, Charles Toll
British vice-consul at Panama under Consul Charles Henderson, 1860-68. He acted as consul from 8 June 1858 to 31 December 1860 and again from 3 July 1863 to 1 March 1864, and also as superintending agent of the Pacific Steam Navigation Company and agent for the BritishPost Office in Panama. In 1865, Bidwell published The Isthmus of Panama (London, 1865).
Tracy Robinson, Fifty Years at Panama (New York: The Trow Press, 1907), p. 210.) Foreign Office Lists, 1862-87. BCPO 92.2.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Bijou, Laurent
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Bingley, Jane
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Birch, A. N.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Bishop of Cape Town (1809-1872)
Robert Gray, Bishop of Cape Town, was born on 3 October 1809 and educated at University College, Oxford, where he graduated with a B.A. in 1831.1 He was ordained deacon in 1833, priested in 1834, appointed honorary canon of Durham in 1846, and consecrated bishop of Cape Town on 29 June 1847.2 He took up residence in South Africa the following year.3 During his tenure, he divided the diocese into several parts, establishing five new bishoprics. He died on 1 September 1872 in South Africa.4
- 1. Nicholas Pocock, rev. Peter Hinchliff, Gray, Robert, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Ibid.
- Blackwood, Arthur Johnstone
Arthur Johnstone Blackwood, the son of Admiral Henry
Blackwood and Harriet Gore, was born on 25 April 1808.1 He was appointed junior clerk in the Colonial Office
on 5 April 1824, promoted to assistant clerk on 28 January 1829, and to
senior clerk on 30 August, where he remained until his retirement on 20 May 1867.2 He was appointed to the ceremonial office of groom of the Privy Chamber on 6 May 1836.3 He married Cecilia Georgiana Wright on 2 March 1830 and fathered two children, Alice Douglas (b 1830) and Stevenson
Arthur (b 1832),4 who became secretary of the British Postal Service and was
knighted for his service.5 Arthur died on 2 January 1874 at age 65.6
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Blake, A. G.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Blake, James N.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Blanshard, Governor Richard
(1817-1894)
Richard Blanshard was born October 19th, 1817, in London. He schooled at Cambridge, then, briefly, practiced law until duty called him to serve in the Sikh War of 1848-49, after which he was decorated for bravery, a quality required, apparently, for his most famous assignment, that of first governor of Vancouver Island.
Blanshard's appointment was tethered on all sides to burdens, from the pragmatic to the personal. He accepted the position without pay, in lieu of which he expected to receive one thousand acres of colony land. Blanshard set off for his new post not on an HBC supply ship, but rather, a mail ship—
Pelly, a relative of Blanshard, reports this to
Grey in
this despatch. As a result of ill-timed transfers, Blanshard was, more or less, marooned in
Panama until he made his way to the
Driver, a ship that would sail him to
Vancouver Island.
He arrived at Fort Victoria on March 11th, following a freak snow storm. Douglas, then chief factor for the HBC, had neither resources or labour to construct Blanshard's appointed accommodations of a proper government house. Blanshard lived aboard the Driver until he was relocated, rather inauspiciously, to an empty storehouse in the fort. Politically, things were worse. Blanshard was handed a conundrum: to assemble some form of government from non-HBC men in a colony made up exclusively of the same.
Blanshard spent seven days in an open canoe—in November—from
Fort Rupert to
Fort Victoria after settling, rather clumsily and brutally, the murder case at
Fort Rupert. Thereafter, he suffered what he describes as “
continual attacks of ague and subsequent relapses.”
Blanshard
resigned and asked to leave the colony, but it took nine months for him to receive confirmation of his resignation. All the while, he was plagued by the blatant inequities of the HBC: they were rapacious for land, price-gouging the Indigenous populations, and, as far as Blanshard was concerned, doing everything possibly to deter colonial settlement. However, on August 30, 1851, two days before his departure on the
Daphne, Blanshard
appointed a provisional council consisting of
Douglas,
Tod, and
Cooper, men all inextricably linked to the HBC.
Blanshard lost his luggage in a shipwreck on the way home, and, when he finally arrived in London, he learned that he had to pay £300 for his return passage—roughly $52,000 in current Canadian dollars.
This despatch summarizes much of Blanshard's history and travails.
- Blanshard, Thomas Henry
Thomas Henry Blanshard was a wealthy English merchant, and the father of
Governor Richard Blanshard.
1 According to the minutes of
this despatch, Blanshard had sent a letter to
Merivale to request that
his son be allowed to return to England due to
Richard’s deteriorating health and “continual attacks of ague.”
-
Blenkinsop, George
(1822-1904)
George Blenkinsop was born in London and joined the HBC marine services as a steward in 1840.1 He was immediately sent to the company’s Columbia district, where he was second in command to William McNeill during the establishment of Fort Rupert.2
In April 1850, Blenkinsop found himself involved in a controversial set of affairs. He was accused of offering a reward of 50 blankets to, likely, members of the Nahwitti First Nation for the capture and return of three missing sailors “dead or alive,” and the sailors were subsequently killed.3 However, the HBC found no merit to these claims upon investigation of the event.4
Blenkinsop’s “zeal and activity” were noted by HBC Governor Eden Colvile, who promoted him to chief trader of Fort Rupert in 1855.5 However, he left to take charge of Fort Colvile in the US.6 He returned to Victoria only three years later where he spent his remaining years involved in mining and farming exploits before becoming the Indian agent of the Kwahkewith agency in 1881.7 While in office he protected native fishing rights, encouraged Indigenous employment in salmon canneries, and tried to abolish the illegal liquor trade on the coast.8
Blenkinsop was referred to as a “gentleman of great intelligence” by James Douglas and a “courageous, good-natured, active intelligent Cornishman” by Helmcken.9 Blenkinsop Lake and valley, Blenkinsop Bay, and Blenkinsop Islet were all named after him following his death in 1904.10
- 1. Richard Mackie, Blenkinsop, George Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 2. Ibid.; Hubert Howe Bancroft, William Nemos and Alfred Bates, History of British Columbia: 1792-1887, (San Francisco: The History Company, 1887), 192.
- 3. Hubert Howe Bancroft, William Nemos and Alfred Bates, History of British Columbia: 1792-1887, 273-275.
- 4. Richard Mackie, Blenkinsop, George Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 5. Ibid.
- 6. Ibid.
- 7. Ibid.
- 8. Ibid.
- 9. Ibid.
- 10. Ibid.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Blinkhorn, Thomas
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Boas
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Bond, Frederick W.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Booker, William Lane
William Lane Booker served as acting British consul at San Francisco from 5 July 1856 to 1 May 1857, and then as consulwhile in San Francisco; he also served as agent to the P and O steamship line. In January 1883, he became consul general for the states of New York, Delaware, and Nebraska. He was made a fellow of the Royal Geographic Society and, in 1886, a C.M.G.
Foreign Office Lists, 1858-95.BCPO 91.1 Colonist April 24, 1869 p. 3. Imperial Calendar, 1858 185-8.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Booth, James (1796/1797-1880)
James Booth was secretary to the Board of Trade from 1850 to 1865. Educated at St.John's College, Cambridge, and called to the bar at the Society of Lincoln's Inn on 10 February 1824.1 Booth was appointed counsel to the speaker in the House of Commons in 1839, where among other duties he prepared the Clauses Consolidation Acts of 1845 and 1847, which streamlined railway bills.2
He was appointed secretary to the Board of Trade on 10 October 1850 and resigned from these duties on 30 September 1865.3 He received a C.B. on 6 July 1866, and in February 1867 was appointed to the commission inquiring into trade unions and other associations.4 He died in Kensington on 11 May 1880.5
- 1. M.C. Curthoys, Booth, James, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Ibid.
- 5. Ibid.
-
Bosauquet, J. W.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Botineau, Batiste
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Boultbee, J. R.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Bousfield, Edward P.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Boys, Reverend Thomas
(1792-1880)
Reverend Thomas Boys was an Incumbent of Holy Trinity, Huxton,
1 and the uncle of Reverend
Robert John Staines,
Victoria’s chaplain. In
this letter, Boys writes Pakington about the letter he received from Staines that reports the discovery of gold in
Haida Gwaii.
A prolific writer and Hebrew scholar, Boys translated the Bible into Portuguese so accurately that it was adopted by both catholics and protestants, while Don Pedro I of Portugal thanked him publically for this gift to the nation.2
- 1. Ronald Bayne, Boys, Thomas, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online.
- 2. Ibid.
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Bradford, John
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Bramsach, Baron
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Breckenridge
A sapper.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Brew, Chartres (1815-1870)
Chartres Brew was born in County Clare, Ireland, on 31 December 1815. He enlisted in the Royal Irish Constabulary in 1840, and became assistant commissary-general on 1 February 1856, during the Crimean War.1 In 1857 he was appointed inspector of the constabulary in the city of Cork and in 1858 chief inspector of police for British Columbia.2
Brew left England for Victoria on 4 September 1858 and, after being shipwrecked off the Atlantic coast, arrived in Victoria on 8 November. In January 1859 Douglas appointed Brew chief gold commissioner. He but soon became dissatisfied with the lack of an organized police force and on 23 April 1859 threatened to resign from government service. Douglas pursuaded him to stay on and in May 1859 appointed him chief inspector of police. He subsequently held appointments as chief magistrate in New Westminster, acting treasurer of British Columbia, and acting chief commissioner of lands and works.3
From 1864 to 1868, he also served as an appointed member of the colony's Legislative Council.8 He died at Richfield, BC, on 31 May 1870, after suffering from acute attacks of rheumatism.4
- 1. Margaret A. Ormsby, Brew, Chartres, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Ibid.
-
Bridges
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Bright, Henry
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Brooks, Robert
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Brotchie, William (1799-1859)
William Brotchie was a native of Caithness, Scotland. He served on the Hudson's Bay Company brig Dryad in 1831, becoming a second mate in 1832. From 1835 to 1838 he commanded the Cadboro for the Hudson's Bay Company, and in 1839 he commanded the Nereid. In 1849 he served on the company's ship Albion. Brotchie quit sailing to cut spars for the Royal Navy but was unsuccessful.
In 1858, he was appointed Harbour Master for Vancouver Island; he died on 28 February 1859, after a long illness.
Gazette, 3 March 1859; Dorothy Blakey Smith, The Journal of Arthur Thomas Bushby, 1858-1859, BCHQ 21, (1957-58): 164; VI 28.2.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Broughton, Lieutenant William Robert
(1762-1821)
Lieutenant William Broughton was the commander of the armed tender HMS Chatham during 1792, at which time he accompanied Captain George Vancouver's expedition to map the Pacific Northwest.1 During this voyage, he had the distinction of meeting Galiano and Valdés to offer mutual assistance as they entered the Strait of Georgia in 1792,2 mapping the San Juan Islands,3 and exploring 160 km up the Columbia and claiming possession of it for Britain.4
Towards the end of 1792, Vancouver sent him back to England via Latin America after the cordial, but fruitless, second Nootka Convention; eventually, Broughton delivered important maps and reports to the British government.5
He arrived back in the Pacific Northwest in a new ship (the Providence) in 1794, but found that Vancouver had completed his survey, so proceeded to Asia to produce some lovely charts before sinking his ship, escaping guilt free from a court-martial and engaging in various military expeditions.6 He died in 1821.7
Broughton Island, Broughton Lagoon, Broughton Peaks, Broughton Point, Broughton Strait, and North Broughton Island are named after this explorer.8 There is, however, some dispute over whether or not the Broughton Archipelago actually exists. For example, Scott argues for its existence, and that it makes up what geologists refer to as the “Hecate Depression."9
- 1. Margaret Ormsby, British Columbia, A History (Toronto: Macmillan, 1976), 22.
- 2. Derek Hayes, Historical Atlas of British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest (Vancouver: Cavendish Books, 1999), 77.
- 3. Ibid., 86.
- 4. Ibid., 88.
- 5. Ibid., 76.
- 6. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (DNB), Broughton, William Robert, DNB.
- 7. Ibid.
- 8. Andrew Scott, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Placenames (Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing, 2009), 89.
- 9. Ibid.
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Broun, Sir Richard
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Brown
According to
this despatch, M
r Brown was "one enterprising proprietor" who had "discovered on his ground, a large tract of excellent land, which certainly cannot be surpassed in point of fertility or quality of soil."
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Brown, Alex
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Brown, Captain
Captain Brown was the captain of the
England, which three sailors deserted to while docked in
Victoria.
1 The sailors made it to
Fort Rupert where they were killed.
2 Brown told
Blenkinsop, who was at the time in charge of the fort while
McNeill was away on business, that the offering of a reward to the Indigenous people for the capture of the escaped sailors was a rash thing, as seen in
this despatch.
- 1. Hubert Howe Bancroft, History of British Columbia: 1792-1887, (San Francisco: The History Company, 1887), 273.
- 2. Ibid.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Brown, D.
D.Brown was a miner.
See Colonist 18 Sept. 65, p. 2. BCDES 60.3.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Brown, Ebenezer
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Brown, Hannah (d. 1878)
Hannah Brown was
Angela Burdett-Coutts's governess and companion from 1826. Born Hannah Meredith, she married Dr. William Brown on 19 December 1844. Mrs. Brown was often ill; she became blind and died on 21 December 1878.
See Edna Healy, Lady Unknown: The Life of Angela Burdett-Coutts (London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1978). BCCOR 183.2.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Brown, Master of Public Policy
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Brown, Peter
(1831-1852)
Peter Brown was an HBC servant at the
Lake Hill sheep station who was killed allegedly by two Indigenous men, one from
Cowichan and one from
Nanaimo, in November 1852.
1 Douglas describes the discovery of Brown’s body in
this letter, where he also refers to Brown as “a remarkably well conducted and inoffensive young man.”
The two men thought responsible for the murder were eventually caught, and then executed onboard the
Beaver after a hurried trial.
2 Douglas details the affair in
this despatch to
Pakington.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Brown, Thomas
Thomas Brown of the revenue police.
BCCOR 209.3.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Bruce, Vice Admiral H. W.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine James
(1811-1863)
James Bruce (Lord Elgin) was an aristocratic younger son who was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford. He gave up a career in politics on the death, first, of his elder brother, and, then, his father, which made him a Scottish peer. After a term as governor of Jamaica, he accepted the commission of a Whig administration to become governor general of British North America, in 1847.
Elgin completed the process of bringing French Canadians back into government after their virtual exclusion by the Act of Union of 1840, itself a British response to the Rebellion of 1837-38. By signing the Rebellion Losses Bill in 1849, he provoked the burning of the Parliament buildings in Montreal and the Annexation Manifesto. But, interest in the latter document was short-lived, as prosperity returned in the early 1850s. In 1854 Elgin charmed some recalcitrant southern members of Congress to support a Reciprocity Treaty between Britain and the United States, which ensured Canada's continued existence beyond the Republic.
Not always the arbiter of moderation whom Canadians celebrate, Elgin presided over the looting and destruction of the emperor's summer palace on the outskirts of Beijing in 1860, perhaps a fitting bookend to his father's removal of the Eglin marbles from Turkish-occupied Greece at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
- W. L. Morton, Bruce, James, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (DNB), Bruce, James, DNB.
- Brydges, W.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Buchanan, James
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Buckland, Edward Coplestone
Edward Coplestone Buckland held a position as clerk, second class in the Treasury Department. He entered the department as a a junior clerk on 11 April 1845, and was promoted to assistant clerk on 24 March 1854 , and to clerk, second class, on 4 July 1856, and to clerk, first class, on 18 December 1860.
Office-Holders, Treasury, p. 116. BCPO 133.4.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Bulen, Henry
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Bull, Andrew Marsal
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Bullock
Bullock, Mr., Mulgrave's secretary, Nova Scotia.
BCCOR 175.2.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Bullock, WIlliam Thomas (1818-1879)
William Thomas Bullock was assistant secretary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. Born in London and educated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, he received a BA degree and was made a deacon in 1847.1 In June 1850, he was appointed assistant secretary to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, serving in 1858 as one of two such assistants to the Reverend Ernest Hawkins.2 In 1865, he became secretary to the society, a position he held until his death at Menton, France, on 27 February 1879.3
- 1. P.B. Austen, rev. Clare Brown, Bullock, William Thomas, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
-
Burbon, S.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Burdett-Coutts, Angela Georgina (1814-1906)
Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts was born on 21 April 1814, the youngest daughter of Sir Francis Burdett, a baronet and member of Parliament, and his wife Sophia Coutts, daughter of the banker Thomas Coutts. Assuming the additional surname of Coutts in 1837, Burdett-Coutts inherited her maternal grandfather's estate, estimated at £1,800,000—one of the greatest fortunes of the century.
She spent her life using her fortune to assist local and international charities, endowing bishoprics in Cape Town, South Africa, and Adelaide, Australia, in 1847, in addition to the bishopric of British Columbia. She also helped to finance David Livingstone's 1858 expedition to Africa, supported missionary work in the Kingdom of Sarawak in the 1860's, and donated money to the Irish in the 1880's.
Courted throughout her life for her fortune, she developed close friendships with prominent men such as Benjamin Disraeli, Charles Dickens, and the Duke of Wellington. She was created Baroness Burdett-Coutts on 9 June 1871. She married for the first time on 12 February 1881, at age 67, William Lehman Ashmead Bartlett, who in 1882 assumed the additional name Burdett-Coutts. Because he was American, Burdett-Coutts forfeited her inheritance, but she remained wealthy. When she died at her home in Piccadilly on 30 December 1906, the barony became extinct.
London Times, 31 December 1906, p. 5; see also Sir Bernard Burke and Ashworth P. Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage and Baronetage, The Privy Council, Knightage, and Companionage (London: Harrison & Sons, 1913), Edna Healy, Lady Unknown: The Life of Angela Burdett-Coutts (London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1978).VI 39.8.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Burgoyne, Sir John Fox (1782-1871)
Sir John Fox Burgoyne was the illegitimate son of Lieut. General the Right Hon. John Burgoyne and Miss Susan Caulfield.1 He was educated at Eton and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, before joining the Royal Engineers in 1798.2 He saw service in Malta, Sicily, and Egypt before being appointed commanding engineer of the reserve division in Portugal.3 He served with Wellington in the Penninsular War from 1809 to 1814, and with General Edward Pakenham in the disastrous Louisiana campaign of the War of 1812 in 1814-1815.4
He then was commander of the Royal Engineers that occupied France from 1815 to 1818, the detachment at Chatham from 1821 to 1826, in Portugal in 1826, and at Portsmouth from 1828 to 1831.5 In 1831 he became chairman of the Board of Public Works in Ireland, remaining in that post for fifteen years.6 He was promoted to the rank of major-general, 28 June 1838, and was knighted the same year.7
In 1845 he was appointed inspector-general of fortifications, a position he held until his retirement in 1868.8 Burgoyne received many additional honours in his very distinguished career, including a G.C.B. in 1852, a baronetcy, the freedom of the city of London, and an honorary degree (D.C.L.) from Oxford University in 1856.9 He died in London on 7 October 1871.10
- 1. John Sweetman, Burgoyne, Sir John Fox, Oxford DIctionary of National Biography.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Ibid.
- 5. Ibid.
- 6. Ibid.
- 7. Ibid.
- 8. Ibid.
- 9. Ibid.
- 10. Ibid.
-
Burke, Ethelbert
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Burns
Mr. Burns, gold miner. The Victoria Gazette (8 January 1859) reported a man by the name of Burns among a "party of rowdies from Hill's Bar." Warrants were issued for the arrest of him and another miner by the name of Farrell after an incident in which a group of miners allegedly beat a black barber named Dixon. Burns was subsequently acquitted of the charge when Dixon was unable to recognize him.
See also Gazette and Victoria Colonist, 15 January 1859. BCDES 40.3.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Burton, Lieutenant A. G.
According to the files enclosed with
this document, Burton was involved with the
Daedalus’s attack on Nahwitti villages in 1851, over the murder of three British seamen. Burton reported to
Wellesley that he found and destroyed one deserted village, but was unable to reach the second camp due to time, weather, and injury to three of his men, following an attack by some Indigenous men.
At the time of this writing, we have only the transcription of this document and not an image scan of the original.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Bushby, Arthur T.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Cabanagh, Francois Xavier
John Ball was parliamentary under-secretary of state from 1855 to 1857.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Cade, George
George Cade was a gold miner whom the Gazette reported (6 November 1858) was secretary of a miners' meeting that took place at Hill's Bar.
BCDES 7.5
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Cadell, P.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Cairns, Hugh MacCalmont (1819-1885)
Hugh MacCalmont Cairns was solicitor general in the second Conservative administration of Lord Derby. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and called to the bar at the Middle Temple in January 1844, he was made a Queen's Counsel and Bencher of Lincoln's Inn in 1856. He first represented Belfast in Parliament in June 1852 and retained his seat until 1865. He served as solicitor general in 1858-59, attorney-general in 1866, lord justice of appeal from October 1866 to February 1868, and lord chancellor in 1868 and 1874-80. In 1867 he was created Baron Cairns of Garmoyle and Viscount Garmoyle and Earl Cairns in 1878.He died at Bournemouth on 2 April 1885.
BCDES 36.1, Michael Stenton, Who's Who of British Members of Parliament Vol.1, 1832-1885 (Sussex, England: Harvester Press, 1976-1981) p. 62.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Caldwell, Major William Bletterman
William Bletterman Caldwell began his military career in 1814. In 1846 he was promoted to major, and two years later led a small contingent of army pensioners from Chelsea to the Red River Settlement. He was subsequently appointed governor of the District of Assiniboia.1
It was hoped that as an outsider, he would blunt the settlers' charges that the council and its officers were creatures of the Hudson's Bay Company.2 In the following year, however, Caldwell presided over the Sayer trial, which effectively broke the HBC monopoly on furs in the colony.3
In 1850 he mismanaged the Foss-Pelly trial, splitting the community along ethnic lines, and five hundred residents petitioned for his removal.4 He was replaced as governor by Eden Colvile, but resumed his position in 1851. He retired four years later.5
- Calracy, Joseph
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Camden, James
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Cameron, David (1804-1872)
David Cameron, chief justice of Vancouver Island from 1853-64, was born and raised in Perthshire, Scotland, and went to Demerara in 1830 to oversee a sugar plantation.1 While there, he married Cecilia Eliza Douglas Cowan, a sister of James Douglas.2 After suffering serious financial losses, Cameron and his wife moved to Vancouver Island in 1853, where he became agent for the Hudson's Bay Company's coal fields at Nanaimo.3 In September 1853, Douglas established the Supreme Court of Civil Justice and then nominated Cameron as chief justice for Vancouver Island.4
Opponents of Douglas immediately denounced the appointment, arguing that Cameron had no legal training and was too closely connected to Douglas and the Hudson's Bay Company.5 Despite these objections, the Colonial Office established the court and regularized Cameron's appointment.6 Douglas appointed Cameron to the Council of Vancouver Island on 6 July 1859.7 Antagonism toward Cameron continued until Douglas was replaced by Governor Arthur Edward Kennedy and Cameron was persuaded to accept an annual pension of £500 from colonial funds, which the House of Assembly promptly voted.8
Cameron then retired to his country estate "Belmont" on the west side of Esquimalt Harbour, serving as a justice of the peace, a member of the board of education, and a candidate for the BC legislature (he lost by three votes).9 He died at Belmont on 14 May 1872.10
- 1. William R. Sampson, Cameron, David, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Ibid.
- 5. Ibid.
- 6. Ibid.
- 7. Ibid.
- 8. Ibid.
- 9. Ibid.
- 10. Ibid.
-
Cameron, H. Thomas
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Campbell, Archibald
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Campbell, Douglas H.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll George John Douglas (1823-1900)
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Campbell, Ned
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Cann, Sergeant Major George
A Royal Engineer.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Carlyle, T.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Carnarvon, Earl (1831-1890)
Henry Howard Molyneux Herbert, the fourth Earl of Carnarvon, was born on 24 June 1831 and educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford.1 He succeeded to the earldom of Carnarvon on his father's death, 9 December 1849, and joined the House of Lords.2 He served as undersecretary of state for the colonies from February 1858 to June 1859, as colonial secretary from June 1866 to March 1867, and again from February 1874 until he resigned over policy in the latest Russo-Turkish war in January 1878.3
On 19 February 1867, he introduced a bill in Parliament to create a Canadian confederation, and in April 1877, he introduced a similar bill to create a confederation in South Africa.4 The former was succesful, but the later was not, with great consequences for both colonies.5 The Conservatives were defeated in 1880, and Carnarvon served as lord lieutenant of Ireland from 6 July 1885 to 12 January 1886, which position and required him to reside in Dublin.6 He continued to sit in the House of Lords until his death in London on 28 June 1890.7
A sensitive man of strict principles, he believed in the value of education and a British Empire where colonies and mother country, rich and poor, lived in harmony.8
- 1. Peter Gordon, Herbert, Henry Howard Molyneux, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Ibid.
- 5. Ibid.
- 6.Dictionary of National Biography (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1900-) 9, pp. 646-52
- 7. Peter Gordon, Herbert, Henry Howard Molyneux, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- 8.Dictionary of National Biography (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1900-) 9, pp. 646-52
- Carver, Jonathan
(1710-1780)
Jonathan Carver joined Major Robert Rogers’s mission to discover the fictional Northwest Passage in 1766.1 Soon thereafter, their journey was cut short when Rogers was arrested under charges of treason and embezzlement.2 Carver received little payment for the charts and journals that he produced on this mission, and his financial troubles followed him through life.3
Prior to his failed mission with Rogers, Carver was a captain in the Massachusetts militia, and was present at the Siege of Fort William Henry in 1757.4
Carver documented many of his life experiences in his journals, and while much of this information has been useful throughout the years, Carver has also been criticized for embellishments and falsifications of events.5
Carver married twice, once in 1746 and again around 1774, and had a total of 7 children.6 He was survived by both of his wives when he died in 1780.7
- 1. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (DNB), Carver, Jonathan, DNB.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Ian Kenneth Steele, Betrayals: Fort William Henry and the Massacre (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990), 158.
- 5. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (DNB), Carver, Jonathan, DNB.
- 6. Ibid.
- 7. Ibid.
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Cary, Attorney General George Hunter
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Casey, Lieutenant Colonel Silas
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Cass, Lewis (1782-1866)
Lewis Cass (1782-1866), American secretary of state, was was born and raised in Exeter, New Hampshire. He taught school in Wilmington, Delaware, before moving west to Marietta, Ohio, where he established a law practice in 1802. He was elected to the Ohio legislature at age twenty-four—the youngest member of the legislature.
During the War of 1812, Cass served as colonel of the Third Ohio regiment and played a prominent role in its victories over the British and their Indian allies. In 1813 was appointed governor of the Michigan Territory, a position he held for the next eighteen years. He served as secretary of War (1831-36), U.S. minister to France (1836-42) and senator from Michigan (1845-48 and 1849-57).
In 1848, he won the Democratic nomination for the presidency but lost the election to Zachary Taylor. Cass served as secretary of state in the Buchanan administration from 7 March 1857 to 12 December 1860, when he resigned. Although retired from public office during the Civil War, he continued to take an active part in public affairs, encouraging, among other things, enlistment in the union army.
Dumas Malone, ed., Dictionary of American Biography (New York: Scribner's, 1964) 2, pp. 562-64. See also Samuel Flagg Bemis, The American Secretaries of State and Their Diplomacy (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1928), pp. 295-384. BCPO 89.3.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Cavan, B. M.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Chancellor, Elisha
According to
this letter, Chancellor was “an Englishman” who arrived in 1851 “with the intention of settling,” but ended up “leaving the colony in disgust,” in reaction to the HBC’s apparent monopoly of
Vancouver Island lands.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Chapman, John
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Charbouruo
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Chard
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Charlotte, Queen Sophie
(1744-1818)
Queen Charlotte, from whom Queen Charlotte Sound, and Queen Charlotte Channel take their name,1 was the wife of England’s King George III, and was queen of the both the United Kingdom and Hanover.2 British fur trader George Dixon named the Queen Charlotte Islands after his vessel, which he named in commemoration of Queen Charlotte.3
Born on 19 May 1744 in the duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Germany, Charlotte, who was the daughter of Duke Charles Louis Frederick, married George III on 8 September 1761, and gave birth to 15 children over the couple's 57-year marriage.4 Queen Charlotte had a keen interest in theology, botany, and literature, and her personal library contained over 4,000 volumes. Charlotte died at Kew Palace on November 17th, 1818.5
- 1. Andrew Scott, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Placenames (Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing, 2009), 485-486.
- 2. Clarissa Campbell Orr, Charlotte, Queen Sophie, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- 3. Scott, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names, 485.
- 4. Clarissa Campbell Orr, Charlotte, Queen Sophie Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- 5. Ibid.
- Chaunele, Baron
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Chesson, Frederick William (1833-1888)
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Christy, Samuel
Samuel Christy, a British MP who opposed the grant of Vancouver Island to the Hudson’s Bay Company, submitted an address in the House of Commons on 14 August 1848 (amended 16 August) that called for the presentation of naval reports concerning the prospect of mining coal on the island. Its intent was to gather more information to oppose the grant. The reports were eventually produced and printed in a return dated 7 March 1849.
- Clarendon, Earl (1800-1870)
George William Frederick Villiers, fourth Earl of Clarendon and fourth Baron Hyde, was born in London on 12 January 1800. In 1820 he became attache to the British embassy in St.Petersburg; in 1823 he was appointed a commissioner of customs; and between 1827 and 1829 he worked in Ireland arranging the union of the Irish and English excise boards.
In August 1833 he was sent to Madrid, Spain, as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary; his many successes there led to the award of G.C.B. in October 1837. Villiers became the Earl of Clarendon on the death of his uncle in December 1838, and in October 1839 he reluctantly accepted a position in the Board of Trade. He was soon in conflict with his colleagues, however, and by July 1841 he had left his post.
In 1847 he became lord lieutenant of Ireland, and in March 1849 he was awarded the Order of the Garter for his work with the Irish. Clarendon returned to England in 1852, and in 1853 he succeeded as the secretary of state for foreign affairs, remaining in that position until 1858 and returning to it in 1868. Clarendon died on 27 June 1870 at his home in London.
Dictionary of National Biography (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1900-) 20, pp. 346-50. BCPO 123.1.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Clark, Sir George
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Clarke, Captain Andrew
Surveyor-General of Victoria.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Clarke, Richard
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Claro-Collins, Reverend W. C.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Claudet, F. G.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Clemens, Richard
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Clouston, Robert
John Ball was parliamentary under-secretary of state from 1855 to 1857.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Cob, Colonel
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Cochrane, J. J.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Cockburn, A. E.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Coleman
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Coleridge, Sir John Taylor
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Coles, John
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Colledge, Secretary Richard
- Colvile, Andrew Wedderburn (1779-1856)
Andrew Wedderburn Colvile was the deputy governor of the HBC and, during the mid-nineteenth century, was one of the most powerful members of the HBC’s London committee.1 Andrew Wedderburn Colvile likely influenced the decision to appoint Eden Colvile, Andrew's son, as governor of Rupert's Land in February 1849.2
- 1. J.E. Rea, Eden, Colvile Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 2. Ibid.
- Colvile, Eden
Eden Colvile, director of the Hudson's Bay Company.
BCPO 103.1.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Connolly, Commander Mathew
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Conolly, William
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Cook, Captain James
(1728-1779)
In 1778, Captain James Cook, who extensively surveyed the Pacific Ocean during several voyages between 1768 and 1779, became the first European to land at Nootka Sound. While at Nootka Sound, Cook recorded astronomical observations, cut spars for ship masts, and traded for otter furs with the local First Nations people.1
In 1746, at the age of 17, Cook apprenticed with a Quaker shipowner and spent nearly nine years on the dangerous waters of the North Sea before he enlisted in the Royal Navy and quickly rose up the naval ranks.2
Cook spent several years on the north-east coast of North America during the Seven Years' War, involved both in combat and as a surveyor. Cook embarked on his first expedition to the Pacific, a voyage to record the movement of Venus across the face of the sun, in May 1768. On this voyage, as well as his 1772 and 1776 voyages in the Revolution, Cook made immeasurable contributions to the early maps of the Pacific Ocean.3
In January 1779, while moored at the Hawai’ian Islands, which Cook had recently named the Sandwich Islands, he was allegedly involved in an altercation with a group of the island’s indigenous inhabitants, who killed Cook and four marines.4
- 1. Andrew C.F. David, Cook, Captain James, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Ibid.
- Cooper, James (b. 1821)
James Cooper, was born at Bilston, Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England, and entered the service of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1844, commanding the company's supply ships throughout the Pacific. He decided to emigrate to Vancouver Island, where he arrived with his wife and children on 9 May 1851. He purchased a 385-acre farm at Metchosin, part interest in a tavern in Victoria, and built an iron schooner, the Alice, which he used for commercial purposes. On 27 August 1851, retiring Governor Richard Blanshard appointed him to be one of three members to Vancouver Island's first Council.
Cooper's relationship with James Douglas, who replaced Blanshard as governor, quickly deteriorated. Douglas refused, for example, to allow him to export cranberries to San Francisco, on the grounds that the cranberries had been illegally obtained from the Aboriginals in violation of the company's exclusive rights to this trade. When Douglas introduced measures in the Council to control the sale of spirits by licensing liquor dealers, Cooper saw this as unfairly aimed at him. Such incidents not only adversely effected Cooper's business opportunities but galvanized him into an outspoken and partisan critic of Douglas in particular and the company in general.
In 1856 he was forced to auction his possessions and return to England, where he became a merchant at Bilston. In 1857, Cooper testified before the Select Committee of Parliament inquiring into the affairs of the Hudson's Bay Company of the company's repressive actions in Vancouver Island, and the next year was able to use this evidence and experience to win an appointment by Sir Edward Lytton that paid £500 a year as harbour master at Esquimalt for the colony of British Columbia, despite objections to the appointment registered by the company.
Cooper returned to Victoria on 25 December 1858 and assumed the duties of his office, which Douglas later would pronounce "a complete sinecure." On 12 January 1860, Cooper won a seat in the House of Assembly for Esquimalt and Metchosin district on a reform ticket but was obliged to resign when the Colonial Office ordered him to take up residence in New Westminster.Following the extension of British Columbia's jurisdiction over Vancouver Island in 1866, Cooper returned to Victoria in 1867 as harbour master of Victoria and Esquimalt, but he resigned this position on 27 January 1869 to become a hotel keeper and wine merchant in Victoria.
Following British Columbia's entry into Confederation, the dominion government appointed Cooper on 17 October 1872 their agent for British Columbia, as well as inspector of lighthouses, and inspector of steamboats.In the course of these duties, he was repeatedly investigated for irregularities and charged with fraud, but nothing was proven. His appointment was nevertheless cancelled 25 June 1879. Then in October of that year, he was charged again and failed to appear in court. He was never heard from again. The speculation was that he had fled to California, but his place and date of death remain unknown.
Dictionary of Canadian Biography (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1966-) 10, pp. 196-97; see also Norman Hacking, The First Vessel Registered in Vancouver Island and the Stormy Career of Captain James Cooper, Sea Chest, Vol. 20, No. 2, (December 1986): 56-60. BCDES 31.3.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Cooper, Thomas
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Copland, John
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Cordua, Herman
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Cormack,
W. E.
Chairman, Municipal Council of New Westminster
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Cornelius, Bernard
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Cornelius, Peter
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Corry, Henry Thomas Lowry (1803-1873)
Henry Thomas Lowry Corry, secretary to the Admiralty, was born in Dublin on 9 March 1803 and educated at Christ Church, Oxford.1 He entered the House of Commons in 1825 as Conservative member for his family's constitutency of Tyrone County and served as comptroller of the household (1834-35), junior lord of the admiralty (1841-45), and as secretary to the admiralty (1845-46, and 1858-59).2 In 1866-67 he became vice-president of the Council on Education and in March 1867 first lord of the admiralty, with a seat in the cabinet.3 Corry retained his connection with his Tyrone constituency until his death in Bournemouth on 6 March 1873.4
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Cotsford, Thomas Jonathan
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Cotton, Sam
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Coulson, Walter
(1795-1860)
Coulson, born in 1795, served as amanuensis to Jeremy Bentham and then worked as a journalist and editor. Called to the bar in 1828, he served as parliamentary counsel to the home secretary, that is, chief draftsman of bills from all government departments, from 1848 until his death in 1860. In 1848 Lord Grey asked him to revise the charter that granted Vancouver Island to the Hudson’s Bay Company.
- Courtenay Ilbert, The Mechanics of Law Making (1914; repr., New Jersey: The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd., 2000), 63.
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (DNB), Coulson, Walter, DNB.
- Courtenay, Captain George William Conway
George William Conway Courtenay was born in 1795 and entered the Royal Navy at the age of ten. By 1828 he had reached the rank of captain.1
He began service as British consul in Haiti in 1832 and later negotiated a treaty for the suppression of the slave trade.2 After returning to naval service, he assumed command of the frigate HMS Constance in 1847 and made a survey of Vancouver Island coal deposits the following year.3
Recriminations on both sides concerning military support were incurred when Courtenay failed to meet James Douglas, the chief factor, because of his travel schedule. Nevertheless, Courtenay praised the resources of the island.4
- 1. William O'Byrne, A Naval Biographical Dictionary (London: John Murray, 1849), 234; Peter Davis, George William Conway Courtenay R.N., William Loney RN — Background.
- 2. O'Byrne, A Naval Biographical Dictionary, 234; S.T. Bindoff, E.F. Malcolm-Smith, Charles K. Webster, British Diplomatic Representatives, 1789-1852 (London: Offices of the Society, 1934), 63-64.
- 3. Peter Davis, George William Conway Courtenay R.N., William Loney RN — Background; B.M. Gough, The Royal Navy and the Northwest Coast of North America, 1810-1914: A Study of British Maritime Ascendancy (Vancouver: UBC Press, 1971), 101-02.
- 4. Gough, 88; H. Bowsfield, ed., Fort Victoria Letters, 1846-1851, (Winnipeg: HBC Record Society, 1979), 27-28.
-
Cox, Charles
Appointed senior clerk in the Colonial Office in 1860.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Cox, Nicholas
(1724-1794)
Nicholas Cox, an army officer, and a member of the British colonial administration in North America, was an active proponent of settlement in the Gaspé region during the late 18th century.1
Cox originally arrived in Nova Scotia in 1750, and, while in North America, took part in the capture of Fort Beauséjour, and the 1755 banishment of the Acadians. He also participated in the Seven Years' War. In 1775, Governor Guy Carleton appointed Cox to the post of lieutenant governor of the District of Gaspé, a position wherein Cox supervised settlement in the region.2
In the documents enclosed with
this public offices document, the author refers to the publications of Cox as some of the only evidence of the “club-law” and overall anti-settlement attitude that existed in HBC territory.
- 1. David Lee, Cox, Nicholas, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 2. Ibid.
-
Cox, William G.
A gold commissioner.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Crampton, John Fiennes Twisleton (1805-1886)
John Fiennes Twisleton Crampton (1805-86) entered the British diplomatic service as an unpaid attaché, serving first in Turin (1826), St. Petersburg (1828), and then a paid attaché in Brussels and Vienna (1834).1 He became secretary to the British legation at Washington, D.C. in 1845, serving as chargé d'affaires in 1847-49 and 1850-52.2
Appointed minister plenipotentiary and envoy extraordinary to the United States in 1852, Crampton was so disliked by American officials and he and three British consuls were recalled in 1856, amid rumours that personality conflicts might lead to war.3 Nevertheless, Palmerston expressed his satisfaction with Crampton by recommending him for a knighthood on 20 September 1856 and appointing him minister plenipotentiary and envoy extraordinary at Hanover on 2 March 1857.4
On 31 March 1858, Crampton was transferred to St. Petersburg, and on 10 June 1858 he succeeded his father as baronet.5 On 11 December 1860 he was appointed minister plenipotentiary and envoy extraordinary to Spain, remaining there until his retirement on 1 July 1869.6 He died on 5 December 1886 at his home in the county of Wicklow, Ireland.7
- Crate, William Frederick (1807-1871)
William Frederick Crate, miller and HBC employee, was born between 1807 and 1813 in London.
Crate was employed by the HBC to found and run its first flour mills in the Columbia District. Based at Fort Vancouver, Crate was placed in charge of mills. From 1834 to 1843 Crate rebuilt and expanded the HBC's network of mills east of Fort Vancouver and completed the company's first water-driven grist mill. This mill, capable of grinding 20,000 bushels of grain a year, supplied all of the flour for the HBC's western posts and supply ships.
Crate left Fort Vancouver in 1843 for England to marry his wife, Sarah. After returning to North America, Crate lived briefly with his wife and two children in Vermont and then returned to his original job at Fort Vancouver in 1849. He built a new, larger grist mill and opened a sawmill which could cut 3,000 and 4,000 feet of timber in 12 hours.
In addition to opening mills, Crate was in charge of a five-man maintenance crew responsible for the general upkeep of Fort Vancouver.
Despite the Oregon Treaty of 1846, which confirmed the "possessory rights" of the HBC to its land and property north of
the Columbia, the company had continued trouble with American setters who took up claims to its land around
Fort Vancouver. In order to protect some of the HBC's land claims, Crate filed personal land claims around the mill, which may have lead to his decision to stay at
the Fort after the HBC decided to relocate its operations to
Fort Victoria in 1860. Crate was ordered to ship the milling equipment north, but only sent the equipment not fixed to the mill. The rest of the equipment he kept for his own and then later sold.
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, s.v. "Crate, William Frederick,"
http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?id_nbr=4919 (accessed June 3, 2009).
Crate moved to Victoria in 1863 and lived on Government Street until 1867, when he moved north to a farm in the Cowichan valley. He succeeded in opening a grist mill on Quamichan land. The government was hopeful the mill would promote the sowing of grain by the Aboriginals and white settlers, and went so far as granting free transport of machinery and building material on the government steamer.
Crate died on 1 October, 1871.
- Crease, Henry
The fathter of HPP Crease.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Crease, Sir Henry Pering Pellew (1823-1905)
Henry Pering Pellew Crease was born at Ince Castle, Cornwall, on 20 August 1823. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Clare College, Cambridge, in 1847, studied law in the Middle Temple, London, and was called to the bar in June 1849. He then went to Ontario, where he worked with a surveying and exploring party on Lake Superior. After loosing money he and his family had invested in Canadian canals, he returned to England, only to return again to Ontario in 1858.
In December of that year, he went to Vancouver Island to work as a barrister. In January 1860 he was elected a member of the House of Assembly of Vancouver Island for Victoria district but was criticized for leaning towards the HBC despite his speeches in favour of reform. On 14 October 1861, he was appointed attorney general of the mainland colony of British Columbia, settling with his family in New Westminster.
When the capital of the colony moved from
New Westminster to
Victoria, Crease was obliged to move back to
Victoria. He was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of
British Columbia in May 1870. Crease aspired to the position of chief justice, but he was too old to take the post when
Matthew Baillie Begbie died in 1894. Crease was knighted in 1896 and retired to his estate in
Victoria, dying there in 1905.
Dorothy Blakey Smith, The Journal of Arthur Thomas Bushby, 1858-1859, BCHQ 21, (1957-58): 170-71; Gordon R.Elliott, Henry P. Pellew Crease: Confederation or No Confederation, B.C.Studies 12 (Winter 1971-72): 63-74.See also J.B. Kerr, Biographical Dictionary of Well-Known British Columbians (Vancouver: Kerr and Begg, 1890), p. 133, and the Victoria Times, 27 February 1905. BCCOR 255.1, Dictionary of Canadian Biography (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1966-) 13.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Crickmer
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Crickmer, Reverend William Burton (1830-1905)
The Rev. William Burton Crickmer received a B.A. degree from Oxford in 1855 and an M.A. in 1858. He became a deacon in 1855 and was priested in 1856. Crickmer was curate of St. Marylebone Church,
London, in 1858, when he was sent to
British Columbia by the Colonial Church and School Society. He arrived in
Victoria with
R.C. Moody on Christmas Day, 1858.
Crickmer began work on 8 May 1859 in the parish of St. John the Divine at Fort Langley, whose church had been built by the Royal Engineers. But the decision to establish the capital at New Westminster instead of Fort Langley quickly depopulated the latter centre and Crickmer moved to Fort Yale in June 1860. He returned to England in 1862 and became secretary of the Colonial and Continental Church Society until 1864, when he became vicar of Beverley Minster in the Diocese of York.
Dorothy Blakey Smith, The Journal of Arthur Thomas Bushby, 1858-1859, BCHQ 21, (1957-58): 171. Crockford's 1870, p. 170. (& 1868, p. 159).BCPO 85.2 See Cyril Stackhouse, Churches of St. John the Divine, Vancouver Historical Journal, no. 2, 1959, pp. 77-104. SPCOLL.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Cridge, Reverend Edward
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Crittle, John
(d. 1862)
John Crittle worked for the HBC from 1850 to 1855.
1 In 1851, he was onboard the
Una when it was shipwrecked in
Neah Bay and “plundered” by the local Indigenous people. According to
this letter, Crittle “had his jacket cut thro' the breast with a knife, in an attempt to stab him.”
- 1. Hudson's Bay Company Archives (HBCA), Crittle, John [PDF], HBCA.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Crofton, Lieutenant Colonel John
In the summer of 1846 Crofton led 400 troops of the 6th Regiment of Foot to Red River to respond to the threat of American attack, which the Oregon Treaty eliminated. In response to a petition of complaint against the Hudson’s Bay Company, which gathered 977 signatories and precipitated an inquiry in Britain, Crofton defended the actions of the company in a brief report, which was frequently copied and cited. Galbraith describes him as “not a credible witness” (321) because he exchanged favours with George Simpson.
- J. S. Galbraith, The Hudson's Bay Company as an Imperial Factor, 1821–1869 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1976).
- Croker, Richard
Richard Croker, sub-inspector of revenue police.
BCCOR 209.4.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Crompton, J. R.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Crosland, Sarah J.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Crowder
Crowder and Maynard, an “old” law firm at 57 Coleman Street in London, were solicitors for the Hudson’s Bay Company from the 1840s to the mid-1860s. In 1848 the firm prepared an opinion and draft charter for the company concerning Vancouver Island.
- Cuffe, 3rd Earl of Desart John Otway O'Conner
(1818-1865)
Cuffe served as the under-secretary of state for the colonies in 1852.1
Cuffe succeeded in the earldom at the early age of two, after the untimely death of his father.2 He served as a Conservative member of Parliament for Ipswich in 1842 and representative peer for Ireland from 1846 until 1865,3 when he died from the effects of an accidental fall.4
- 1. Cracoft's Peerage: The Complete Guide to the British Peerage & Baronetage, Desart, Earl of (1, 1793-1934), Cracoft's Peerage.
- 2. Sir Bernard Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire Volume 42, Part 1 (London: Harrison, 1880), 364.
- 3. Cracoft's Peerage: The Complete Guide to the British Peerage & Baronetage, Desart, Earl of (1, 1793-1934), Cracoft's Peerage.
- 4. Sir Bernard Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire Volume 42, Part 1 (London: Harrison, 1880), 364.
- Cunard, Sir Samuel
Cunard grew up in Nova Scotia, the son of Loyalist parents. After serving in the War of 1812, he prospered as a Halifax merchant, with interests in timber, land, and shipping. In 1830 he joined the Nova Scotia establishment as a councillor, a member of the colony’s government. With experience in mail shipping in the colonies, he obtained a contract in 1839 to transport mail by steamship, what he termed “an ocean railway,” between Britain and Halifax. The following year he organized the British and North American Royal Mail Steam-Packet Company, the corporate predecessor of the Cunard Line. He was knighted in 1859 for his service and that of his company during the Crimean War.
- Cunliffe, Esquire James
James Cunliffe was a British banker.
1 He is mentioned in
this letter, which discusses the discovery of gold in
Haida Gwaii.
- Curry, Captain Douglas
(d. 1869)
Captain Douglas Curry commanded the HMS Alarm during the vessel's time in the Pacific, from 13 June 1855 to 9 September 1859.1
- Curtis, Commander Alfred John
(1818-1873)
Commander Alfred John Curtis captained the HMS Brisk during its time in the Pacific, from 20 October 1854 to 13 June 1857.1
- Cushing
Mr. Cushing, gold miner. He was probably one of several former British Columbians identified by the Victoria Colonist (1 June 1872) then living in California: "Cushing, Bagley and many other Hill's Bar men are in San Francisco doing well."
BCDES 7.4.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- D'Ewes, John
John D'Ewes came to Vancouver Island from Australia, where he had been a police magistrate, commissioner of crown lands, and deputy sheriff in the gold fields of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. While magistrate, and shortly before riots broke out there in 1854, he allegedly accepted loans from various people, causing Governor Sir Charles Hotham to remove him from office.
D'Ewes was nevertheless able to obtain a letter of introduction from Sir Edward Lytton in the Colonial Office, and proceeded to Vancouver Island where Douglas appointed him acting postmaster in Victoria. When the mistake was discovered, Lytton directed another letter to Douglas to alert him to D'Ewes past history. In October 1861 D'Ewes suddenly disappeared from the colony, along with £1000 in post office funds. D'Ewes showed up in England on 17 November, followed about six weeks later by his wife and children.
The press criticized Douglas for not pressing an investigation into D'Ewes's activities. In April 1862, the Victoria Colonist reported that D'Ewes had committed suicide in Germany.
Colonist, 17 October and 2 November 1861; 13 January, 30 April, and 1 December 1862.; D'Ewes to Lytton, etc etc.; C.M.H. Clark,
A History of Australia, 6 vols. (Carlton, Australia: Melbourne University Press, 1980), 1: 68-69. Nancy Keesing, ed.,
Gold Fever: The Australian Goldfields 1851 to the 1890s (Australia: Angus and Robertson, 1967.)
Lytton to Douglas, 11 September 1858, CO 398/1, p. 100.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Dallas, Alexander Grant
According to
this document, Dallas is as "Agent of the Puget Sound Company."
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Dallas, George M.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Daly, Governor D.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Dangerfield, J.
According to documents enclosed with
this despatch, it appears that J. Dangerfield was the solicitor to the “Vancouver's Island Steam Sawing Mill and Agriculture Company.”
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Daniel, Reverend Henry Edwin
The Rev. Henry Edwin Daniel received a B.A. from St.John's College, Cambridge, in 1857, became a deacon in 1858, and was priested in 1859. When considered by the Colonial Church and School Society as a missionary to British Columbia in 1858, he was serving in the church of St. Mary's, Bury St. Edwards.It is not known why he was unable to go to British Columbia, but the society sent out W.B. Crickmer in his stead.
BCPO 104.2.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Davidson, James
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Davies, George
A lighthouse keeper.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Davis, R. Vaughan
R. Vaughan Davis was a commissioner in the Audit Office.
Imperial Calendar, 1859, p. 125. BCPO 146.2.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Dawson, G. P.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Dawson, Robert Kearsley (1798-1861)
Robert Kearsley Dawson was educated at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and joined the Royal Engineers in 1818.1 He worked on surveys of Scotland and Ireland, superintended the preparation of the plans of cities and boroughs at the time of the first Reform Bill, was attached to the Tithe Commutation Commission and became an assistant commissioner, and finally headed the survey department of the Commons Enclosure and Copyhold Commission.2 Dawson received a C.B. in February 1836.3 He died at Blackheath on 28 March 1861.4
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Day, Justice of the Peace Edward
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- De Courcy, John
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- De Courcy, Captain Michael
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- De la Becke, Sir Henry T.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
de Rienzie Brett, Brigadier General, E.I.C.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Deans, George
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Deardon, James
James Deardon of Rochdale, Lancashire.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Dement, Lieutenant
According to
this letter, Dement was an American Lieutenant who led "4 or 5 privates, with 10 volunteers," to rescue captives shipwrecked on
Haida Gwaii.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Demers, Bishop Modeste (1809-1871)
Bishop Modeste Demers was born in Saint-Nicholas-de-Levis, Lower Canada, in 1809, and was appointed the first bishop of Vancouver Island, as well as administrator of the diocese of the Queen Charlotte Islands and New Caledonia, on November 30, 1847.1
Demers rose to prominence for his work in the HBC’s Oregon-Country outposts, mostly due to his aptitude for languages, which helped him to compile a dictionary, a catechism, a book of prayers, and a collection of hymns in Chinook jargon.2 Demers travelled extensively throughout Oregon Country, and became the first missionary to reach the area that is now mainland British Columbia.3
For several years after his consecration, Demers travelled throughout Europe to collect funds and additional missionaries to help establish his episcopal see.4 Akrigg and Akrigg note that when Demers finally arrived on Vancouver Island, at Cadboro Bay in 1852, he prostrated himself on the beach and kissed the sand before kneeling to pray at a driftwood log.5
In his later years, Demers was forced to leave Vancouver Island on several occasions due to health concerns.6 While en route from France to Rome, in 1870, Demers was severely injured in a train accident, from which he would never recover fully; he died at his home in Victoria on July 28, 1871.7
- 1. Jean Usher,Demers, Modeste Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Ibid.
- 5. G.P.V. Akrigg and H.B. Akrigg, British Columbia Chronicle, 1847-1871 (Victoria: Discovery Press, 1977), 11.
- 6. Jean Usher,Demers, Modeste Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
- 7. Ibid.
-
Denison, Sir W.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Dennis, W. J.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Despard, F. R.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Dewar, H. B.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Disraeli, Benjamin (1804-1881)
Benjamin Disraeli was born in London on 21 December 1804.1 He was educated privately, entered Lincoln's Inn in 1824, and won a seat in Parliament as a Conservative in 1837, representing the borough of Maidstone.2 In 1841 he was elected to represent Shrewsbury, and in 1847 Buckinghamshire.3 In September 1848, Disraeli was chosen leader of the Conservative party in the House of Commons, remaining until which Conservative government was dissolved and a coalition government established in 1852, when he became chancellor of the exchequer as well.4
He returned as chancellor of the exchequer and leader of the House of Commons during the Derby administrations in 1858 and in 1867.5 When Lord Derby then retired, Disraeli became leader of the party and prime minister until defeated by Gladstone's Liberals in 1868.6 He led the Conservatives to victory again in 1874 and remained in office until 1880.7 In 1876 he was made Earl of Beaconsfield in 1876 and moved to the House of Lords, where he remained until his death on 19 April 1881.8
Throughout his distinquished political career, Disraeli also acquired a considerable reputation as an author of both fiction and nonfiction.9
- 1. Jonathan Parry, Disraeli, Benjamin, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Dictionary of National Biography (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1900-) 5, pp. 1006-22.
- 5. Jonathan Parry, Disraeli, Benjamin, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- 6. Ibid.
- 7. Ibid.
- 8. Ibid.
- 9. Ibid.
- Disraeli, James
James Disraeli was the younger brother of Benjamin Disraeli. BCPO 139.8.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Dixon, George
(1776-1791)
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Doane, J. H.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Dodd, Charles
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Dolholt, John
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Dombrain, Robert Peel
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Douglas, Lord Prevost J. Brown
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Douglas, Sir James (1803-1877)
Sir James Douglas was born in Demerara, on either June 5, or August 15, 1803, and was raised in Scotland.1 At the age of 16 he was apprenticed to the North West Company and sent to Canada, and in 1821 (when the two companies merged) he became a clerk second class with the Hudson's Bay Company.2 He passed through several posts and quickly rose in the ranks, and oversaw the founding of Fort Victoria in 1843 as deputy for Dr. John McLoughlin.3
In 1851 he was appointed governor and vice-admiral of Vancouver Island, and in 1858 he was made the first governor of the united colony of British Columbia.4 His connections with the HBC and disdain for responsible government aroused resentment amongst the settlers, but when he retired in 1864 British Columbia was a prosperous and expanding colony.5 He was widely mourned when he died in Victoria on 2 August 1877.6
- 1. Margaret A. Ormsby, Douglas, Sir James, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Ibid.
- 5. Ibid.
- 6. Ibid.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk Thomas
(1771-1820)
Thomas Douglas, upon the successive deaths of his brothers, from 1794 to 1797, became Lord Daer, and, following the death of his father in 1799, became the fifth earl of Selkirk. Douglas was a forceful promoter of colonial expansion in North America.1
After Douglas established a successful colony of Scottish immigrants on Prince Edward Island in 1803, he returned to England and was elected to the House of Lords in late 1806; however, his appointment to Parliament did not quell his colonial ambitions.2 In 1811, after Douglas, along with his brother-in-law, Colvile, and Mackenzie, began to purchase HBC stock in 1808, Douglas proposed to the company the establishment of an agricultural settlement in the Red River valley. In June 1811, the HBC sold 186, 683 square kilometres of land to Thomas Douglas for 10 shillings, and the first settlers arrived in the summer of 1812.3
From the onset, a dearth of food supplies and suitable housing plagued the HBC’s Red River Settlement. Furthermore, the settlement straddled the rival North West Company’s access to their Athabasca territory—thus, the Nor’Westers considered the settlement a threat to their operations. These problems led to ongoing struggles of a legal, as well as a violent nature, that culminated in the deaths 20 colonists, including Governor Semple.4
The strains of the Red River Settlement affected Douglas financially, and also took a toll on his health.5 Douglas returned to England in 1818, upon which his health improved; however, the improvement would be short-lived, and doctors advised that Douglas travel to a more agreeable climate in southern Europe.6 Health concerns again forced Douglas to halt his journey in Pau, southern France, where he died on April 8, 1820.7
- 1. J.M. Bumsted, Douglas, Thomas, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. John Morgan Gray, Douglas, Thomas, Baron Daer and Shortcleuch, 5th Earl of Selkirk, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 4. Ibid.
- 5. Ibid.
- 6. J.M. Bumsted, Douglas, Thomas, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- 7. Ibid.
-
Dowell
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Downie, Major William
According to
this despatch, Downie was "the founder of the Town of Downieville."
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Doyle, J. A.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Drinkard, W. H.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Duffie
A sapper.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Duncan, James
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Duncan, William
According to
Douglas, in
this despatch, William Duncan is "an exemplary and truly worthy gentleman, who has, for some years past, been devotedly labouring with a wonderful degree of energy and perseverance as a Christian Missionary among the Indian population, at, and about
Fort Simpson."
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Dundas, Lieutenant Adam D.
- Dundas, Sir David
(1799-1877)
Dundas was born in Edinburgh to Elizabeth and James Dundas. He schooled at Westminster and Oxford, where he received his BA in 1820, and his MA two years later. Dundas's life was a blend of law and politics, and by 1840, he was appointed to the Queen's Council. On July 10
th, 1846, he became solicitor-general under
Lord John Russell. Dundas was knighted on February 4
th, 1847, but would resign from office due to inconstant health in March of 1848. A more comfortable post was offered, as principal clerk of the House of Lords, but Dundas declined the position. He took office again in May of 1849 as judge-advocate-general; thereafter, he was sworn into the privy council on June 29
th of the same year. He retired from political life altogether in 1852 (Gordon Goodwin,
Dundas, Sir David Oxford Dictionary of National Biography).
In his role as Solicitor General, Dundas, along with Attorney General
John Jervis, was instrumental in the Crown's deliberations on the Hudson's Bay Company's land-grant status following the Oregon Treaty of 1846. The two men signed-off on a "Case," attached to an
1847 despatch, that detailed the complex legal arguments surrounding the HBC's position.
- Dundas, Sir W.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Dunn, John
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Dunsmuir, James
(1851-1920)
James Dunsmuir, who was born on 8 July 1851 at Fort Vancouver, Washington, while his parents were en route from Scotland to Vancouver Island, served as premier, and, later, lieutenant governor of British Columbia during the early 20th century.1
From meagre beginnings in a Fort Rupert miner’s cabin, the Dunsmuirs would go on to be one of the wealthiest, and most prominent families in early British Columbia. James’s father, Robert Dunsmuir, established a successful mine at Wellington, and, after James completed his education, he returned to Nanaimo and took the position of manager at the Wellington mine.
The Dunsmuirs’ extended their coal operations into the Comox Valley, and, with the help of investors from California, built the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway. After his father died in 1900, James spent several years consolidating his numerous business assets, both, by buying out his partners, and, since Robert Dunsmuir left all of his shares to his wife, in court against his own mother.2
James had been elected MLA of Comox in 1898, and he would continue to rise up the political ranks; in 1900 he became premier of British Columbia, and proceeded to the lieutenant-governorship in 1906—a position which he held until 11 December 1909.3
Some historians, as well as many of Dunsmuir’s contemporaries, labelled him a self serving politician—most notably because of his Asian immigration and labour policies—however, Dunsmuir was patriarchal figure who ran his businesses like a family, and often considered his employees best interests. As well, Dunsmuir’s many donations to local charities and social services, and his contributions to the business and economical spheres of British Columbia should not be overlooked as part of his legacy.4
After his stint in politics, and, with his children either abroad or “leading frivolous lives,” Dunsmuir retreated to a solitary life on his estate at Hatley Park. Dunsmuir spent many of his later years hunting and fishing at his lodge on the Cowichan River, where he died in 1920.5
- 1. Clarence Karr, Dunsmuir, James, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Ibid.
- 5. Ibid.
- Duntze, Captain John Alexander
(1806-1882)
In May 1846, HMS Fisgard, captained by Duntze, arrived at Fort Victoria to bolster British strength in the region during the Oregon boundary dispute. The Fisgard sailed up the Puget Sound and anchored at Nisqually for the summer, waiting, along with other British warships, to hear if they were required to take possession of the lands north of the Columbia River. HMS Fisgard and Captain Duntze departed in 1847 after the boundary was settled on the 49th parallel. Roderick Finlayson, Biography of Roderick Finlayson (Victoria: unknown, 1977, c1957), 18.
- Finlayson, Roderick. Biography of Roderick Finlayson. Victoria: unknown, 1891.
- Dyke, Charles, Lieutenant
Lieutenant Dyke served with Captain Duntze on HMS Fisgard.
In May 1846, Fisgard arrived at Fort Victoria to bolster British strength in the region during the Oregon boundary dispute. The Fisgard sailed up the Puget Sound and anchored at Nisqually for the summer, waiting, along with other British warships, to hear if they were required to take possession of the lands north of the Columbia River. HMS Fisgard, with Lieutenant Dyke, departed in 1847 after the boundary was settled on the 49th parallel. Roderick Finlayson, Biography of Roderick Finlayson (Victoria: unknown, 1977, c1957), 18.
- Finlayson, Roderick. Biography of Roderick Finlayson. Victoria: unknown, 1891.
-
Easterby, A.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Eaton, Richard
Richard Eaton was principal military store keeper at the Tower.
Imperial Calendar, 1858, p. 189. BCCOR 232.1.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Eaton, William
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Ebey, Colonel Isaac Neff
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Eddisbury
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Eddy
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Edenshaw, Chief
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Edward, King Edward VII Albert
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Edwards, Major Herbert
In
this despatch, Edwards writes a reference for
Blanshard's application for Crown employment, following
Blandshard's resignation as governor of
Vancouver Island.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Eller, William H.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Ellice, Edward
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Elliot, T. Frederick
T. Frederick Elliot, was appointed a junior clerk in the Colonial Office on 5 July 1825, précis writer on 5 July 1827, and senior clerk on 31 March 1833. He resigned from this position on 30 April 1837 to accept appointment as chief agent for emigration.1
On 20 November 1847, he was named assistant under-secretary in the Colonial Office, remaining at that post until his retirement on 3 December 1868.2
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Elliott, Paymaster W.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Elmhirst, C.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Elmsley, W.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Elphinstone, Captain Howard Crawfurd (1829-1890)
Capt. Howard Crawfurd Elphinstone was born on 12 December 1829. He was educated at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and received a commission as second lieutenant in the Royal Engineers on 18 December 1847. In 1854, he was ordered to the Crimea; he was wounded there on 8 September 1855, losing an eye in battle. He returned to England at the end of the Crimean War, becoming executive officer of the Royal Engineers Topographical Depot in London.
In 1858, he held the rank of second captain; he was promoted to captain on 1 April 1862. In 1858, Queen Victoria appointed Elphinstone as tutor to her son, H.R.H. Prince Arthur. After the prince was grown, Elphinstone was appointed Treasurer and Comptroller of H.R.H.'s Household, remaining in that office until his death. Elphinstone remained involved with the Royal Engineers, commanding the troops from August 1873 to December 1881 and again from 1882 to 1886.
On 23 August 1865, he was appointed a Civil C.B.; on 28 July 1870 he was appointed C.M.G., on 3 July 1871, a Civil K.C.B., and on 31 October 1877, an aide-de-camp to the Queen March 1877.He died on 8 March 1890.
See obituary in The Royal Engineers Journal (1 May 1890): 109-11; see also the London Times, 26 March 1890, p. 4.Imperial Calendar, 1859, p. 186. Army List 1858-59 and January-March 1871. BCPO 137.1.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Elphinstone, Lieutenant Colonel John
Lt.Col.John Elphinstone.
BCCOR 253.1
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Elphinstone-Holloway, Colonel William Cuthbert (1787-1850)
William Cuthbert Elphinstone-Holloway, officer and engineer, was born on 1 May 1787. After attending the Royal Military Academy, Holloway joined the Royal Engineers as a second lieutenant on 1 January 1804. In 1810 he was sent to Spain to fight Napoleon's armies. In 1812, now a captain, he participated in the capture of Badajoz, and was seriously wounded and subsequently mentioned in dispatches by the Duke of Wellington.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, s.v. "Elphinstone-Holloway, William Cuthbert,"
http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/13573/8755 (accessed June 3, 2009).
The government gave Holloway a wound pension and he spent the next six years in Britain. In 1818 he was sent to the Cape of Good Hope in time to serve in the Cape Frontier War of 1819. Afterword he conducted military surveys before going home in 1831.
His wife was the daughter of Captain Thomas Elphinstone RN, the source of his hyphenated last name, which he grafted to his own through his marriage in February 1825. After serving in Ireland, Holloway was promoted to colonel in November 1841 and appointed CRE (Commanding Royal Engineers) in Canada from 1843 to 1849.
Holloway died at Plymouth Citadel, Devon, on 4 September 1850.
-
Elwyn, Thomas
According to
Douglas, in
this despatch, Thomas Elwyn was a "Stipendiary Magistrate" and "Gold Commissioner," who was, for a time, stationed at
Port Douglas.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Enderby, Charles (1797-1876)
Charles Enderby, business man and lieutenant-governor of the Auckland Islands, was born on 21 November 1797. The Enderbys were whale oil merchants and patrons of Antarctic exploration.
Enderby was, like many of his contemporaries in his business, concerned about the decline of the British whaling fleet and the strategic whale oil it supplied. He was convinced that this industry could be revived with the establishment of a British whaling colony on the Auckland Islands, hundreds of miles south of New Zealand. He, and a group of investors, convinced the British colonial office in 1847 to grant their British Southern Whale Fishery Company the Auckland Islands with Enderby himself as lieutenant governor. Enderby also wrote to Sir J.H. Pelly and Secretary of State Grey on the possibilities of allowing a whaling station on Vancouver Island, arguing that that it would serve both the interests of his company, by providing a base of operation and supply, as well as colonization, by providing an attraction to colonists to come to the distant Columbia. Nothing ever came of this.John S. Galbraith, The Hudson's Bay Company as an imperial factor, 1821-1869 (New York : Octagon Books, 1977, c1957), 291.
Enderby arrived in the Aucklands in 1849. Despite high hopes, few whales were caught and the colony proved too desolate and remote to support many people. This, and Enderby's inept leadership, caused the colony to be abandoned in 1852.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, s.v. "Enderby family,"
http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/58649 (accessed June 8, 2009).
Enderby died on 31 August 1876.
- Galbraith, John S. The Hudson's Bay Company as an imperial factor, 1821-1869. New York : Octagon Books, 1977, c1957.
-
Engleheart
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
English, Captain T. C.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Escourt, Colonel
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Etholin, Count
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Evans, Lieutenant James
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Evatt
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Ewart, Major
secretary to Sir John Burgoyne.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Falk, Robert
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Fanshawe, Sir Edward Gennys
(1814-1906)
Fanshawe was captain of the
Daphne on the Pacific Station from 1848 to 1853. As several correspondences show, Fanshawe fought members of the Nahwitti First Nation over the apparent murders of three British seamen in 1851.
This file, for example, contains several documents that detail the encounter.
Born in Stoke, Davenport, Edward Fanshawe entered the British Navy in December 1828 after taking just over a year to complete the two-year course at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich.1 He served in the Mediterranean and the East Indies before coming to the Pacific, where he grew wealthy from silver freight.2
Fanshawe left the Pacific to command the Cossack in the Crimean War of 1854-56, followed by several other vessels in the Baltic, Mediterranean, and English Channel until 1861.3 From 1861-70 he acted as superintendent of the Chatham and Malta Dockyards, and was promoted to rear-admiral and nominated lord of the Admiralty.4
Fanshawe became vice-admiral in 1870, and was nominated to Companion to the Order of Bath [CB] in 1871.5 He held several other important positions including commander in chief on the North American station 1870-73, Royal Naval College President 1875-78, and commander in chief at Portsmouth 1878-79.6 He retired in November 1879 at the age of sixty-five, eventually advancing to the rank of Knight Grand Cross [GCB] at the 1887 jubilee.7
- 1. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (DNB), Fanshawe, Sir Edward Gennys, DNB.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Ibid.
- 5. Ibid.
- 6. Ibid.
- 7. Ibid.
-
Farquhar, James
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Farrer, Thomas Henry
Thomas Henry Farrer, assistant secretary of the Marine Department of the Board of Trade, first joined the department on 15 August 1850 as a secretary. He was promoted to assistant secretary in April 1853 amd to marine secretary in July 1863, to secretary on 30 September 1865, and permanent secretary on 2 January 1867.
Office-Holders, Board of Trade, p. 96.BCDES 18.1.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Fenn
Mr. Fenn was a tool manufacturer with offices at 105-06 Newgate Street, London.
Int. Guide BFMM (1872) BCPO 88.2.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Fenton, John
John Fenton was a miller and millwright who worked for the Hudson’s Bay Company. He succeeded
William Frederick Crate as miller at
Fort Vancouver in 1843. Fenton resigned in 1849 and
Crate, who had returned to
Fort Vancouver, resumed his work as miller and millwright.
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, s.v. "Crate, William Frederick"
http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?id_nbr=4919 (accessed June 3, 2009).
Fenton built a saw-mill on
Vancouver Island on HBC land at the site of the present-day Six Mile Pub. In 1849 he journeyed south to California in search of gold.Six Mile Pub, "Six Mile Pub History," Six Mile Pub,
http://www.sixmilepub.com/history.htm (accessed June 3, 2008)
-
Fenwick
A member of Parliament.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Ferguson, Charles A.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Ffennell, William Joshua (1799-1867)
A famous fisheries inspector, with a particular penchant for all things salmon.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Finlayson, Roderick
(1818-1892)
HBC officer, farmer, businessman, and politician Roderick Finlayson was born in Loch Alsh, Scotland in March 1818.1 After emigrating to New York City in 1837, Finlayson gained a position as apprentice clerk at the Hudson’s Bay Company’s head office in Lachine, Lower Canada, and in 1839 he travelled to the Columbia District with a brigade commanded by John McLoughlin.2 He joined Chief Factor James Douglas’s party in Alaska in 1840, and came to the southern end of Vancouver Island with them in 1843 to establish a stronger HBC presence in the area.3
This presence manifested as Fort Victoria and Douglas appointed Charles Ross to command the fort once it was deemed defensible in 1843, with Finlayson as his assistant.4 The two men took Douglas’s charge to “accomplish the largest possible results with the smallest possible means” quite seriously and were “determined that their work . . . would not admit of failure;” Ross died the next year, however, leaving Finlayson as chief officer.5
Finlayson excelled in this role and earned the praise of Douglas: “He is not a man of display, but there is a degree of energy, perseverance, method and sound judgement in all his arrangements. . . . He is besides a man of great probity and high moral worth.”6
When Douglas returned in June 1849, he relieved Finlayson of his duties and appointed him chief accountant, a position he held until 1862.
7 Finlayson made his first of many real estate investments in 1851, with the purchase of 100 acres of land near Rock Bay, the record for which can be seen in
this document.
Finlayson was promoted to chief trader in 1850 and chief factor of the HBC after Douglas left the company in 1859.8 He retired from the company inp 1872, to farm and manage his real estate; he briefly served as the mayor of Victoria in 1878 and remained there until his death in December 1892.9
- 1. Eleanor Stardom Finlayson, Roderick, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Kerr, J.B. "Biographical dictionary of well-known British Columbians with a historical sketch" 1890
- 5. Ibid.
- 6. Eleanor Stardom Finlayson, Roderick, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 7. Ibid.
- 8. Ibid.
- 9. Ibid.
-
Fish, Charles
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Fish, James
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Fish, Robert
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Fishbourne, E. Gardiner
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Fisher, Corporal R. E.
BCDES 6.4.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- FitzGerald, James Edward
(1818-1896)
FitzGerald was born and educated in Bath, Somerset, England. He went on to graduate with his BA from Christ's College, Cambridge, in 1842. Shortly thereafter, in 1844, he took work at the British Museum, where he would become under-secretary in 1848, a position referenced in the minutes of an
1847 despatch in which FitzGerald presents his colonizing scheme for
Vancouver Island to Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies
Benjamin Hawes. Clearly, colonial issues suited him as he became the first secretary of the Colonial Reform Society in 1850 (W. P. Reeves,
FitzGerald, James Edward, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography).
Also in 1850, he married Frances Erskine, and both set off for Lyttelton, New Zealand, in the same year. It would be here that FitzGerald would leave his mark as the founder of the newspaper, the
Lyttelton Times, a sub-inspector of police from 1851-63, and as an immigration agent. FitzGerald was a key figure in New Zealand's Parliament, where he would, eventually, lobby for the Maori to have special representation in both houses, something achieved after his retirement in 1865. He spent the remainder of his working life as a civil servant, in a variety of capacities, but he would be remembered more for his skills as a writer, journalist, newspaper owner, and national-education advocate. He died in Wellington in 1896 (
Reeves).
- Fitzgerald, Sir William Robert Seymour Vesey (1818-1885)
Sir William Robert Seymour Vesey Fitzgerald was educated at Christ Church, Oxford, where he matriculated in 1833, and at Oriel, where, in 1835, he won the Newdigate Prize.1 Called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1839, he represented the constituency of Horsham, Sussex, in the House of Commons in 1848, 1852-65, and 1874-75.2
In February 1858 he was appointed undersecretary of state for foreign affairs, remaining at that post to June 1859.3 Fitzgerald died at his home in London on 28 June 1885.4
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Fitzhugh, U.S.Commissioner E. C.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Fitzwilliam, C.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Flemming, Lieutenant
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Floyd, John
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Forbes, Doctor Robert
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Forsythe, Lieutenant James W.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Fortescue, 1st Baron Carlingford Chichester (1823-1898)
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Foster, Colonel George L.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Foster, M. H.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Foster, William
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Francis, Allen
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Franklin, Selim H.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Franklyn, Justic of the Peace W. Hales
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Franks, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Harte
(1808-1862)
In
this despatch, Franks writes a reference for
Blanshard's application for Crown employment, following
Blandshard's resignation as governor of
Vancouver Island.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Fraser, Donald
(1811-1897)
Donald Fraser was born in Inverness, Scotland, where he was a schoolmate of
Alexander Grant Dallas, who in 1860 succeeded
Sir George Simpson as governor of
Rupert's Land for the Hudson's Bay Company, and Robertson, who later became the managing editor of the
London Times. Fraser evidently obtained a legal education before becoming a journalist for the
Times, in which capacity he travelled to California in 1849 to cover the gold rush. In 1858 he came to
Victoria from California on a similar assignment, and the glowing reports he sent back of the prospects of the new colony became one of the most significant sources of information to the popular mind.
Fraser quickly became an intimate advisor to
James Douglas, who appointed him to the Council of
Vancouver Island in November 1858, invested heavily in
Victoria real estate, and quickly became one of the the island's biggest boosters. After returing to
London in 1862, he combined forces with
Dallas, Gilbert Malcolm Sproat, and others to mount a formidable lobby to maintain the supremacy of the island colony over that of the mainland. Fraser paid a last visit to
Vancouver Island in 1865.
Victoria Colonist, 7 October 1897, p. 8. John Emmerson included a chapter on Donald Fraser, entitled Mr. Fraser and the Cariboo Gold Mines, in British Columbia and Vancouver Island: Voyages, Travels & Adventures (Durham, England: W.Ainsley, 1865), pp. 92-104.BCDES 7.2.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Fraser, Paul
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Fraser, Simon
(1776-1862)
Simon Fraser, after whom Thompson named the Fraser River,1 was a North West Company trader and explorer who embarked on an 1805 expedition to find a navigable route to the Pacific Ocean and extend the company’s interests west of the Rockies.2
Fraser was born to Scottish immigrants at Mapleton, Vermont, in 1776. Fraser’s father, who fought for the loyalist cause in the American War of Independence, died while in captivity, shortly after which Fraser’s mother moved the family to Canada in 1784. In 1792 Fraser apprenticed with the North West Company, and, in June 1801, at the age of 25 achieved a partnership in the company.3
A previous attempt by the North West Company to find a navigable route to the Pacific—undertaken by Mackenzie in 1789—was unsuccessful; however, in 1805, the company resolved, under Fraser’s guidance, to launch a second attempt; the NWC also bid Fraser to establish a series of posts with which they could control their operations.4
Fraser and his companions established Rocky Mountain Portage, at Peace River Canyon; Trout Lake Post, later called Fort McLeod; a post at Stuart Lake, later named Fort Saint James; Fort Fraser, at Fraser Lake, the area around which Fraser called New Caledonia; lastly, Fort George, on the banks of the Nechako River.5
Local First Nations advised that the river onwards from Fort George was impassable, and Fraser found that his passage, both by land and by river, was extremely difficult. According to the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, Fraser maintained good terms with most of the First Nations groups he encountered; however, as his party neared the river mouth, a large number of Cowichan First Nations attempted to disrupt their progress.6
Upon reaching the mouth of the river, which Fraser believed to be the Columbia, he discovered that it was at a latitude of 49°, too far north to be the Columbia; David Thompson named it the Fraser River in 1813.7 Fraser’s route to the Pacific, like Mackenzie’s, would prove too difficult to be a regular mode of travel.8
As a partner in the North West Company, Fraser would become engaged in the legal conflicts that accompanied Selkirk’s Red River Settlement. Fraser escaped the trials free from charges, and subsequently retired to his farm on the Raisin River. In 1820 he married Catherine Macdonell, and the couple had eight children. Fraser died on August 18, 1862.9
- 1. Andrew Scott, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Placenames (Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing, 2009), 208.
- 2. W. Kaye Lamb, Fraser, Simon, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Ibid.
- 5. Ibid.
- 6. Ibid.
- 7. Andrew Scott, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Placenames (Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing, 2009), 208.
- 8. W. Kaye Lamb, Fraser, Simon, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 9. Ibid.
- Fraser, Thomas
Thomas Fraser, secretary for the Hudson's Bay Company, London.
BCPO 99.2. HBRS publications.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Frederick, Commander Charles
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Freeland, Alex B.
Freeland requested information in April 1848 from Lord Grey concerning the colonization of Vancouver Island. By 1864, he had moved to Victoria to act as a shipping agent.
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Fremont, John Charles
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Frost, Morris H.
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Gabriellet, Cosmos
In
this despatch, Gabriellet lost three-hundred dollars in wages following a shipwreck, and ship-burning, at
Neah Bay.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Gaggin, John Boles (1830-1867)
John Boles Gaggin, magistrate, was born in County Cork, Ireland, in 1830 or 1831. After service with the Royal Cork Artillery, he decided to emigrate to British Columbia and arrived at Victoria on 10 April 1859.1 In June, James Douglas appointed him chief constable at Yale and in October magistrate and assistant gold commissioner at Port Douglas.2
On 23 November 1863, Douglas suspended Gaggin, on the grounds that he had been tampering with his accounts.3 Although exonerated of the charge on 12 December, Douglas did not remove the suspension until 3 March 1864. In January 1866 his position at Port Douglas was abolished and Gaggin was appointed magistrate for Kootenay, under the supervision of Peter O'Reilly.4 But in November of that year, Gaggin was dismissed from his post.5 He died on 27 May 1867 at Wild Horse Creek.6
- 1. Dorothy Blake Smith, Gaggin, John Boles, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Ibid.
- 5. Ibid.
- 6. Ibid.
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Gairdner, Gordon
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Gale, Reverend William
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- Gallagher, Martin
Martin Gallagher was a gold miner from California and a close associate of Edward "Ned" McGowan, who attempted to take control of the Fraser River mines in 1859. Before coming to British Columbia, Gallagher had been arrested by the San Francisco Vigilance Committee in May 1856 for political manipulation and ballot-box stuffing during city elections and was subsequently sent off to the Sandwich Islands.
He arrived at the Fraser gold fields in July 1858; in September, at Hills Bar, he reportedly took out seventeen pounds of gold on a single day and thirteen pounds two days later, (Gazette, 15 September 1858), and the Colonist reported on 16 September 1859 that "a man named Gallagher struck pay dirt, three cents to the pan, about four miles above Boston Bar.He calls the new diggings Gallagher's Flat."
In late 1858 or early 1859, Gallagher launched a suit against the sea captain of the ship that had conveyed him to Honolulu and was awarded $3,000 damages, but the case was subsequently appealed to the U.S.Supreme Court.
San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin, 27 May, 5 and 6 June 1856; Victoria Gazette, 28 July 1858, 8 February, 29 April 1859. BCDES 7.6.
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Galt
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Gammage
Mrs. Gammage, wife of Reverend Gammage.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Gammage, Reverend James
The Rev. James Gammage was educated at St.Bees College, England. He became a deacon in 1857, then curate of St.Mary's Church, Newton, Hyde, in 1857-58. He was priested in 1858, when he came to British Columbia as a missionary for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, travelling with the detatchment of Royal Engineers on the Thames City, which left Gravesend 10 October 1858 and arrived at Esquimalt on 11 April 1859.
Gammage journeyed up the Fraser to Lytton and Lillooet and conducted the first Anglican services held in the interior but was unable to attract many miners to his services. He returned to England in 1863 and served as curate of St. Paul's, Bury, Lancashire from 1864-66, when he became curate of Belbroughton Church in Stourbridge, Worcestershire.
Crockfords, 1870, p. 262.BCDES 55.1.
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- Gardner, C. K.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Garesché, J. P.
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Garrett, Reverend John
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- Gascoyne-Cecil, Lord Salisbury Robert
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Gaston, Lieutenant William
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- George III, King William Frederick
(1738-1820)
George III, after whom Vancouver named the Gulf of Georgia,1 and Fraser named Fort George,2 was the king of the United Kingdom and Hanover, and reigned from 1760 to 1811. George III was king during the Seven Years’ War, as well as the American Revolutionary War.3
George III’s reign was marked by political instability, war, and recurring bouts of mental illness that were later believed to be caused by a hereditary disease called porphyria. At the time of George III's first bout of “madness,” in 1788, the treatments for mental illness were often severe; under the supervision of a “mad-doctor,” the king was occasionally confined to a straight-jacket and restraining chair. On February 17, 1789, days before George’s son, the Prince of Wales, was to become regent, an event which would have had heavy political repercussions, doctors announced that the king had recovered from his ailment.4
Despite the strains caused by his mental illness, George III’s marriage and family life were quite happy. George and his wife, Queen Charlotte, shared many of the same interests, including music, art, theatre, and science, and, over their 57-year marriage, the couple had 15 children.5
In October 1810, George III’s illness returned, and his condition steadily deteriorated; he lost his eyesight and nearly all of his hearing, and spent the last 10 years of his life in a “twilight world.”6 George III died at Windsor Castle on January 29, 1820.7
- 1. G.P.V. Akrigg and H.B. Akrigg, British Columbia Chronicle, 1778-1846 (Victoria: Discovery Press, 1975).
- 2. G.P.V. Akrigg and H.B. Akrigg, British Columbia Place Names, 3rd Edition (Vancouver: UBC Press, 1997), 215.
- 3. John Cannon, George III, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- 4. Ibid.
- 5. Clarissa Campbell Orr, Charlotte, Queen Sophie Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- 6. John Cannon, George III, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- 7. Ibid.
- George IV, King
(1762-1830)
Regent in 1811 and monarch in 1820, King George IV—christened George Augustus Frederick—was better known for his indulgences than his policies. The despatches refer only to acts passed during his reign. In 1829, he grudgingly allowed his government to pass the Catholic Relief Act that removed many restrictions on Roman Catholics.
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (DNB), George IV, DNB.
- Gethin, Justice of the Peace R.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Gibbons, Thomas
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Gibbs
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Gill, Sarah
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Gilmour, Allan
Part of Gilmour Rankin Strange & Co.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Gilmour, Rankin
Part of Gilmour Rankin Strange & Co.
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Glencarty, Earl
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Goding, William
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Godley, John Robert (1814-1861)
John Robert Godley was educated at Harrow and at Christ Church, Oxford, receiving his B.A. on 27 October 1836. He travelled widely, writing about his experiences and attempting to increase colonization.1
From 1849-52, Godley lived in New Zealand.2 On his return to England he became a commissioner of income tax in Ireland, before he entered the War Office and served as assistant under-secretary under Lord Panmure, General Peel, and Lord Herbert, in 1855. He died at Gloucester Place, Portman Square, London, 17 November 1861.3
- 1. Jane Tucker, Godley, John Robert, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
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- Golledge, Richard (1832-1887)
Richard Golledge arrived in
Victoria on the barque
Tory in 1851 as an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company. He became
Douglas's private secretary almost immediately, remaining in the position until 1858, when he returned to private life.
In 1864, he was appointed acting gold commissioner for Sooke by Governor Arthur E. Kennedy, who found it necessary to suspend him for intoxication on the job and frequenting with prostitutes. By 1884, Golledge had become a vagrant and was accused of stealing a canoe. He died of heart disease in September 1887.
James E. Hendrickson, ed., Journals of the Colonial Legislatures, 1: 152-64, 180; Colonist, 31 July 1884, 7 September 1887, 31 July 1884, 7 September 1887, and 7 August 1977, pp. 10-11, VI 25.2.
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- Gooch, Lieutenant T. S.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Good , Charles
Charles Good was, for a time, acting private secretary to
Douglas, as can be seen in an enclosure to
this despatch.
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Good, John B.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Goodfellow, Doctor J. S.
According to the documents attached to
this despatch, Doctor S.J. Goodfellow was the English physician whom
Thomas Henry Blanshard had asked for advice regarding his son,
Richard Blanshard, who suffered from “continual attacks of ague.” In the above minutes, Dr. Goodfellow advises that
Richard leave
Vancouver Island immediately.
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Gordon, Adam
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Gordon, Commander G. J.
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Gordon, George Tomline
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Gordon, J. W.
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Goring, William Henry
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Goskirk
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Gosset, Captain William Driscoll (1822-1899)
Captain William Driscoll Gosset became a lieutenant in the Royal Engineers in 1840, was promoted captain in November 1850, and appointed surveyor general of Ceylon [Sri Lanka] in September 1855. Accepting the position of colonial treasurer of British Columbia in November 1858, Gosset arrived in Esquimalt on Christmas Day, along with R.C. Moody.
He was treasurer and postmaster for the colony until 1860, when he relinquished the job of postmaster and became treasurer of Vancouver Island. Gosset proved to be a difficult and at times exasperating colleague, especially to James Douglas who pronounced him "faithless and unprincipled." Gosset returned to England on sick leave in 1862 and resigned from the Royal Engineers in 1863.
See Woodward, The Influence of the Royal Engineers. See also Dorothy Blakey Smith, The Journal of Arthur Thomas Bushby, 1858-1859, BCHQ 21, (1957-58): 177-78, and Colonial Office List 1864, p. 179. Douglas to Newcastle, 18 February 1863, CO 60.BCDES 22.4.
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Gough, Edwin
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Gough, Lieutenant General Lord Viscount Hugh
(1779-1869)
In
this despatch, Gough writes a reference for
Blanshard's application for Crown employment, following
Blandshard's resignation as governor of
Vancouver Island.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Goulburn, Fred
Fred Goulburn was one of four commissioners of customs.
Imperial Calendar, 1858, p. 104. BCPO 129.2.
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Goulburn, J.
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Goulet, Matt
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Grace, Captain
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Graham, James
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Graham, Sir James Robert
(1792-1861)
Sir James Robert Graham, a soldier in the British Army who would later enter into politics, left Oxford University in 1812 and travelled to the Iberian peninsula to join the battle against Napoleon. After he returned to England, Graham entered politics, and, in 1830, rose to the position of first lord of the Admiralty. Graham’s main goal while in government was to reduce government expenditure and patronage.1
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Graham, Thomas
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Grant, Emily
Mrs. Emily Grant, daughter of Alexander Cumming, and wife of
J.M. Grant, by whom she bore three sons and two daughters.
Victoria Colonist AUG 11, 1862; 3 JUNE 1863; 3 JUNE 1963, 3, APRIL 13, 65, 3. BCPO 75.1.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Grant, Captain John Marshall (1822-1902)
Capt. John Marshall Grant, the third son of General Duncan Grant of the Royal Artillery, was born at sea and was raised in Gibraltar. Grant joined the army in January 1842, serving in the West Indies and Demerara from 1844 to 1851. He was promoted lieutenant in 1845, second captain in 1853, and captain in 1855; he spent 1852-55 in Jamaica.
Returning to England in 1855, Grant worked on the improvement of barracks with the Commission of Barracks. In 1858, Grant was placed in charge of the second group of Royal Engineers to come to British Columbia; he remained in the colony for five years, supervising surveys, construction, and roadbuilding. Grant returned to Shorncliffe, England, in 1863; he became a lieutenant-colonel in 1865 and a colonel in 1873, serving on the staff at army headquarters as assistant quartermaster-general from 1866 to 1870.
He was commander of the Royal Engineers at Chatham from 1870 to 1873 and commander at Dover from 1873 to 1875. He served as deputy adjutant general of the Corps at Horse Guards until 1881; he then went to Woolwich as commander of the Royal Engineers, retiring on 21 April 1882. Grant died at Bournemouth on 1 April 1902.
London Times, 21 April 1902, p. 9; "Colonel J.M.Grant, Royal Engineer," Royal Engineers Journal 32, no. 378 (1 May 1902): 86-87. BCDES 37.1.
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Grant, Richard
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Grant, Captain Walter Colquhoun
(1822-1861)
Grant was the first white non-HBC employee to settle on
Vancouver Island, and its first inland surveyor.
1 As the files on Grant show, he purchased 100 acres from the HBC in 1848 and, after some disagreements with the Company about price and location, he settled in
Sooke in 1849.
James Douglas discusses his initial encounter with Grant in
this letter.
Once settled, Grant struggled to manage both money and men. He applied unsuccessfully for HBC protection after some minor encounters with local First Nations, as
this document shows, and later complained about the Company’s lack of support.
2 Unable to complete his surveyor duties, Grant resigned in September, 1850, and in October decided to visit
Hawai’i, leaving a labourer in charge of his property.
3 He returned for a brief period in the Spring of 1851 before travelling to
Oregon that summer in search of gold.
4 He returned for the last time in September 1853 and sold his property to another non-company settler,
John Muir; Grant left Vancouver Island in mid November.
5 Public opinion of Grant varied. Douglas said he was “an unfortunate man who has been an absolute plague to me since he came to the Island,” while Helmcken remembered him as “a splendid fellow and every inch an officer and a gentleman.”6 A pioneer of the Island’s lumber industry, Grant also imported the game of cricket and Scotch broom, “so the hills around him might benefit from it and also take on the hue of his native Scotland”7
Born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1822, Grant lost both parents by age seven.8 He followed family tradition and studied at the Military College at Sandhurst, and at 24 became the youngest captain in the British Army, as a member of the Scots Greys.9 He had to leave the army when he lost his inheritance (a reported £75,000) through bank failure.10
After leaving Sooke, Grant re-enlisted in the army and served as a lieutenant-colonel during the Crimean War.11 He remained interested in Vancouver Island, however, and even toyed with the idea of becoming governor “provided government felt disposed to take the [colony’s] affairs seriously in hand.”12 He authored both “Description of Vancouver Island, by its first colonist” and “Remarks on Vancouver Island, principally concerning townsites and native population,” which were published by the Royal Geographic Society.13 He died at age 39 as brigade-major of Lucknow, India.14
- 1. Barry M. Gough Grant, Captain Walter Colquhoun, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Ibid.
- 5. Ibid.
- 6. Ibid.
- 7. Ibid.
- 8. Ibid.
- 9. Ibid.
- 10. Ibid.
- 11. Ibid.
- 12. Ibid.
- 13. Ibid.
- 14. Ibid.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Granville, Fred
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Grasett, Reverend Henry James (1808-1882)
The Rev. H.J. Grasett was a succesful Anglican clergyman from Quebec who rose to Dean of St. James' Cathedral, Toronto, by 1867. He was deeply involved in education and a supporter of the low church movement.
BCCOR 255.5. Dictionary of Canadian Biography (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1966-) Vol.11.
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Graves, Esquire S. R.
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Gray, Francis
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Gray, Esquire Nutter
Signs as "Nutter Gray Jr."
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Gray, Robert
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Gray, Captain Robert
(1755-1806)
Captain Robert Gray, an American trader, commanded the Lady Washington on John Kendrick’s 1787 trade expedition to the Pacific Northwest. On this voyage, Gray sailed up the coast from Juan de Fuca Strait to Bucarelli Bay, Alaska, and proved that the Queen Charlotte Islands were insular.1
Though the voyage was not a financial success, Gray’s sloop, the Lady Washington, became the first flagged American ship to circumnavigate the globe, on August 9, 1789, when Gray arrived back in Boston, after delivering his cargo of furs in China.2
- 1. W. Kaye Lamb, Gray, Robert, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 2. Ibid.
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Green, E.
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Green, Sir William Kirby Mackenzie (1836-1891)
A diplomatist, and consul-general.
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Greene, Blythe
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Greene, H. A.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Greenwood, John
John Greenwood was assistant solicitor in the Treasury Department from 30 December 1851 to 5 June 1866, when he replaced
Henry Revell Reynolds as solicitor.
Office-Holders, Treasury, p. 130. BCDES 21.2.
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Gregg, John
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Grenfell, Captain Sidney
(1806-1884)
Captain Sidney Grenfell served as lieutenant on several Royal Navy vessels before he commanded the Amethyst from July 8, 1856 to December 22, 1860, a period that included the vessel’s time in the Pacific Northwest.1
- 1. Amethyst, William Loney RN - Background.
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Greville, Sir G.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Grey, Governor George
Governor of South Australia, twice governor of New Zealand, governor of Cape Colony (South Africa), and the 11th premier of New Zealand; not to be confused with Earl Grey.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Grey, Third Earl, Henry George (1802-1894)
Henry George Grey, third Earl Grey, was a politician, and the eldest son of Charles Grey, second Earl Grey, whig prime minister, and his wife, Mary Elizabeth.
Son of the prime minister and a whig aristocrat, Grey moved easily into a parliamentary career. His first position, parliamentary under-secretary at the Colonial Office, was obtained through the nepotism of his father. While there, Grey was given the freedom to pursue reforms conversant with his values, which were a mixture of old disinterested, aristocratic paternalism and the newer values of self-help, free-trade and utility held by the rising commercial class.DNB
In office, Grey ended colonial land grants and replaced them with auctions, using the money to pay for the emigration of workers to the colonies. In December of 1832, he devised a plan to gradually emancipate British slaves, but this was defeated by commercial interests in the West Indies.
From 1835 to 1839, Grey was secretary of war. In vain, Grey sought to reform the British military. Despite some limited successes, Grey was thwarted by this, one of the most hide-bound of British institutions.
During this time Grey was very critical of colonial policy, and clashed frequently with his colleagues in government. This likely resulted in his being offered the Post Office in a cabinet reshuffling. Insulted by this obvious demotion, Grey resigned from office in August, 1839.
Grey did not reenter office until July 1846, when he was given the colonial secretaryship in Lord Russell's new administration. Grey assumed his new role when the adoption of free trade and the inevitability of self-government were rapidly changing Britain's usual paternal relationship with its colonies in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Grey was convinced that Canada showed enough maturity to govern and defend itself, and sanctioned control over internal affairs and British conventions of cabinet government.
Grey was made colonial secretary just after the Oregon boundary dispute had been settled in favour the United States. He believed that the Americans would continue to encroach on British territory and predicted that without some action to strengthen the British presence on Vancouver Island, it too would be lost to encroaching American settlers. Nevertheless, Grey was adverse to strengthening British claims by colonization at a cost to the British crown. Grey thought he found a solution to both the problem of cost and getting more colonists to the Columbia in the form of the HBC. The expense could be defrayed if organizing and seeing to colonists could be borne by a sufficiently large, rich and local British agent: the HBC. Grey believed that the HBC's experience in the west, its large reserves of capital, and its established farms on Vancouver Island made it an ideal, and cheap, way to secure British interests in the region. Grey's suggestions were adopted on 13 January 1849 by the government, and the HBC was made the "true and absolute lords and proprietors" of Vancouver Island for a period of 10 years, charged with developing and colonizing the island for the British government.John S. Galbraith, The Hudson's Bay Company as an imperial factor, 1821-1869 (New York: Octagon Books, 1977, c1957), 289.
Grey left office permanently in February of 1852 with the fall of Lord Russell's government. Disillusioned by politics, Grey remained a critic of military and colonial affairs from the House of Lords until 1880. Fearful of democratic reforms that began in the 1850s, Grey became a staunch opponent of the 'Americanization' of British politics.
Grey died on October 9, 1894 at Howick Hall, Northumberland.
- Galbraith, John S. The Hudson's Bay Company as an imperial factor, 1821-1869. New York : Octagon Books, 1977, c1957.
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Griffin, Charles John
Griffin, an HBC employee, was in part responsible for inciting the Pig War on San Juan Island, as it was his pig that was shot for raiding a U.S. farmer's potato patch.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Griffith, Phillip
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Griffiths, Major John
In 1847 Major John Thomas Griffiths replaced John Ffolliott Crofton as commander of 350 soldiers of the 6th Regiment of Foot that had arrived in the Red River Settlement a year prior.1 He was in line to assume the position of governor of Assiniboia, which Crofton had declined, upon his return to Britain.2
But George Simpson, who travelled to the colony with the major, decided that he was “altogether disqualified, as well from inaptitude for business as from temper.”3 When the regiment withdrew in June 1848, Griffiths returned to Britain and penned a hearty denial of the charges of Alexander Isbister and others against Hudson’s Bay Company activities in the colony.4
His support of the company, alleged by John McGloughlin to have been purchased, may have led him to expect a positive response to his offer in 1849 to lead a troop to, and presumably become governor of,
Vancouver Island. This can be seen in
this despatch.
5 - 1. E.E. Rich, History of the Hudson's Bay Company, 1670-1870, vol. 2: 1763-1870 (London: Hudson's Bay Record Society, 1959), 542-43.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. K. Wilson, Crofton, John Ffolliott, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 4. Alexander Kennedy Isbister, comp., Hudson's Bay Company (Red River Settlement), (London: Queen's Printer, 1849), 109-12.
- 5. John S. Galbraith, The Hudson's Bay Company as an Imperial Factor, 1821-1869 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1957), 321.
- Guazzaroni, J. J.
J.J. Guazzaroni was a second class clerk in the first section of the Paymaster General's Department.
Imperial Calendar, 1858, p. 103. BCPO 133.6.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Guise, Captain
Captain Guise was the captain of a merchant-vessel on Strange's trade expedition that arrived in the Pacific Northwest in 1786. While off the coast of Vancouver Island, Guise and fellow merchant-vessel captain, Lowrie, named Cape Scott after David Scott, one of the financiers of the expedition.1
- 1. Cape Scott, BC Geographical Information System.
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Guthrie, William Logie
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Hagarty, Judge John Hawkins (1816-1900)
Judge John Hagarty, of Toronto, was born and educated in Ireland but had a long and distinguised legal career in Canada.
BCCOR 255.4. Dictionary of Canadian Biography (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1966-) Vol.12.
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Halcrow, Gideon Fifford
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Halfhide, George
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Halksworth, William
William Halksworth was an assistant clerk in the Colonial Office. He joined the service on 19 May 1828, and then served as private secretary to the undersecretary of state from 30 April 1831 to 30 September 1832 and again from 1 April 1837 to 31 December 1847.
He served as supernumerary clerk from 4 June to 29 August 1840, as assistant junior clerk from 29 August 1840 to 31 March 1846, as junior clerk from 31 March 1846 to 31 March 1857, and as assistant clerk from 31 March 1857 to 24 October 1859. He then accepted the post of librarian, remaining until his retirement on 1 July 1870.
Office-Holders, Colonial Office, p. 41; Colonial Office List 1864, p. 181.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Hall, Thomas
Described as “a white settler” in
this document, Hall was involved in a legal conflict with Tenasman, chief of the
Soke Tribe, who claimed Hall had cheated him in an unfair rifle sale.
Douglas ultimately ruled on the side of Hall, but the case made him reconsider the admittance of Indigenous testimony in certain legal situations.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Hall, V.
Clerk of Municipal Council of New Westminster.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Haller, Major
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Hamber, Fred M.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Hamburger
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Hamilton, Lord Claud (1813-1834)
Lord Claud Hamilton was born in London in 1813. Educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge, he represented Tyrone County in Parliament from 1835 to 1837 and again from 1839 to 1874. Hamilton served as treasurer of the household from March to December 1852 and from March 1858 to June 1859.
In 1855, he became lieutenant colonel commandant of the Donegal Militia. He served as vice chamberlain from July 1866 to December 1868. Hamilton died at his home in Portland Place, London, on 3 June 1884.
Michael Stenton, Who's Who of British Members of Parliament Vol.1, 1832-1885 (Sussex, England: Harvester Press, 1976-1981); London Times, 4 June 1884.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Hamilton, George Alexander (1802-1871)
Hamilton was Secretary of the Treasury from March to December 1852, and again from March 1858 to January 1859, when he was appointed permanent secretary. He became a member of the Privy Council on 7 August 1869. He died at Kingstown, Ireland, on 17 September 1871.2
George Alexander Hamilton was born at Tyrellas, County Down, Ireland, on 29 August 1802. He attended Rugby School and Trinity College, Oxford, receiving a B.A. degree in 1822. He ran for the seat in the House of Commons for Dublin several times, holding it briefly in 1835.1
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Hamilton, 9th Earl of Haddington Thomas
(1780-1858)
Thomas Hamilton, who was known as Lord Binning, or “Binny,” before he succeeded his father as the 9th Earl of Haddington, had “a remarkable appetite for politics.” Hamilton was the lord lieutenant of Ireland from 1834 to 1835; in 1841 he declined the position of governor general of India, and instead became first lord of the Admiralty.1
- Hamilton, William Alexander Baille
(1803-1881)
Hamilton was private secretary to the Admiralty from 1845 to 1855, and would become an admiral himself in 1865 (Darwin Correspondence Project,
William Alexander Baillie Hamilton, Darwin Correspondence Project).
- Hamley, Lieutenant Colonel Edward Bruce (1824-1893)
Lt. Col. Edward Bruce Hamley was a younger brother of
Wymond O.Hamley.Later a general, Hamley served in the Crimean War and was later commandant of the staff college. He also commanded the second division in the Egyptian Campaign in 1882 and at Tet-el-Kebir. Hamley received the K.C.B. and the K.C.M.G.
Victoria Daily Colonist, 16 January 1907, p. 7. BCCOR 201.1. See also Alexander Innes Shand, The Life of General Sir Edward Bruce Hamley, 2 vols. (W. Blackwood and Sons: London, 1895).
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Hamley, Wymond Ogilvy (1818-1907)
Wymond Ogilvy Hamley, customs collector, was born in Bodmin, Cornwall, England. Third son of Vice Admiral William Hamley, R.N. Hamley first joined the Royal Navy, then transferred to the civil service. Accepting the appointment of customs collector for the colony of British Columbia, Hamley arrived at Esquimalt on 12 April 1859. He remained as collector of customs in New Westminster to 1868, when he the relocation of the capital required him to move. Superannuated in December 1889, Hamley remained in Victoria until his death on 15 January 1907.1
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Hammersley, F.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Harding, John D.
John D. Harding, D.C.L., was Queen's Advocate in the High Court of Admiralty in 1858.
Imperial Calendar, 1859. Law List 1858. BCPO 98.6.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Hardy, Gathorne (1814-1906)
Gathorne Hardy, under-secretary of the Home Office, was born at Bradford, in northern England, on 1 October 1814. He was educated at Shrewsbury and Oriel College, Oxford, where he received his B.A. in 1836, and was called to the bar at the Inner Temple on 8 May 1840. Hardy entered the House of Commons as the member for Leominster in 1856, holding that post for the next nine years.
He became under secretary for the Home Office on 3 March 1858, remaining until 17 June 1859. He was president of the Poor Law Board from July 1866 to May 1867, when he accepted the appointment of secretary of state for the Home Office, which he held until December 1868. Hardy was appointed secretary of state for the War Office in February 1874. He was created Viscount Cranbrook in 1878, was secretary of state for India from 1878 to 1880, and advanced to an earldom in 1892. Hardy died on 30 October 1906.
London Times, 31 October 1906, p. 4. See also Michael Stenton, Who's Who of British Members of Parliament Vol.1, 1832-1885 (Sussex, England: Harvester Press, 1976-1981) p. 180, Office-Holders, Home Office, p. 52, and Law List 1858, p. 50, BCPO 97.3..
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Hardy, Vice Admiral Sir Thomas Masterman
(1769-1839)
Vice Admiral Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy, after whom Hardy Bay, Hardy Island, Hardy Peak, and Port Hardy were named,1 was one of the Royal Navy captains who served under Rear Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson, a group known as “Nelson’s band of brothers.”2 Hardy was present at the time of Nelson’s death, at the battle of Trafalgar, in 1805, where Nelson’s famous dying words were “Kiss me, Hardy.”3
In 1815, Hardy, who had a long and illustrious naval career, acquired the rank of Knight Commander of The Most Honourable Order of the Bath [KCB]; he rose to the position of first sea lord in 1830; and, in 1831, he acquired the rank of Knight Grand Cross [GCB]. During much of Hardy’s late career, as governor of the Royal Naval Hospital at Greenwich, he desperately tried to improve the care and condition of pensioners.4
- 1. Andrew Scott, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Placenames (Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing, 2009), 249.
- 2. Andrew Lambert, Nelson's band of brothers, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- 3. J.K. Laughton, rev. Andrew Lambert, Hardy, Sir Thomas Masterman, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online.
- 4. Ibid.
- Hare, Archdeacon J. C.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Harney, General William Selby (1800-1889)
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Haro, Gonzalo López de
(d. 1823)
In 1788, Gonzalo López de Haro, along with Lieutenant Estéban Martínez, led a Spanish expedition to the Pacific Northwest. During the voyage, López de Haro and Martínez collected information about the increased activity of the British and the Russians in the Pacific Northwest; this information strengthened Spain’s desire to occupy Nootka Sound.1
Spanish Naval officer Manuel Quimper named the Haro Strait after López de Haro, who served as the 1st officer on Quimper’s 1790 voyage to Nootka Sound, and made a “historic survey” of Juan de Fuca Strait. Gonzalo López de Haro’s name is attached to several places and features in British Columbia, including Gonzales Bay, Gonzales Hill, Gonzales Point, and López Island.2
- 1. Andrew Scott, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Placenames (Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing, 2009), 250.
- 2. Ibid.
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Harrison, Edmund
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Harrowsmith, J.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Hart, William H. A.
William H. A. Hart.
BCPO 104.1.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Hartland, W.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Havelock, Brigadier General
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Hawes, Benjamin (1797-1862)
Benjamin Hawes, permanent under secretary for colonies, and deputy secretary at the war department, was born in London in 1797.1 He was a magistrate and deputy lieutenant for Surrey before being elected to represent the borough of Lambeth in 12 December 1832.2 Hawes held this seat until 1847 and represented Kinsale from 11 March 1848 to 1852.4
He became under-secretary in the Colonial Office on 6 July 1846, then deputy secretary in the War Office on 31 October 1851, resigning his seat in Parliament in 1852, and in 1857 he became permanent under-secretary.5 Hawes received a K.C.B. on 5 February 1856 and remained in office until his death at Westminster on 15 May 1862.6
- 1. Ged Martin, Hawes, Sir Benjamin, Oxfordd Dictionary of National Biography.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Ibid.
- 5. Ibid.
- 6. Ibid.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Hawkins, Reverand Ernest (1802-1868)
The Rev. Ernest Hawkins was born at Lawrence End on 25 January 1802.1 He was educated at Bedford and matriculated from Balliol College, Oxford, on 19 April 1820, receiving his B.A. in 1824, his M.A. in 1827, and his B.D. in 1839.2
He began his work with the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in 1838 as under-secretary, becoming secretary of the society in 1843, after which the income of the society increased fivefold and the colonial episcopates increased from eight sees to forty-seven.3 In 1859, Hawkins served as vice-president of Bishop's College, Cape Town, South Africa.4 He retired from the society's service in 1864 and became canon at Westminster, where he died on 5 October 1868.5
- 1. Clare Brown, Hawkins, Ernest, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Ibid.
- 5. Ibid.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Hawkins, George Frederick
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Hawkins, Lieutenant Colonel John Summerfield (1812-1895)
Lt. Col. John Summerfield Hawkins was born in Staffordshire, England, and raised in Ceylon [Sri Lanka] until he was 10, when he was sent to school in England, later entering the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich. He obtained his commission in the Royal Engineers on 12 December 1834, becoming a first lieutenant on 10 January 1837, second captain on 1 April 1846, captain on 1 April 1852, brevet-major on 14 June 1858, and lieutenant-colonel on 12 August 1858.
He served as Her Majesty's commissioner for the North American Boundary Commission from 1858 to October 1863. A captain at the time of his appointment, Hawkins was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 12 August 1858. In the autumn of 1863, he was appointed commander of the Royal Engineers at Woolwich, remaining there until May 1867. He was made colonel in 1868, commanding the Royal Engineers in Barbados from May 1867 to May 1870 and in Ireland from 1871 to 1874. He returned home in 1874; he was promoted lieutenant-general in 1877 and general in 1881, although no longer in active service.
Hawkins was knighted upon his retirement in 1881 and held the rank of colonel commandant in the Royal Engineers until 1884. He died on 10 January 1895 at St.Leonard's, Great Malvern.
London Times, 14 January 1895, p. 6; General Sir John Summerfield Hawkins, K.C.M.G., Royal Engineers Journal, 25, no. 292 (1 March 1895): 56-58. VI 43.3.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Hawksley, Thomas
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Hay, J. H.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Head, Sir Edmund Walker (1805-1868)
Sir Edmund Walker Head, was born at Wiarton Place, near Maidstone, England, on 16 February 1805. He received his B.A. from Oriel College, Oxford, in 1827. He then travelled and lectured at Merton College, Oxford, from 1827 to 1836, when he entered the civil service as an assistant Poor Law commissioner.1 When the Poor Law Act lapsed in 1847, Head accepted the position of lieutenant governor of New Brunswick, arriving in Frederickton on 11 April 1848.2
On 20 May 1848, he formed the first responsible government in New Brunswick, and, after a successful career there, became governor general of Canada on 19 December 1854.3 Head was a strong advocate of the union of the British North American colonies; he also promoted improved relations with the United States.4 Head returned to England in October 1861.5 On 2 July 1863, he was elected governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, a post he held until his death in London on 28 January 1868.6
- 1. James A. Gibson, Head, Sir Edmund Walker, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Ibid.
- 5. Ibid.
- 6. Ibid.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Heath, Townshend
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Hebden, G. H.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Heinke, Colonial Engineer W.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Helby, Lieutenant A. T. H.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Helmcken, J. S.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Helps, Arthur
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Henley, M.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Henry, R. P.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Herbert, Hendry Howard Molyneux
Herbert, Hendry Howard Molyneux. See Carnarvon entry.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Lea Sidney
(1810-1861)
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Heseltine, John
Son of Sam R. Heseltine.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Heseltine, Sam R.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Hewey, Colonel Andrew
In
this despatch, Hewey writes a reference for
Blanshard's application for Crown employment, following
Blandshard's resignation as governor of
Vancouver Island.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Hicks, Richard
What is known of Hicks appears in several newspaper articles. According to one report, George Cade, secretary of a miner's meeting at Hill's Bar, chaired a meeting to have Richard Hicks, the assistant commissioner of crown lands at Fort Yale, dismissed from his post.1 Hicks posts a rather personal statement: "Notice. My wife, Orinda Hicks, having left me this day, without cause, I will not be accountable for any debts she may incur in her own or my name. Richard Hicks.British Columbia, March 16, 1859."2
Nefarious accounts haunt Hicks again, this time in the following scathing accusation: "Hicks, in common with Travalie, (the Commissioner at Thompson river) has been guilty of many acts of wholesale corruption since his appointment by Governor Douglas....Can there be a more striking illustration of the unfitness of Governor Douglas for the high and responsible position he at present holds, than the appointment of two such men as Hicks and Travalie?."3
- 1.Victoria Gazette, 26 October, and 6 November 1858.
- 2. Victoria Gazette, May 14, 1859, p. 2.
- 3. Fort Yale, Feb. 24, 1859 , The British Colonist, 5 March 1859, p. 3.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Higgins, William Frederick
William Frederick Higgins entered the Colonial Office as a supernumerary clerk on 1 August 1838. He was promoted assistant junior clerk on 30 November 1839, junior clerk on 1 July 1843, and assistant clerk on 31 March 1857.
During his years with the Colonial Office, Higgins served as private secretary to the various undersecretaries of state from 31 December 1847 to 31 October 1858. Higgins resigned then to accept appointment as registrar of the court of bankruptcy, to which court he was appointed master the court in November 1863.
Office-Holders, Colonial Office, p. 42; Colonial Office List 1864, p. 183.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Higginson, H.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Hill
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Hill, Captain Bennett H.
According to
this despatch, Captain Bennett H. Hill, who was commandant of the U.S. military post at
Chelakom, requested permission from
Blanshard to send a force to
Vancouver Island in order to detain two military deserters who had fled to
the island on an HBC schooner.
Blanshard, however, denied Hill’s request.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Hill, Frederic
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Hill, Sir Rowland
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Hills, George (1816-1895)
George Hills, bishop designate of British Columbia, was born at Egthorne, near Dover. He was educated at University College, Durham, receiving a B.A. in 1835 and M.A. in 1838. Ordained in 1840, he became honorary canon of Norwich and vicar of Great Yarmouth in 1850.
In 1859, in Westminster Abbey, Hills was consecrated Bishop of Columbia; he remained in charge of the Victoria Diocese from 1860 to 1892. In 1879 the separate dioceses of New Westminster and Caledonia were formed. Hills died at Parham vicarage, in Suffolk, England, 1895.
Crockfords 1870, p. 155; Clergy List 1858. See also UBCSPCOLL, Anglican Archives at VST.More info: London Times 28 February 1859, p. 12, Victoria Daily Colonist 3 June 1956, p. 5. BCPO 98.2. Dictionary of Canadian Biography (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1966-) Vol.12.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Hincks, Sir Francis
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Hitchcock, William
Worked as a "melter."
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Hoare, Esquire John Gurney
A banker.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Hodge
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Hodge, William
William Hodge was secretary of the Pacific Mail Steam Packet Company, based in Washington, D.C.
BCDES 32.2.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Holbrook, Henry
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Hole, Captain
Capt. Hole of R.M.S.P. Medway.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Hollicott, Major John
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Holloway, Robert
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Holloway, T.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Holloway, Thomas
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Holroyd
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Homer, J. A. R.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Hoo-Saw-Eye
According to
this letter, "Hoo-saw-eye," an obvious Anglicization, was the name of
Captain John Dolholt's mother-in-law, who was, apparently, abducted by a group of Aboriginal People at
Fort Rupert.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Hood, Alex
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Hood, Jim
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Hopkins,
Gerard Manley (1844-1889)
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Horn
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Hornby, Sir Admiral Phipps
(1785-1867)
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Hotham, Sir Charles
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Houstoun, Captain Wallace
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Hovey
Mr. Hovey, gold miner. Possibly Richard Hovey, who in 1862 was fined £3 for assaulting an Indigenous woman and was ordered to place an £80 bond to ensure his good behaviour for six months. Six weeks later he was remanded to prison for three days for smashing glasses in a saloon while drunk.
Victoria Daily British Colonist, 5 April, 20 May 1862. BCDES 52.1.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Howe, Alex B.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Howe, Earl
Several "Earls of Howe" exist at this time. It is likely that this record refers to Richard William Penn Curzon-Howe, 3rd Earl Howe.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Howison, Captain
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Huggins, William
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Hui, Joseph
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Humphreys, Charles
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Hunt, Captain L. C.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Hunter, B. H.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Huntly, Admiral Gordon
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Hurtado, J. M.
J.M. Hurtado, was an agent for the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company at Panama.
BCPO 112.3.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
II, King Charles
(1630-1685)
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Imrie
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Ireland, Esquire John
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Irvine, W. Douglas
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Irving, Henry Turner
Henry Turner Irving was appointed assistant junior clerk in the Colonial Office on 4 December 1854 and was promoted to junior clerk on 1 November 1858 and assistant clerk on 23 April 1863. He served as private secretary to Secretary of State
Henry Labouchere from 25 May to 1 June 1856, and to under-secretary
Frederic Rogers from March 1862 to April 1863. He resigned from the Colonial Office in May 1869 to accept the position of colonial secretary in Ceylon [Sri Lanka].
Office-Holders, Colonial Office, p. 43, Colonial Office List 1864, p. 186.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Irving, John
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Isaacs, William
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Isbister, Alexander K.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Isbister, William
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Itter, William
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Jackson, Thomas
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Jadis, Vane
Vane Jadis was appointed assistant junior clerk in the Colonial Office on 6 August 1827 and promoted to junior clerk on 28 January 1829. He served as assistant clerk from 31 March 1846 to 1 October 1867, when he retired.
Office-Holders, Colonial Office, p. 43, Colonial Office List 1864, p. 186.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- James, Colonel Henry (1803-1877)
Col. Henry James, was born at Rose-in-Vale, near St. Anges, Cornwall. He attended Exeter and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, before joining the Royal Engineers in 1825. In 1827 he was appointed to the Ordnance Survey, remaining there until 1843, when he was appointed local superintendent of the Geological Survey of Ireland.
James joined the Admiralty in 1846, returning to the Ordnance Survey in 1850. On 16 December 1854, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel, and on 22 August 1857 he was appointed director of the Topographical and Statistical Department of the War Office. James became a colonel on 16 December 1857, was knighted in 1860, and promoted to lieutenant general on 21 November 1874. He resigned from the Ordnance Survey in August 1875 and died on 14 June 1877 at Southampton.
Dictionary of National Biography (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1900-) 10, pp. 647-50. BCPO 151.3.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Jefferson
A Skidegate First Nation chief.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Jenkins, Captain John
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Jenkinson, Lord Liverpool Charles Cecil Cope
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Jenner
The Queen's Advocate.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Jervis, Sir John
(1802-1856)
Jervis was a political and legal heavyweight in his day, and when he died suddenly, at the age of fifty-five, likely from lung cancer, he rattled his colleagues and profession. His education began in Westminster School in 1815; from there he enrolled at Middle Temple in 1819 and matriculated at Trinity College, Cambridge, that same year. However, Jervis did not complete his degree. Instead, he took a two year army commission as a carabinier, after which he returned to his law studies. He married Catherine Jane, daughter of Alexander Mundell of Great George Street, Westminster, in November of 1823. The couple had three sons and two daughters. Jervis was a staunch Liberal, but a pragmatist at heart. As a judge, he ushered in a variety of controversial law reforms, especially during the 1840s. In 1850 he was appointed chief justice of common pleas against a backdrop of professional jockeying (Joshua S. Getzler,
Jervis, Sir John, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography).
In his role as Attorney General, Jervis, along with Solicitor General
David Dundas, was instrumental in the Crown's deliberations on the Hudson's Bay Company's land-grant status following the Oregon Treaty of 1846. The two men signed-off on a "Case," attached to an
1847 despatch, that detailed the complex legal arguments surrounding the HBC's position.
- Jim, Captain
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
John, Captain
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Johns, Captain
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Johns, Henry
A merchant.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Johns, Louisa
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Johnson, Commander Charles Richardson (d. 1882)
Commander Charles Richardson Johnson joined the British Royal Navy in 1826 and served as lieutenant on a number of vessels before he became commander of the H.M.S. Driver, in 1847.1
-
Johnston, George Frederick
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Johnston, John Henry
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Johnston, William C.
William C. Johnston was a California miner.
VI 24.1.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Johnstone, James
(1759-1823)
James Johnstone, after whom Vancouver named Johnstone Strait, undertook the first survey of the strait which would later bear his name.1
Johnstone’s fist naval post was on the Kepel, but he later served on a merchantman, the Prince of Whales, upon which he sailed to the Pacific Coast from 1786 to 1789. Johstone’s previous knowledge of the area likely factored into Vancouver’s decision to appoint him master of the Chatham on Vancouver’s expedition that arrived on the Pacific Coast in 1792.2
Johnstone would eventually become commander of the Chatham in 1802, and post captain in 1806.3 Johnstone also took part in the 1810 capture of Mauritius, before he served as the Royal Navy commissioner at Bombay from 1811 to 1817. Johnstone died in Paris in 1823.4
- 1. John T. Walbran, British Columbia Coast Names (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1971), 271.
- 2. Ibid, 271-272.
- 3. Andrew Scott, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Placenames (Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing, 2009), 294.
- 4. Ibid, 293.
-
Jones
According to
Douglas, in this
this document, Mr. Jones, no first name given, was "the oldest and principal settler" in the
Lillooet Lake area when
Douglas visited the area in 1860.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Jones, Lieutenant Howard Sutton (1835-1912)
Lieut. Howard Sutton Jones, R.M., was first lieutenant on the Satellite with the North American Boundary Commission from October 1856 to 1861. He joined the Royal Marines in 1853 and served in the Baltic expedition of 1855 and the expeditionary force in Egypt in 1882. He was knighted for services in 1897 and retired in 1900.
See the London Times, 10 December 1912. See also Navy List, April 1859, p. 299. VI 44.2. Check sources.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Joseph, Sidney
According to a minute-entry in
this despatch, written in 1860, Joseph was to prepare "a Blue Book for Parliament" on the subject of
British Columbia.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Jourdan
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Julyan, Penrose Goodchild
Penrose Goodchild Julyan entered into partnership with
Edward Barnard in late 1858. Thereafter until 1876 he and Barnard served as crown agents for the colonies.
IC, ref needed. BCPO 89.2.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Kean, George
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Keating, J. W.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Kelcher, Michael
Michael Kelcher, an army pensioner, moved to Vancouver Island in October 1858. By June 1860 he had returned to Liverpool.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Kellett, Captain Henry
(1806-1875)
Kellett was appointed command of the
Herald, in which he surveyed
Vancouver Island and West Coast waters, in 1846, and in 1852 he commissioned a ship to search for the missing Franklin expedition (J.K. Laughton,
Sir Henry Kellett, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography)
-
Kelly, Sir Fitzroy Edward
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Kelly, William
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Kennedy
In
this despatch, Mrs.Kennedy is described as "the mother of
Mr. Kennedy's children." She was, apparently, stabbed during the sacking and burning of the
Una.
The HBC biographical sheets record that she was "an Indian woman," and nothing further (Hudson's Bay Archives,
Kennedy, John Frederick [PDF], HBC Archives: Biographical Sheets).
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Kennedy, John Frederick (1805-1859)
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Kernaghan, W.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Kerrigan
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Khipffell, L.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- King, Edward Hammond (1832-1861)
Edward Hammond King, newspaper publisher, was born on 12 July 1832 at Stoke Damerel, Devonshire, England. He entered the army in 1851, became lieutenant on 3 March 1854, transferred to the 27th Regiment in February 1855 and took the post of paymaster of the 59th Regiment on 10 August of that year.1
After serving in India and China, he retired from the army on 16 October 1857. In 1859, King brought his family to
Vancouver Island and became a printer and publisher, joining Leonard McClure to produce the
Government Gazette for the colonies of
Vancouver Island and
British Columbia; the first issue appeared on 10 September 1859, and they sold the paper to
George Elmes Nias on 13 March 1860. King also published the
New Westminster Times from 17 September 1859 to 3 March 1860; with the assistance of Coote M. Chambers, King and McLure launched the second
Victoria Gazette on 5 December 1859. King sold it to
Nias on 16 April 1860, and it ceased publication in July of that year.
2 In 1860, Edward Edwards Langford accused King of publishing a parody of his election address and sued him for libel. King was cleared of the charge, but on leaving the court, assaulted Edward Graham Alston, a barrister who had been watching the trial, and was arrested and sentenced to one month in prison for contempt of court. He was pardoned on 17 November. King died on 7 March 1861 from gunshot wounds received while hunting near Dodger Cove in Barkley Sound.
- 1. Sydney G. Pettit, King, Edward Hammond, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- King, William
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Kingscote, Henry
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Kinloch, John
John Kinloch, late Inspector General of the British German Legion. The Legion was a unit of German volunteers raised for the Crimean War and settled in South Africa and other British colonies when the war ended.
BCCOR 252.3.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Konsow, N.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Krinkhard, W. H.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Kuper, Captain Augustus L.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- L'Estrange, Justice of the Peace C.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Labouchere, Henry (1798-1869)
Henry Labouchere, secretary of state for the colonies, was born on 15 August 1798 and was educated at Winchester and Christ Church, Oxford, where he received a B.A. in 1821 and M.A. in 1828. He was admitted to Lincoln's Inn on 30 April 1817 but was never called to the bar. In April 1826, Labouchere was elected to the House of Commons, representing Michael Borough; in 1830 he was elected for Taunton, which he represented until his retirement from the Commons in 1852.
He joined the Admiralty in June 1832 and in 1835 became master of the mint. On 6 May 1835, he was admitted to the Privy Council and became vice president and, on 29 August, 1830 president of the Board of Trade. From February to August 1839, he served as undersecretary of war and the colonies. After Lord Melbourne's resignation in September 1841, Labouchere retired from office, but on 22 July 1847, he was again appointed president of the Board of Trade, remaining until February 1852.
He was secretary of state for the colonies from 21 November 1855 to February 1858. In August 1859, he was created Baron Taunton, and took a seat in the House of Lords in January 1860. Labouchere held no other ministerial offices after 1858. He died in London on 13 July 1869.
Dictionary of National Biography (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1900-) 11, pp. 376-69. VI 6.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Lacy, Lieutenant Edward
Lacy served under
Captain Fanshawe on the
Daphne. As
this document and
another show, Lacy led the attack against a Nahwitti village, over the death of three British seamen.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Ladner, Robert
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Ladner, William Henry (1825-1907)
William Henry Ladner, businessman, was born in Cornwall, England, in October 1825. Coming to North America in 1848, he settled in Wisconsin with his father and, later, his younger brother. Ladner travelled to California in 1852, arriving in British Columbia in May 1858. Sometime around 1860, he began running pack trains from the interior to the coast, joining in a partnership with Robert T. Smith around 1864-65.
Ladner had turned to cattle breeding by 1870, and he settled at the site of Ladner near the mouth of the Fraser. He became reeve of Ladner in 1880 and served as an MLA from 1885 to 1890. Ladner died on 1 November 1907.
Dictionary of Canadian Biography (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1966-); Vol.13, Victoria Colonist, 24 April 1861, 6 July and 14 August 1865; Mainland Guardian, 4 June 1870. See also Ronald Greene, The Demise of Macdonald's Bank, Canada West Magazine Vol. 7, No. 4 (Fall 1983): 17-27, about his partnership with Robert T. Smith.Leon Johnson Ladner, The Ladners of Ladner: By Covered Wagon to the Welfare State (Mitchell Press: Vancouver, 1972). BCDES 6.7.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Lafone
According to minutes attached to
this despatch, Lafone proposed the establishment of a company, the terms for which
Merivale compared to the recent requests of another proposed company–the “Vancouver's Island Sawing Mill and Agricultural Company.”
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Laing, J.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Laing, Robert
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Lamb, Lady Palmerston [formerly, Lady Cowper] Emily
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Lancashire
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Lane, General Joseph
Joseph Lane served in the House of Representatives of Indiana from 1822 to 1846. During the Mexican War he became a brigadier general and participated in several actions.1
President Polk appointed him governor of Oregon Territory in 1848 for his services.2 When he arrived in the territory in March of 1849, he took an amicable stance towards the Hudson’s Bay Company and the winding up of its affairs.3
He remained friendly to the company during his subsequent tenure as congressman and senator of Oregon.4 His support for slavery, however, undercut his campaigns to become president in 1852 and later, vice-president.5
- 1. Chicago: Chapman Publishing Co., Portrait and Biographical Record of Western Oregon, (Chicago: Chapman Publishing Co., 1904), 620-1.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. John S. Galbraith, The Hudson's Bay Company as an Imperial Factor, 1821-1869 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1957), 321.
- 4. Ibid.
- 5. V. Germano, comp., Guide to the Joseph Lane papers, 1848-1887, Northwest Digital Archives.
- Langford, Edward E. (1809-1895)
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Langley, Alfred John
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Laroche, Fenwick
A merchant.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Laroche, Thomas William
A merchant.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Lawford, T. W.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Lawrence
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Le Grosley, Helier
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Le Marchant, D.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Leach, Stephan
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Leahy, Edmund
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Leavings, Richard
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Leclerc, Aimie
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Lefroy, Chief Justice
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Leigh, 3rd Lord Leigh Francis Dudley
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Leigh, William
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Lemon, John
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Lempfrit, Padre
Padre Lempfrit was a Roman Catholic missionary present in
Victoria from 1851 to 1852. He was described in
this document by
Douglas as “very zealous and energetic.” The same document details Lempfrit’s rescue from the
Cowichan region after he attempted to establish a Mission there alone.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Lempriere, Lieutenant
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Leonard, H. B.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Levi, S. D.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Lewes, John S.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Lewis, George C.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Ley, J. H.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Lindley, Doctor John
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Lindsay, W. S.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Litchfield, Doctor J. P.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Lloyd, J. M.
J.M. Lloyd was probably a clerk in the office of R.T. Reep, secretary of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company because he wrote letters on Reep's behalf.
BCPO 100.3.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Locke, J. W. T.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Lonsdale, Bishop of Lichfield John
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Lougheed, Doctor W.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Lowenberg
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Lowrie, Captain
Captain Lowrie, who, according to Scott, may have actually been Henry Laurie, was the master of the Captain Cook on Strange’s 1786 expedition to the Pacific Coast.1 While on this voyage, Lowrie, along with John Guise, captain of the Experiment, named Cape Scott after David Scott, one of the financiers of the expedition.2 Lowrie also lends his name to Lowrie Bay, located on the north-west coast of Vancouver Island.3
- 1. Andrew Scott, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Placenames (Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing, 2009), 345.
- 2. Ibid, 345-346.
- 3. Ibid, 345.
- Luard, Captain Henry Reynolds
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Luard, Sir William Garnham
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Lucas, John
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Lugard, Edward
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Lyall, Doctor
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Lyons, First Viscount Lyons Richard Bickerton Pemell (1817-1887)
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Lytton, Sir Edward George Earle Bulwer (1803-1873)
Sir Edward George Earle Bulwer Lytton, secretary of state for the colonies, was born in London on 25 May 1803. He received a B.A. from Trinity Hall, Cambridge, in 1826 and a M.A. in 1835. He entered politics in 1831, representing St. Ives, Huntingdonshire, in the House of Commons, but he lost his seat in 1841. He then left politics for several years, travelling extensively and writing numerous works of both fiction and nonfiction, including articles, poems, plays, and novels.
He returned to politics in 1852 as representative for Hertfordshire, where Knebworth was located, and served as secretary of state for the colonies from 1858 to 1859. After being elevated to the peerage in 1866, Lytton reduced his political activity and returned to his writing. He died at Torquay on 18 January 1873.
Dictionary of National Biography (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1900-) 12, pp. 380-87.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Maberly, William Leader (1798-1885)
William Leader Maberly, auditor, was born on 7 May 1798. He entered the army as lieutenant on 23 March 1815, rising to captain, major, and lieutenant colonel before his retirement from the army on 1 July 1881. Maberly was also an M.P., representing Westbury in 1819-20, Northampton from 1820 to 1830, Shaftesbury in 1831-32, and Chatham from 1832 to 1834. He served as as surveyor-general of the ordnance from 1831 to 1832, clerk of the ordnance in 1833-34, and commissioner of customs from 1834 to 1836, before entering the post office, where he worked as a joint secretary from 1836 to 1846 and as a permanent secretary from 1846 to 1854. Maberly then transferred to the Board of Audit, remaining there from 1854 to 1866. He died in London on 6 February 1885.
Dictionary of National Biography (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1900-) 12, pp. 394-95. BCPO 139.5.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Macauley, Donald (d. 1868)
Donald Macaulay worked for the Puget Sound Agricultural Company and ran their Viewfield farm, located between
Esquimalt and
Victoria.
1 He appears in
this letter from
Moresby to
Grey.
Originally from Scotland, Macaulay arrived on the Pacific coast in 1834 and served under Captain McNeill before being stationed at Fort Simpson in 1837.2 He left Viewfield in 1860 to rejoin the HBC and served again at Fort Simpson.3 He returned to Victoria in 1868 to take charge of the Company’s powder magazine at Esquimalt, but instead drowned accidentally in the harbour.4
Macaulay Point, formerly known as Sailor Point, was named after him by officers of the HBC in 1851 and adopted by Captain Richards when he resurveyed the harbour in 1859.5 The “Macaulay” in Macaulay Point was previously spelled “McAuley” in the British Colonist.6
- 1. John T. Walbran, British Columbia Coast Names (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1971), 309-10.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Ibid.
- 5. Ibid.
- 6. “The Accident to the ‘Carolena’.”, The British Colonist, October 8, 1861.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Macdonald
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Macdonald, D. G. F.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
MacDonald, John William
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Macdonald, W. J.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Mackenzie, Sir Alexander
(1764-1820)
Alexander Mackenzie was a trader and explorer who published a journal of his travels throughout North America. Born in Scotland, Mackenzie came to New York in 1774 with his father, Kenneth Mackenzie, and two aunts, who took care of him. In 1778, Alexander’s aunts sent him to Montreal for schooling, and, in 1779, he joined a fur-trade company that would later be amalgamated into the North West Company, of which Mackenzie would receive a partner’s share.1
In 1788, Mackenzie headed the North West Company’s Athabasca post, and, a year later, the company ordered him to find route, navigable by water, to the Pacific Ocean. Mackenzie departed on his first voyage from the newly built from Fort Chipewyan in June 1789 and travelled the length of the Mackenzie River only to arrive at Garry Island, Northwest Territory.2
Makenzie set out on a second voyage in October 1792; he hoped to find a river on the western descent of the Rocky Mountains with which he could follow to the coast. He entered the Fraser River, which he though was the Columbia, and traversed it until he met First Nations individuals who counselled Mackenzie not to continue on that route, but instead, take the valley of the West Road River westward, advice which Mackenzie heeded.3
Mackenzie’s party proceeded down the Bella Coola River into North Bentinck Arm and further into Dean Channel, where in a mixture of vermillion and melted grease Mackenzie wrote on a rock “Alexander Mackenzie, from Canada, by land, the twenty-second of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three.” Alexander Mackenzie’s route, however, was too difficult to be a feasible trade route.4
In 1804, Mackenzie represented Huntington in the Lower Canada House of Assembly, and was also involved in Selkirk’s Red River Settlement, but had withdrawn to Scotland before the height of the colony’s problems. He married Geddes Mackenzie in April 1812, and the couple would have a daughter, and two sons. Mackenzie died in January 1820 at an inn outside of Dunkeld, Scotland.5
- Mackinnon, Sir George
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- MacLachlan, A. M.
A. M. MacLachlan, Gen. Chief Inspector of Revenue Police.
BCCOR 209.3.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Maclean, G.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- MacTavish, Dugald (1817-1871)
Dugald MacTavish, fur trader, was born in Argyllshire, Scotland, on 10 August 1817. He joined the Hudson's Bay Company as an apprentice clerk on 2 January 1833, travelling first to Moose Factory, then to Michipicoten on Lake Superior in 1835, and to Lachine in 1838.
In June 1839, he was posted to
Fort Vancouver and became a clerk first class in June 1841. He regularly travelled east with the annual express brigades from the Columbia Department. MacTavish was promoted to chief trader on 1 June 1846 and placed in charge of the company's agency in
Hawaii. Promoted to chief factor in 1851, he returned to
Fort Vancouver in September 1853 to manage the company's new Oregon Department, remaining there until June 1858, when he moved to
Fort Victoria and replaced
Douglas, who resigned to accept the governorship of
British Columbia.
While there he and John Work prepared a report on Hudson's Bay Company claims to land in British Columbia. MacTavish returned to England on sick leave in February 1859, returning to British Columbia in June 1860; he returned to England in November 1863. On 28 October 1864, MacTavish left London for Washington, D.C., to present the Hudson's Bay Company's claims to the joint Anglo-American commission to settle the company claims in Oregon. He returned to London when the commissions' work was completed in 1867, only to be called back to Montreal to fill the position vacated by Chief Factor Donald A. Smith. MacTavish died in Montreal on 24 May 1871.
Dictionary of Canadian Biography (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1966-) Vol. 10, pp. 485-87. BCDES 58.2.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Magee, Joshua Michael
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Magin, Captain
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Mainwaring, Lieutenant Colonel Frederick
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Maitland, Rear Admiral Sir Thomas
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Malcolm, Admiral Sir Pulteney
(1768-1838)
Born in Douglan, Scotland, on 20 February 1768, Rear Admiral Sir Pulteney Malcolm, at the age of 10, served on the Sybil, a Royal Navy vessel commanded by his uncle. Malcolm served on a number of Royal Navy vessels and rose quickly up the naval ranks.1
As post captain, Pulteney accompanied a caravan of merchant vessels to the Mediterranean, after which he served at Quebec for a period. Pulteney served at several locales throughout the rest of his naval career, including the North Sea, the East Indes, Cadiz and Gibraltar during the Napoleonic Wars, and North America amidst the War of 1812. Malcolm died July 20, 1838.2
- 1. J.K. Laughton, rev. Roger Morriss, Malcolm, Sir Pulteney, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- 2. Ibid.
- Mallissier, French Ambassador
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Malmesbury, Earl (1807-1889)
James Howard Harris, the third Earl of Malmesbury, was born on 25 March 1807. Educated at Eton and Oriel College, Oxford, he was raised to the peerage upon his father's death on 10 September 1841, joining the House of Lords.
He became secretary of state for foreign affairs on 22 February 1852, resigning on 20 December 1852. In February 1858, Malmesbury was again appointed foreign secretary, remaining until the Derby administration's defeat in June 1859. He remained active in the House of Lords but declined the foreign office post because of ill health, accepting instead the post of lord privy seal. In February 1868 he became leader of the House of Lords, retiring from that position in December of that year. From 1874 to 1876 he served again as lord privy seal. Malmesbury died on 17 May 1889.
Dictionary of National Biography (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1900-) Vol.9, pp. 9-13. Imperial Calendar, 1858. BCDES 44.2.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Maloney, Captain
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Manby, Charles
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Manson, A. H.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Manson, Donald
(1796-1880)
Born in Caithness, Scotland in 1796, Donald Manson joined the Hudson's Bay Company in 1817. An 1825 company report describes Manson as a “fine strapping fellow” who “would be thrown away at an Establishment, active service being his forte.” After supervising improvements at Fort Vancouver, he was sent to build Fort Langley in 1827. In 1837, he was promoted to chief trader, and spent the latter part of his career after 1844 based at Fort Saint James on Stuart Lake. Although HBC Governor Pelly recommended him to Earl Grey for a commission as justice of the peace in the new colony of Vancouver Island in 1848, this part of his career was marred by complaints that he treated his subordinates roughly, which probably blocked his promotion to chief factor. After his retirement in 1857, he and his family lived on a farm in Champoeg, Oregon.
- Marcy, William Learned (1786-1857)
William Learned Marcy, American secretary of state, was born in Sturbridge (later Southbridge), Massachusetts. Educated at Woodstock Academy and Brown University, Marcy studied law in New York and became active in politics. He served with the 155th Regiment during the War of 1812, and in April 1816, he was appointed recorder for the city of Troy, New York, a position he held, with some interruptions, to 1823. He served as comptroller for New York state, 1823-29, associate justice of the state supreme court, 1829-31, and as U.S. senator from 1831 to January 1833, when he resigned to run for governor.
A life-long Democrat, Marcy served as governor of New York from 1833-38, member of the Mexican Claims Commission from 1840-42, as secretary of war in the administration of President James K. Polk from 1844-48, and secretary of state under Franklin Pierce, 1852-56, during which time he was responsible for negotiating the Reciprocity Treaty with the British North American colonies in 1854. Marcy retired from public office in the spring of 1857. He died at Ballston, New York, on 4 July 1857.
Dumas Malone, ed., Dictionary of American Biography (New York: Scribner's, 1964). Vol.6, pp. 274-77. BCPO 123.4.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Margary
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Martin
According to
this document, Mr. Martin, no first name given, was "an intelligent English Miner."
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Martin, George P.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Martin, Justice of the Peace Jonas
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Martin, Robert Montgomery
(1800-1868)
From a well-to-do Anglo-Irish family, Robert Montgomery Martin trained as a doctor and worked in East Africa, Australia, and India during the 1820s. In the following decade, he pursued his self-appointed task of studying the empire by writing tomes on its history, taxation, and colonial statistics. After a brief unhappy stint in Hong Kong as a civil servant, and writing books on Britain and China, Martin wrote a defence of the policies of the Hudson's Bay Company against the charges of Alexander Isbister concerning treatment of Aboriginals at Red River, and those of James Edward Fitzgerald concerning the company's designs on Vancouver Island. In his requests in 1848 to examine documents in the Colonial Office, Martin revealed that the company had commissioned his work, published as The Hudson's Bay Territories and Vancouver's Island: with an exposition of the chartered rights, conduct, and policy of the Honourable Hudson's Bay Corporation, 1848. As secretary to the Second Duke of Wellington, Martin prepared the authoritative Supplementary Despatches . . . [of the] Duke of Wellington (15 vols., 1858-72).
-
Mason, Governor C. H.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Mason, Lieutenant J. S.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Maule, Lord Panmure Fox (1801-1874)
Fox Maule (1801-74), the second Baron Panmure of the United Kingdom and eleventh earl of Dalhousie, of the Scottish peerage, was born on 22 April 1801 at Brechin Castle, Forfarshire. He sat in the House of Commons in 1835-37, 1838-41, and 1841-52, when he was raised to the peerage. He served as an undersecretary of state from 1835 to 1841, becoming secretary of state for the War Office on 6 July 1846. He served in that office until 6 February 1852 and returned to it in February 1855. It was under Panmure's direction that the Crimean War ended. In December 1860, Panmure succeeded to the earldom of Dalhousie; he died on 6 July 1874.
Dictionary of National Biography (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1900-) 13, p. 85. VI 6.2.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
May, Catherine
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Mayer, George
George Mayer began service in the Colonial Office in 1810 as an extra clerk.1 In 1814 he was given a permanent position as Keeper of the Papers and Librarian. He obtained the salary of a senior clerk a decade later.2
Mayer played a prominent role in the systematic organization and preservation of the department’s correspondence.3
- 1. D.M. Young, The Colonial Office in the Early Nineteenth Century (London [Toronto]: Longmans Green, 1961), 278.
- 2. Ibid., 274-68.
- 3. Ibid., 138.
- Maynard, Joseph
Crowder and Maynard, an “old” law firm at 57 Coleman Street in London, were solicitors for the Hudson’s Bay Company from the 1840s to the mid-1860s. In 1848, the firm prepared an opinion and draft charter for the company concerning Vancouver Island.
- Mayne, Lieutenant Richard C.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Mazarredo, Josef de
(-)
Vice Admiral Josef de Mazzarredo was Admiral Langara's replacement as commander of the Spanish fleet at Cartagena.1
- 1. Nicholas Tracy, Nelson's Battles: The Triumph of British Seapower, (Annapolis: Press, 2008), 111.
-
McArthur, John
This despatch, by
Douglas, reports on McArthur's mining success, along with
Thomas Phillips.
Douglas goes on to say the following: "Their largest earnings for one day amounted to five hundred and twenty five dollars, and no single days work yielded less than twenty five dollars. Both those persons have been mining in California, and are acquainted with its resources, yet they give it as their opinion that
Cariboo, as a 'generally paying country, surpasses the best days of California'."
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- McClean, Chief Trader Donald
Possibly, the McClean mentioned in
this despatch, by Douglas, who mentions him to be "a native of Scotland, and lately of the Hudson's Bay Company's Service," and who has "recently settled on a beautiful spot, near the debouch of
Hat River, and is rapidly bringing his land into cultivation.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
McColl
Noted as the the wife of Sergeant McColl.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
McColl, Sergeant
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- McCulloch, John Ramsay (1789-1864)
John Ramsay McCulloch, comptroller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office, was born at Whithorn, Wigtownshire, on 1 March 1789. McCulloch was a prominent and prolific economist and statistician; as well as lecturing in Edinburgh and London he published innumerable articles and books, including his most important work, A Dictionary, Practical, Theoretical, and Historical, of Commerce and Commercial Navigation (London: A. & R. Spottiswoode, 1832).
In 1838, he became comptroller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office, which was responsible for "supplying the Public Offices at home and abroad with stationery." McCulloch held this position until his death on 11 November 1864.
Dictionary of National Biography (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1900-) 12, pp. 463-65. Imperial Calendar, 1858, p. 130. BCPO 111.3.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
McDonald
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
McDonald, Allan
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
McDonnell
In
this despatch,
Douglas writes the follwing account of McDonnell: "The
Cariboo Gold District was discovered by a fine athletic young man by the name of McDonnell, a native of the
island of Cape Breton, of mixed French and Scotch descent,
combining in his personal appearance and character, the courage,
activity and remarkable powers of endurance, of both races. His
health has suffered from three years constant exposure and
privation, which induced him to repair with his well earned
wealth to this Colony for medical assistance."
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
McGhie, William
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
McGregor, John
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
McInnis, A. D.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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McIntosh, Captain John
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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McKay, Hugh
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- McKay, Joseph William (1829-1900)
Joseph William McKay came to Fort Vancouver in 1844 from the Hudson Bay area. In 1852, he opened up the coal fields at Nanaimo for the Hudson's Bay Company and supervised the construction of the bastion there the following year.
The Victoria Gazette from 5 October 1858 contains an extract of McKay's account of his travels in the interior. William Downie, who accompanied McKay on his explorations, wrote an account of the trip in his Reminiscences of Personal Experience and Research in the Early Days of the Pacific Coast from Alaska to Panama (San Francisco: California Publishing Company, 1893).
BCDES 42.2. Career with HBC, exporations. Cf. fn.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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McKenzie, George
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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McKenzie, Kenneth
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- McKinlay, Archibald M.
A immigrant from Perthshire, Scotland, Archibald McKinlay was hired as an apprentice clerk by George Simpson in 1832. After periods in York Factory and New Caledonia, he rose in the ranks in the Columbia District where he attained the rank of chief trader in 1846. In 1848, HBC Governor Pelly recommended him to Earl Grey for a commission as justice of the peace in the new colony of Vancouver Island. He retired from the company in 1851 and entered into partnership with G.T. Allan as a commission merchant in Oregon City. Ruined financially by floods in 1860, he moved to Lac La Hache in British Columbia to become a farmer for approximately twenty years.
- McLean, Donald (1805-1864)
Donald McLean, fur trader, was born in Tobermory, Scotland. He entered the service of the Hudson's Bay Company as an apprentice clerk in 1833. After serving in the Western Department for two years, he travelled through the Snake River country and served at forts in Washington, Oregon, and Montana territory. In 1842, McLean transferred to the New Caledonia district, working at various posts including Fort Alexandria and the Chilcotin, Babine, and McLeod posts.
In 1853, he was appointed chief trader; in 1855 he took charge of Thompson River (Fort Kamloops).He was ordered to transfer to Victoria in 1860, but he resigned in 1861 to raise cattle and prospect for gold. He founded the Hat Creek Ranch on the Bonaparte River. He was killed in an ambush in 1864, while scouting alone during a search for the Indians responsible for the Chilcotin uprising.
Dictionary of Canadian Biography 9, pp. 513-14. VI 24.2.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- McLoughlin, Doctor John (1784-1857)
Dr. John McLoughlin was the chief factor of the Columbia Fur District of the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Vancouver from 1824 to 1846.
McLoughlin was born at Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec, on October 19, 1784. A trained medical doctor at the age of 19, McLoughlin signed on with North West Company in April of 1803.
McLoughlin was an effective trader at his first post near Thunder Bay, Ontario. McLoughlin was next sent to Lac la Pluie and then Fort William, at a time when tensions between the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company were leading increasingly towards violence. McLoughlin avoided taking part in any of the hostilities when his party arrived "judiciously late" at Seven Oaks in June 1816, thus evading the subsequent battle that killed 22 HBC men. Despite his absence, McLoughlin was still arrested by Lord Selkirk and forced to defend himself in court, where he was declared not guilty in October 1818.
In 1825 McLoughlin was promoted chief factor at Fort Vancouver in Oregon and later general superintendent. During this time McLoughlin founded Fort Langley, built Fort Vancouver (now Vancouver, Washington), and presided over the expansion of HBC trade in the region despite stiff American and Russian competition. McLoughlin was an effective manager and the Columbia Department centred at Fort Vancouver was profitable.
McLoughlin played an important role in the early history of Oregon, founding Oregon City (which he named) in 1829. McLoughlin successfully juggled the interests of Aboriginals, Americans, and British subjects in this tense disputed region without violent incident. He earned a reputation as an honest and compassionate man, giving HBC food, seeds and tools to needy American settlers in 1841.
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, s.v. "Mcloughlin, John,"
http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?id_nbr=4084 (accessed Aug. 27, 2009).
The arrival of increasing numbers of American settlers in Oregon in the early 1840s, and the realization that the border between the United States and British possessions would likely be farther north, prompted the HBC leadership to instruct McLoughlin to find a suitable site for a new fort north of the 49th parallel on the south end of Vancouver Island. This he did in 1843, when he ordered James Douglas to construct Fort Victoria.
The American settlers arriving Oregon, and his attachment to the area, would lead to McLoughlin's retirement from the HBC. The settlers and their provisional government were hostile to the HBC's expansion in Oregon. In order to preserve the company's, and especially his own, claims in Oregon, McLoughlin decided to purchase them himself. The care of these new properties in Oregon bound McLoughlin to Oregon city. This, coupled with decreasing profits, lead the HBC to end McLoughlin's contract as superintendent. McLoughlin retired from the company in January, 1846.
McLoughlin lived the last years of his life managing his properties in Oregon city as an American citizen. He was also mayor for a short time. He died there on September 3, 1857. He has since become known as the Father of Oregon.
- McMullen, Governor Fayette
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- McNab, C.
C. McNab was secretary of the Bank of British North America, which had its head office at No. 7, St.Helens Place, in London.
Imperial Calendar, 1858, p. 297. BCPO 116.3.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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McNeill, Captain William Henry
(1803-1875)
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Meek, Ald Jas
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Meller, Captain
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Melodey
According to
this despatch by
Douglas, from 1861, "
Melodey and three other natives of Ireland" came to "this Colony in the year 1858" to, ultimatelty, make a "very handsome income" by mining "Poor Man's Ditch" and
Van Winkle Flat.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Merashy, T.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Merivale, Herman (1806-1874)
Herman Merivale, permanent under-secretary in the Colonial Office, was born on 8 November 1806 in Devonshire, England. He was educated at Oriel College, winning a scholarship to Trinity College in 1825 and receiving a fellowship at Balliol in 1828. He was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1832. On 2 March 1837, he was elected professor of political economy at Oxford, where he remained for five years. In 1847, he was appointed assistant under-secretary in the Colonial Office, and was promoted to permanent under-secretary in 1848. In 1859, Merivale transferred to the India Office as permanent under-secretary, a position he held for the remainder of his life.He died on 8 February 1874 at his home in South Kensington.
Dictionary of National Biography (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1900-) Vol.13, pp. 280-81.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Merrill
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Metcalfe, 1st Baron, Lord Charles Theophilus
(1785-1846)
After serving as a colonial administrator in India and as governor in Jamaica, Charles Metcalfe was appointed governor-in-chief of the province of Canada in 1843 and remained at that post until October 1845. During this period, he clashed with Canadian reformers Robert Baldwin and Louis La Fontaine on the nature and prerogatives of the colony's government, still in the shadow of the suppression of the Rebellions of 1837-1838. For these actions the British government conferred a Barony on Metcalfe, but historian J.M.S. Careless contends that the governor inadvertently contributed to the full implementation of the La Fontaine–Baldwin version of responsible government by failing to produce a viable alternative.
-
Meyer
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Middlemore, Major General
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Middleton, M.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Miles
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Miles, John (1826-1861)
John Miles was the eldest son of Robert Seabourne Miles of Brockville, Canada West. On 22 January 1861, he married a young widow named Elizabeth Meeson, second daughter of John Meeson, Esq., of London, England. Two days later, on 24 January, Miles died. The Colonist of 26 January 1861 noted that "Mr. Miles had been seriously indisposed for some time. He was universally respected, and leaves a large circle of friends inconsolable at his loss."
See also the Colonist 25 and 29 January 1861. BCDES 67.1.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Millar, Captain
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Miller, C.
C. Miller was a first-class clerk in the Paymaster-General's Department, second section.
Imperial Calendar, 1858, p. 103. BCPO 133.5.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Miller, J. T.
J.T. Miller joined the Colonial Office in 1835. Rising through the ranks of clerks, he was appointed Registrar in 1847, a post he held until 1853.
-
Miller, Robert B.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Miller, William
William Miller was born in 1795. He served in the field train of the Royal Artillery during the Iberian campaigns of 1811–14 and participated in the expedition to New Orleans.1 Fluency in Spanish allowed him to join the revolutionary forces in South America where he took a prominent role in several battles to liberate Chile and Peru.2 Simon Bolivar promoted him for these exploits, and he eventually held the rank of Grand Marshal of Peru.3
However, disagreements with the new government led to his banishment in 1839.4 Four years later he was appointed British Consul General of the Pacific Islands, primarily Hawaii.5 He negotiated commercial treaties with the Hawaiian government and corresponded with James Douglas concerning British military deployments in the Pacific.6
For his heavy-handed attempts to secure a favourable lease of property in Honolulu, he was rebuked by Lord Palmerston for the “offensive character, irritating tone, and disputatious style” of his communications with the local government.7 In 1859 he returned to Peru and died two years later under a British flag on a warship in Callao harbour.8
- 1. H.M. Chichester, Miller, William (1795-1861), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Ibid.
- 5. Ibid.
- 6. R.S. Kuykendall, The Hawaiian kingdom, vol. 1, 1778-1854, (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1938), 234-5, 370-3.
- 7. Kuykendall, The Hawaiian kingdom, vol. 1, 1778-1854, 392.
- 8. Chichester, Miller, William (1795-1861).
-
Miller, Consul GeneralWilliam
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Mills, Captain John Powell
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Milner, Sir W. M. E.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Minie, Frederick
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Mitchell, H.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Mitchell, Captain William
Commanded the "Una" and the "Recovery."
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Molesworth, Sir William
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Moncrieff, J.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Montgomery, Joseph
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Montresor, Captain Frederick Byng (1811-1887)
Capt. Frederick Montresor was an officer of the Royal Navy. He was commissioned lieutenant in 1835, promoted to commander in 1843, and promoted to captain on 29 April 1851. From 23 November 1857 he commanded HMS Calypso, a Sixth Rate wooden ship of 18 or 20 guns without steam power.
Calypso arrived in Esquimalt on 13 August 1858. The colonial government had asked for a show of force to deal with the influx of American miners in the Fraser River area, but Calypso lacked steam power to manoeuver in the river and was under orders to continue to Hawaii. As a result, Calypso left Esquimalt on 25 August 1858.
As commodore, Montresor commanded the East Indies Station from 1862-65. He was promoted to rear admiral on 20 March 1867, retired in 1870, and rose to admiral on the retired list, before his death in 1887.
Barry M. Gough,
"Turbulent Frontiers" and British Expansion: Governor James Douglas, the Royal Navy, and the British Columbia Gold Rushes, The Pacific Historical Review, Vol.41, No, 1 (Feb.1972) pp. 15-32. Peter Davis,
Mid-Victorian RN vessel HMS Calypso, accessed 30 April 2008. Peter Davis,
Biography of Frederick Byng Montresor R.N., accessed 30 April 2008.
VI 37.2.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Moody, Mary Susannah (b. 1829)
Mary Susannah Moody, wife of R.C. Moody, was born in Newcastle-on-Tyne, the eldest daughter of Joseph Hawks, a banker. She married Richard Clement Moody in 1852, travelling with him to Malta in 1854 and Edinburgh in 1855, before moving to British Columbia in 1858. The Moodys had eleven children.
See Jacqueline Gresko, Mrs.Moody's First Impressions of British Columbia, British Columbia Historical News 11, (April-June 1978): 6-9. BCPO 133.2.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Moody, Colonel Richard Clement (1813-1887)
Col. Richard Clement Moody was born at St. Ann's Garrison, Barbados, West Indies, on 13 February 1813. He was educated in England, by a tutor and at private schools, before entering the Royal Academy, Woolwich. Moody left the academy in December 1829 to join the Ordnance Survey; he became a 2nd lieutenant in the Royal Engineers on 5 November 1830 and was posted to the Ordnance Survey of Ireland in 1832. In 1833 he went to the West Indies with the Royal Engineers, achieving the rank of first-lieutenant in 1835; from 1838 to 1841 he served as professor of fortifications at Woolwich.1
Moody became lieutenant governor of the Falkland Islands in 1841;2 he was appointed second-captain on 6 March 1844 and first-captain on 19 August 1847.3 In 1854, he travelled to Malta as executive officer. Moody was promoted lieutenant colonel in January 1855 and commanded the Royal Engineers at Edinburgh, advancing to brevet colonel on 28 April 1858.4
On 23 August 1858, Moody was appointed commander of the British Columbia detachment of the Royal Engineers, at a salary of £1,200. He was appointed chief commissioner of lands and works and lieutenant governor of British Columbia on 21 September, and departed Liverpool with his wife and four children on 30 October 1858, arriving in Victoria on Christmas day. He was formally sworn into office at Victoria on 4 January 1859.5
He immediately turned to the task of choosing a site for the capital of the mainland colony, and on 28 January 1859 recommended a site on the north bank of the Fraser River, which the Royal Engineers referred to as Queenborough. On 22 July 1859, Douglas proclaimed the city as New Westminster, a name chosen by Queen Victoria. Moody and the Royal Engineers concentrated on surveying and road construction; they were also responsible for the first observatory in the colony, several churches, and a number of maps based on their surveys.6
In April 1863, the Colonial Office decided to withdraw the Royal Engineers from British Columbia; on 6 November, Moody and his officers attended a farewell dinner in New Westminster, then the Moodys and their seven children left the colony, along with twenty-two Royal Engineers and their families. Another 130 men decided to remain in British Columbia.7
Upon his return to England, Moody became a regimental colonel on 8 December and was given command of the Royal Engineers in the Chatham District in March 1864. He was promoted major-general on 25 January 1866, and he retired from the service, settling in Lyme Regis. In 1868, he was commissioner for the extension of municipal boundaries. Moody died on 31 March 1887 while on a visit to Bournemouth.8
- 1. John Sweetman, Moody, Richard Clement, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- 2. Margaret A. Ormsby, Moody, Richard Clement, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 3. John Sweetman, Moody, Richard Clement, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- 4. Margaret A. Ormsby, Moody, Richard Clement, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 5. Ibid.
- 6. Ibid.
- 7. Ibid.
- 8. Ibid.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Moore, Vicar Arthur
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Moore, George
Master of the "Thetis."
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Moreing, Henry
Henry Moreing sailed to New Zealand in 1839 as an emigrant of the New Zealand Company and bought several of the original one-acre sections of the area that would eventually become Wellington.1
He resisted the declarations and actions of the British government to oversee the company as the colonizing agent for the settler society.2 Instead, Moreing maintained possession of Mana Island, which was close to Wellington, until ownership of the island was transferred to the provincial government of Wellington in 1865.3
His familiarity with government-New Zealand Company relations perhaps led him to suggest to the Colonial Office in 1849 he be made an officer to oversee the activities of the Hudson’s Bay Company on
Vancouver Island, as seen in
this despatch.
4 - 1. L.E. Ward, Early Wellington (Auckland: Whitcombe and Tombs Limited, 1928), 191-206).
- 2. P. Burns, Fatal Success: A History of the New Zealand Company (Auckland, N.Z.: Heinemann Reed, 1989), 157.
- 3. J.S. Hornabrook, Mana Island, An Encyclopedia of New Zealand, 1966.
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Morell, Leon
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Moresby, Sir Fairfax
( -1877)
Admiral Moresby was commander in chief in the Pacific from 1850 to 1853, during which time he recommended the development of the naval base at Esquimalt Harbour.1
Moresby was critical the HBC’s monopoly of
Vancouver Island, and, as stated in
this letter, considered “the attempt to Colonize Vancouver, by a Company with exclusive rights of Trade, [to be] incompatible with the free & liberal reception of an Emigrant Community, [and] impl[ied] that difficulties, & embarassments must be the result, however, good the intention”—a statement which was refuted by
Pelly in
this letter to
Earl Grey.
Born in Calcutta in either 1786 or 1787, Moresby entered the navy in 1799.2 Over the next fifty years he steadily rose in the ranks and served on or captained several ships around the world.3 He surveyed and arranged the settlement of Algoa Bay, South Africa, and as the senior officer at Mauritius he acted on orders to suppress the slave trade, capturing or destroying several boats and prosecuting their owners.4
Moresby was promoted to rear-admiral in 1849, vice-admiral in 1856, admiral in 1862, Knight Grand Cross [GCB] in 1865, and, finally, admiral of the fleet in 1870.5 He died in Bronwylfa, Devon seven years later.6
- 1. Eleanor Stardom Finlayson, Roderick, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Ibid.
- 5. Ibid.
- 6. Ibid.
- Morton, Thomas A.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Moses
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Mouat, Captain
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Mowatt, William Alexander
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Muir, Andrew
(1828-1859)
Andrew Muir worked as a coal miner for the Hudson’s Bay Company at
Fort Rupert, before he settled in
Victoria in 1853 and became the town’s first sheriff.
1 As
this document shows, Muir provided a statement for the incident in which three British seamen were killed near Fort Rupert.
Muir sailed from Scotland in 1848 with several family members, including his father, John, who became a prominent settler, with a logging and sawmilling operation in Sooke.2 Upon their arrival at Fort Rupert, the Muirs discovered they had been misled about the conditions, and when local officials ignored their complaints, Muir and his cousin John McGregor organized a strike.3 Fort Rupert manager George Blenkinsop called Muir “a rebellious person [who] kept the men off their duty,” and had he and McGregor imprisoned at the fort for six days.4
Muir left Fort Rupert soon after, and worked briefly in
San Francisco and
Astoria,
Oregon, before moving to southern
Vancouver Island in 1851.
5 He arrived in time to submit a written complaint about his treatment at Fort Rupert to the departing governor,
Richard Blanshard, which led to Blenkinsop and other officers being criticized by the HBC’s London committee.
6 Blanshard discusses the complaint in
this letter. Muir completed his term as sheriff and then promptly died of chronic alcoholism on January 13, 1859, the day of his daughter Isabella Ellen’s baptism.
7 He was 31.
8 - 1. Daniel T. Gallacher Muir, Andrew, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Ibid.
- 5. Ibid.
- 6. Ibid.
- 7. Ibid.
- 8. Ibid.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Muir, Archibald
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Muir, John
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Muir, Michael
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Mulgrave, Lady
Laura Russell married George Augustus Constantine Phipps, third Earl of Mulgrave and second Marquess of Normanby, in 1844. They had seven children. Lord Mulgrave became lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia in January 1858. He and Lady Mulgrave remained there until 1863.
For Lord Mulgrave, see Dictionary of Canadian Biography (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1966-) Vol.11 (1881-90) pp. 686-87. BCCOR 175.1.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Mundy, Colonel E. C.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Munro, Alexander Fraser
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Muquinna, Chief
(d. 1795)
Muquinna, which means “possessor of pebbles,” was the name of at least two successive leaders of the Moachat First Nations group from Nootka Sound. Muquinna took over as leader of the Moachat First Nation after his father died in 1778, and was able to gain power and prestige as a mediator and regulator of the maritime fur trade during a period of competition between England and Spain.1
According to the Canadian Dictionary of Biography Online, Muquinna may have been the leader mentioned by Cook—not mentioned by name, however—who arranged, and engaged in negotiations with Cook in 1778.2
In 1792, during the Nootka Conventions, Muquinna established a rapport with Spanish captain Don Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, and proved to be an apt diplomat, as Muquinna hosted emissaries from both the Spanish and the British at the Moachat’s winter village.3
It is difficult to determine which Muquinna carried out certain acts, as chronologies of deaths and accessions of leadership are unclear. An account from Charles Bishop, a fur trader in Nootka Sound in 1795, claims that one Muquinna, possibly the elder, died in 1795; however, an earlier account by Alexander Walker, who was on Strange’s trade expedition, states that by 1786 the elder Muquinna had become “blind with age” and the younger Muquinna had already taken over leadership.
-
Murchison, Sir Roderick Impey
(1792-1871)
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Murdoch, Thomas William Clinton (1809-1891)
Thomas William Clinton Murdoch was born on 22 March 1809 in London and entered the Colonial Office as a junior clerk in 1826. He travelled to Canada as chief secretary under Sir George Arthur and then as provincial secretary for Lower Canada, before returning to the Colonial Office in September 1842, becoming a senior clerk in May 1846. In November 1847 Murdoch became chairman of the Colonial Land and Emigration Commission. In 1870, he visited Canada again, as well as the United States, and was honoured with a knighthood (KCMG). He retired in December 1876 and died in London on 30 November 1891.
Dictionary of National Biography (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1900-) 13, p. 1221. BCCOR 200.3.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Musgrave, Simpson
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Naas, Lord (1822-1872)
Richard Southwell Bourke, sixth earl of Mayo and Lord Naas (1822-72) was born in Dublin, Ireland, on 21 February 1822. He entered Trinity College, Dublin, in 1841, assumed the title of Lord Naas in 1849, and in 1852 he was appointed chief secretary for Ireland, resuming the post during the Conservative Derby administrations in 1858 and 1866. He represented Kildare County in the House of Commons from 1847 to 1852, Coleraine from 1852 to 1857, and the English borough of Cockermouth from 1857 to 1868. He was sworn in as governor general of India on 12 January 1869, serving actively until his assassination at Port Blair, in the Andaman Islands, on 8 February 1872.
Dictionary of National Biography (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1900-) 2, pp. 929-32. BCDES 66.2.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Nagle, Jeremiah
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Napier, Lord Francis (1819-1898)
Lord Francis Napier, diplomat, was born on 15 September 1819. Serving in diplomatic offices since 1840, Napier was envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the United States from 21 January 1857 to 13 December 1858, when he transferred to the Hague.He was appointed British ambassador to Russia 11 December 1860, ambassador to Germany on 15 September 1864, and governor of Madras from 1866 to 1872. He was raised to the peerage as Baron Napier on 16 July 1872.
Sir Bernard Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage (London: Harrison and Sons, 1885). BCDES 32-.2. Name Needed. Later Burke or other info?
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Narroway, J. J.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Natt, Brigadier General
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Nelson, Viscount Horatio
(1758-1805)
Viscount Horatio Nelson was a British naval officer, born at Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk, on September 29, 1758.1 Nelson joined the navy at the age of 12 during the Falkland Islands Crisis.2
Nelson was appointed a Captain in the navy in 1779, at the age of 20, and was a major figure in the French Napoleonic Wars. He lost sight in his right eye while commanding the vessel Agamemnon in 1794 during the French Revolutionary Wars in the Mediterranean, but went on to serve in several battles in Egypt, Naples, the Baltic, and the West Indies.3
One of Nelson’s most famous battles was the Battle of Trafalgar, off the coast of Spain, where his fleet fought the Spanish and French. The British were victorious, but Nelson died in action on October 21, 1805. The Nelson Column in Trafalgar Square, London was created in his memory.4
- Nelson, J. S.
U.S.GENERAL LAND OFFICE. BCPO 90.2.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Nesbit, James
As
this document shows, James Nesbit was a settler who owned 70 acres of land near Victoria.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Nevin
A Hudson's Bay Company chief officer.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Nias, George Elmes
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Nicol, Charles S.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Nicolas, B. T.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Nicolay, C. J.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Nind, Philip H.
A magistrate and assistant gold commissioner.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Nixon, Bishop of Tasmania Francis Russell
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Norris, H. C.
Content not yet available.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Nugent, John (d. 1880)
John Nugent, was an Irish-born, American journalist who had worked as the Washington correspondent for the
New York Herald during
James Buchanan's tenure as secretary of state.
Buchanan went on to become president in 1856, and Nugent went to
San Francisco and became clerk of the first state legislature in California and editor of the
San Francisco Herald. Although described by a contemporary as "an Irishman with an inveterate and rabid hatred of England,"
Buchanan appointed him special agent of the United States to protect the rights of American citizens at the gold fields on
the Fraser.
Nugent arrived in
Victoria on 20 September 1858 and a few days later left for the
Fraser River mines, returning to
Victoria to present
Douglas with his concerns for American rights in the colony. Nugent was so frank in his criticisms about the British government that
Douglas soon discontinued any direct communication with him.
Before returning to the United States permanently, he delivered an inflamatory "Farewell Address," which was published in the Victoria Gazette on 16 November 1858. In 1869, he tried unsuccessfully to revive the San Francisco Herald, and in 1878 he wrote some short articles for the Argonaut.
Nugent died in San Leandro, California, on 29 March 1880. His mission in British Columbia has been described by Robie L.Reid: John Nugent: The Impertinent Envoy, British Columbia Historical Quarterly 8 (1944): 53-76. BCDES 40.4.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- O'Brien, Doctor P. M.
Dr. P.M. O'Brien was in charge of the Port Townsend Marine Hospital in 1858, having previously managed a drug store on Water Street. O'Brien apparently sold out his interest in the hospital "after some years" to Dr. George V. Calhoun.
See James G. McCurdy, De Juan de Fuca's Strait: Pioneering Along the Northwestern Edge of the Continent (Portland: Metropolitan Press, 1937). BCDES 26.1.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- O'Connel, David
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- O'Reilly, Peter (1828-1905)
Peter O'Reilly was born in Ireland. Entering the Irish civil service, he was appointed a lieutenant in the revenue police. O'Reilly came to British Columbia in 1858 and in April 1859 was appointed justice of the peace and revenue collector at Hope in 1859; later that year he became high sheriff of the colony. In 1860, he became a county court judge, and in 1864 he was appointed chief gold commissioner. In 1866, he moved to the district of Columbia and Kootenay as gold commissioner and in 1868 succeeded Chartres Brew as police magistrate. O'Reilly sat in the British Columbia Legislative Council from 1863 until the colony joined Confederation in 1871. He served as Indian Reserve Commissioner from 1880 to 1889.
See Margaret A. Ormsby, Some Irish Figures in Colonial Days, British Columbia Historical Quarterly 14 (1950) pp. 61-82 and J.B. Kerr, Biographical Dictionary of Well-Known British Columbians (Kerr and Begg: Vancouver, 1890). BCCOR 209.1.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Ogden, Peter Skeene
(1790-1854)
Peter Skene Ogden, fur trader and explorer, was born in Montreal on 12 February 1790. Son of a judge, Ogden was expected to follow a legal career, but the allure of the fur-trade proved too great, and Ogden signed on with the North West Company as a junior clerk in 1809.
Sent west to Île-à-la-Crosse in Saskatchewan, Ogden soon acquired a ferocious reputation for intimidation and physical violence against rival HBC employees. In May 1816, Ogden and a group of NWC toughs forced the HBC fort at Edmonton House to hand over an Aboriginal who had been trading with the HBC. Once in their hands, Ogden and his men murdered him in full view of the fort's walls.
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, s.v. "Ogeden, Peter Skene,"
http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?id_nbr=4109 (accessed June 3, 2009). Murder, even of an Aboriginal, could not go completely unpunished, and news of the crime lead to an indictment being drawn up against Ogden by the HBC. The needle was only so long, however, and Ogden was transferred by the NWC west to the Columbia Department, out of reach of the HBC, eventually being put in charge of Thompson's River Post near Kamloops, B.C.
The HBC did not forget Ogden, and excluded him from the company when it absorbed the NWC in 1821, although they left him in charge of Thompson's river, fearing the damage he could do if hastily forced out. Ogden, determined to clear his name and continue trading, travelled to England, where he won over HBC Governor George Simpson. Simpson was impressed by the aggressive trader, whom he believed had behaved no worse than others in lawless North America and whom he felt could be profitably employed by the HBC. Ogden was thus made a chief trader, sent back to Spokane House, and ordered to fit out a trapping expedition to the Snake River country in the spring of 1824.
Ogden's expedition into
Snake River country, hitherto relatively unknown and unmapped by Europeans, was a combination of trading and exploration. From 1824 to 1830 Odgen and his men made six different expeditions into much of the American south west, an inhospitable and sometimes hostile region. Ogden made European discoveries of the Humboldt river and the Great Salt Lake in Utah and likely ventured as far as the Gulf of California, all the while trapping without restraint, having been ordered by
Governor Simpson to "destroy" the beaver population before the area was handed over to the United States and lost to the HBC. He was wildly successful in this regard: his expiditions returned over 100 per cent profit.
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, s.v. "Ogeden, Peter Skene,"
http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?id_nbr=4109 (accessed June 3, 2009).
Ogden spent from 1835 to 1845 on the western coast of
British Columbia and later
Stuart Lake. Successful at these postings, he was promoted in 1845 to the HBC's management board of the
Columbia District. After the Oregon Boundary Treaty set the border at the 49th parallel, Ogden was sent south to manage HBC property now located in the United States. Most of his time was spent dealing with the problems caused by increasing numbers of American settlers, whose presence destabilized the HBC's relationship with local Aboriginals. In December 1847 Ogden's rapid intervention saved 47 American settlers and missionaries who had been taken hostage by the Cayuse, an act that earned the company, and especially Ogden, considerable good will.
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, s.v. "Ogden, Peter Skene,"
http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?id_nbr=4109 (accessed June 3, 2009).
Ogden died in Oregon city on 19 September 1854.
-
Olney, Nathan
An "Indian Agent" at Walla Walla.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Onslow, Captain John James
(1796-1856)
John James Onslow was born May 17, 1796 in England.1 From 1842-47 he served on the HMS Daphne in the Pacific.2
The son of Admiral Sir Richard Onslow (1741- 1817), Onslow entered the navy in 1810, and was appointed captain in 1834.3 He played an important role in the British reoccupation of the Falkland Islands. Commanding the HMS Clio, and accompanied by the Captain Charles Hope and the HMS Tyne, Onslow arrived in Port Egmont on December 20, 1832. From there, he continued to Berkeley Sound, East Falkland, arriving on Jan 2, 1833. After Argentine Captain Jose Pinedo refused to lower the Buenos Aires flag, Onslow ordered the Union Jack to be raised at Port Soledad.4
Onslow died in Blofield, Norfolk on 24 Aug 1856.5
- Osborne, Ralph
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Owen, Arthur Whaley
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Owen, Justice of the Peace Ben
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Paget, C.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Pakington, Captain John Somerset (1799-1880)
John Somerset Pakington was born on 20 February 1799 and was educated at Eton and Oriel College, Oxford. Pakington sat in Parliament as the representative for Droitwich from 1837 to 1874. In February 1852, with the election of Lord Derby's administration, he bacame secretary for war and the colonies. On the defeat of the government, Pakington retired from office, returning with Lord Derby's government on 8 March 1858 as first lord of the Admiralty.1
In June 1859, Lord Derby's government was again defeated, and Pakington resigned. He was created a G.C.B. on 30 June.2 He became first lord of the Admiralty again in Lord Derby's administration in June 1866,3 then serving as secretary of state for war from 8 March 1867 to December 1868.4 On 6 March 1874, Pakington was created Baron Hampton, taking his seat in the House of Lords that month. He died in London on 9 April 1880.5
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Palliser, Sir J. S.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Palmer
According to
this despatch, M
r Palmer was "a respectable
merchant" who
Douglas met on a journey up
the Fraser in 1861. Apparently, Palmer had mining success near
Antler Creek, and he showed
Douglas "nearly 50 pounds weight of gold." And,
this despatch notes that both men were natives of Maine.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Palmer, Lieutenant
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Panizzi, Sir Anthony
(1797-1879)
Panizzi, formerly Antonio Genesio Maria, arrived in London along with other Italian exiles that had escaped to Geneva under threat of trial, and likely death, under the Modena government. On the advice of high-station fellow exiles he followed rumours of work to Liverpool, where he met other scholarly minded influentials who introduced him to the vast social web that would, ultimately, lead Panizzi to the British Museum as keeper of printed books, a role in which he served from 1837-56. From there, he occupied the prestigious position of principal librarian from 1856-66. During his time at the British Museum he continued to run in influential and elite circles; eventually, he became a senator of Italy. Yet, this did not quell his gregarious nature, or aggressive pursuits within the British Museum. Some of his catalog methods are used to this day. When he died, unmarried, of serious illness in 1868, he left impressive scholarly transcripts, voluminous literary collections, and, arguably, the world's leading library in his wake (P. R. Harris,
Panizzi, Sir Anthony, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography).
Of note is that Panizzi is mentioned in the minutes of an
1847 correspondence as having introduced
Benjamin Hawes to
John Edward FitzGerald, the latter of whom would put forward a detailed scheme for the colonization of
Vancouver Island for review by
Lord Grey.
-
Park, Lieutenant
According to
this despatch, Park was "a highly scientific member of the American Boundary Commission."
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Parker, John
(1799-1881)
John Parker was a Whig politician who served as Sheffield MP for 20 years.1 He held several posts in Whig governments, including first parliamentary secretary of the admiralty during the period 1849-1852.2
-
Parker, Master P.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Parkin, W.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Parratt
According to the documents attached to
this despatch, Parrat, along with
Walinisley, wrote to the British House of Lords to describe the proposed “Vancouver's Island Sawing Mill and Agricultural Company.”
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Parson, Richard William
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Parsons, Captain Robert Mann (d. 1897)
Captain Robert Mann Parsons was made a second lieutenant in the Royal Engineers in 1847, a lieutenant in 1850, a second captain in 1856, and a captain in 1862. He was given charge of the first group of the Columbia detachment, in part because of his expert surveying abilities; he also ran British Columbia's lithographic press from 1861 to 1863. Parsons was promoted to major in 1872 and lieutenant-colonel in 1873, colonel in 1878, and major-general in 1879.
See Frances M. Woodward, The Influence of the Royal Engineers on the Development of British Columbia, B.C.Studies 24 (Winter 1974-75): 3-51. BCDES 36.3.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Patterson, Joseph
Douglas notes, in
this despatch, that "Mr. Patterson and brother arrived at
New Westminster by
the Steamer of the
14th instant, with Ten Thousand dollars
worth of gold dust, the produce of five weeks work at
Cariboo."
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Pearkes, George (1826-1871)
George Pearkes was born in Guildford, Surrey. He emigrated from England to eastern Canada and then to California; he arrived at
Vancouver Island in 1858, where he became the colony's first practicing solicitor.
Douglas appointed Pearkes the first notary public in the colony on 3 August 1858 and the first crown solicitor and attorney for the colony on 28 August 1858.
Pearkes was in private practice as a lawyer during his years on Vancouver Island and maintained partnerships with Elisha Oscar Crosby, William Saunders Sebright Green, and Edwin Johnson. On 27 December 1859, Pearkes was appointed a commissioner for California, and from 1865 to 1866 he served as acting registrar general for Vancouver Island. He died on 18 March 1871.
DCB 10 (1871-80), p. 587.BCDES 7.1.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Pearse, Benjamin W.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Pearson, Charles S.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Peel, Sir Frederick
(1823-1906)
Sir Frederick Peel served as under-secretary for the colonies from 1851 to 1855.1
The second son of Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel, Frederick attended Harrow School and Trinity College at Cambridge on his way to becoming a lawyer and Liberal MP in 1849.2 He was responsible for the Clergy Reserves Bill of 1851,3 which gave the government of Canada effective control over its churches and ended the use of Crown land or its sale to subsidize “a Protestant clergy.”4
Despite two marriages, to Elizabeth Emily, niece of the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Janet Somerset, he left no children behind when he died on June 6, 1906 in London.5
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Peel, Major General Jonathan (1799-1879)
Maj. Gen. Jonathan Pell was born on 12 October 1799, the fifth son of the first Sir Robert Peel. He was educated at Rugby and the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, obtaining a commission in 1815 and becoming captain in 1821.
In 1826, he was elected member of Parliament for Norwich and represented Huntingdon from 1831 to 1868. Peel was surveyor general of the ordinances from 1841 to 1846 under his brother's second administration.He became a major-general in 1854 and a lieutenant general in December 1859. He was appointed secretary of state for war in 1858 and again in 1866-67 under Derby's third administration. Peel died on 13 February 1879.
Michael Stenton, Who's Who of British Members of Parliament Vol. 1, 1832-1885 (Sussex, England: Harvester Press, 1976-1981) p. 305; London Times, 14 February 1879, p. 10. BCPO 147.2.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Peers, Henry Nathan
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Peers, Henry Newsham
(1821-1864)
Henry Newsham Peers was born at Lymington, Hampshire, England on March 17, 1821 to father Captain H. Peers. He became an apprentice clerk in the Montreal Department of the Hudson's Bay company in January of 1841, though from 1841-1843, he worked at Lachine, Canada East. Then in 1843, Peers worked as an apprentice clerk in the Columbia District and as a clerk until March 1848 for Fort Vancouver under Richard Lane and Thomas Lowe. Following the Oregon Treaty in June of 1846, which established the border between the US and the British territories, Peers became port agent of the HBC at Baker's Bay in an attempt to maintain the HBC's Columbia trade.
In the autumn of 1846,
Peers was elected to represent Vancouver County in the second regular session of the assembly established by the provisional government of Oregon
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, s.v. "Peers, Henry Newsham,"
http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?id_nbr=4649 (accessed June 3, 2009).. As representative, Peers prepared the Oregon petition of December 19, 1846 which was important because it
urged the United States Congress to confirm land titles, adopt measures for education, and establish navigational facilities on the Columbia River
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, s.v. "Peers, Henry Newsham,"
http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?id_nbr=4649 (accessed June 3, 2009).. Then in the summer of 1848, Peers was asked
to relocate Anderson's 1846 route to the Fraser.
This he did by finding a route from
Kamloops to the
Coquihalla River. This new route was important because of American customs duties on goods landed at
Fort Vancouver. Furthermore, in October of 1848, Peers established
Fort Hope on the
Fraser River in order to open up his new passage to Peers Creek, the Sowaqua River,
Similkameen Valley,
Kamloops, and Otter Lake where the new route
would rejoin Anderson's track of 1846.
This
new road …provided a viable all-British route from the interior... [and] was ready to use by both outbound and inbound brigades in the summer of 1850
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, s.v. "Peers, Henry Newsham,"
http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?id_nbr=4649 (accessed June 3, 2009)..
In 1851, Peers married Eliza Yale at
Fort Langley, where he worked as a clerk. In September of 1851, Peers left his position to move to Cowlitz Farm, where he was in charge until 1857. On March 30, 1853,
Peers was commissioned a chief trader
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, s.v. "Peers, Henry Newsham,"
http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?id_nbr=4649 (accessed June 3, 2009).. In addition, for three months during the Indian wars of 1855-1856, Peers was captain of the 1st Regiment of the Cowlitz Rangers. On June 1st, 1859, Peers officially retired from the HBC and moved to Colquitz Farm, near
Victoria, on
Vancouver Island. On his farm, he constructed a saw and grist mill and spent the remainder of his retirement farming his land until his death on March 27, 1864.
- Peile, Lieutenant Mountford Stephen Loviele
- Pelham, Frederick Thomas (1808-1861)
Frederick Thomas Pelham was private secretary to Lord Northumberland from 3 March 1852 to January 1853 and was Fourth Naval Lord from 24 June 1857 to 8 March 1858. He then became Second Naval Lord of the Admiralty on 28 June 1859, a position he held until 15 June 1861.
SEE ALSO DNB Office-Holders, Admiralty, p. 144. BCDES 43.1. Imperial Calendar, 1858, Annual Register, 1861, p. 481, obituary with details of career.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle Henry Pelham Fiennes (1811-1864)
Henry Pelham Fiennes Pelham Clinton, the fifth Duke of Newcastle, was born in London on 22 May 1811. He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, where he received a B.A. in 1832. He represented South Nottinghamshire in Parliament from 1832 to 1846 and served as lord of the Treasury from 31 December 1834 to 20 April 1835. From 15 April 1841 to 14 February 1846 he was first commissioner of woods and forests, then he became chief secretary to the lord lieutenant of Ireland.
In 1851 he entered the House of Lords and in 1852 he joined the colonial office as secretary for the colonies. On 12 June 1854, he transferred to the war office, resigning on 1 February 1855 to visit the army in the Crimea. On 18 June 1859, Newcastle was appointed secretary of state for the colonies. In this post, he travelled to Canada and the United States with the Prince of Wales in 1860. He resigned as colonial secretary in April 1864, and he died at Clumber Park on 18 October 1864.
Dictionary of National Biography (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1900-) Vol.4, pp. 554-55.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Pelly, Sir John Henry
(1777-1852)
Sir John Henry Pelly was born John Henry Pelly on March 31, 1777 to father Captain Henry Hinde Pelly and mother Sally Hitchen (Laughton/Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, henceforth ODNB). His father and paternal grandfather having both worked for the East India Company, John Pelly himself is thought to also have worked with the company, thus gaining nautical experience. However, John Pelly settled into business in London and in 1806, he became director of the Hudson’s Bay Company.
On July 13, 1807, John Pelly married Emma, daughter of Henry Boulton of Thorncroft, the governor of the Corporation of Working Mines and Metals in Scotland. Together, John and Emma Pelly had ten children; eight sons and two daughters. In 1823, Pelly was elected elder brother of Trinity House, and, some years later, deputy master
(ODNB). In addition, John Pelly became a director of the Bank of England in 1840, and one year later, governor.
Furthermore, since attaining the position as governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1835, Pelly organized many important exploration parties, including those of Peter Warren Dease and Thomas Simpson, which
did so much for the discovery of the north-west passage and of the coastline of North America
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, s.v. "Pelly, Sir John Henry,"
http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/21815 (accessed June 3, 2009).. In addition, from his negotiations with
Baron von Wrangel of the Russian American Company, John Pelly was able to lease the Russian owned Alaskan peninsula for the HBC’s use in 1839.
Pelly was the HBC executive most accountable for the company assuming responsibility for the colonization of Vancouver Island in 1849, at the British government's request. He made this decision in the face of fierce opposition from the rest of the HBC board and Sir George Simpson, who believed colonists would only interfere with company operations and reduce profits. Pelly argued successfully that, should the company refuse the British government's request, another joint stock company would inevitably fill the void, thus endangering the HBC monopoly—far more damaging to profits than the handful of colonists likely to arrive during the HBC's tenure.John S. Galbraith, The Hudson's Bay Company as an imperial factor, 1821-1869 (New York : Octagon Books, 1977, c1957), 287.
On July 6, 1840, from the recommendation of Lord Melbourne, John Pelly was able to add to his successful career the title of baronet. He died at his residence, Upton House, on August 13, 1852.
- Pemberton, Augustus F.
Commissioner of Police.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Pemberton, Joseph Despard (1821-1893)
Joseph Despard Pemberton was born near Dublin, Ireland, the grandson of the Rt. Hon. Joseph Pemberton, Lord Mayor of Dublin, 1806-07. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin, Pemberton studied civil engineering and worked on several railways in Ireland and England, including the Great Southern and Western, the East Lancashire, the Dublin and Drogheda, and the Exeter and Crediton Railways.
He was also a professor of engineering at the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester before leaving for Victoria in 1851 to work for the Hudson's Bay Company as a surveyor-general, a position he held until 1864. Pemberton was elected to the first Legislative Assembly of Vancouver Island and sat on the Executive Council from 1863 to 1866.
See Kerr, Biographical Dictionary of Well-Known British Columbians, and Harriet Susan Sampson, My Father: Joseph Despard Pemberton, British Columbia Historical Quarterly 8 (1944): 111-25. VI 25.1.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Penelope, Caroline
Married to Merivale.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Pennefather, R. T.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Pennell, Edmund Burke
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Pennell, H. C.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Perrier, George
George Perrier, was a sailor before
Douglas appointed him justice of the peace at
Hill's Bar in June 1858; he was chosen for the job because he was one of the few British subjects in the
Fraser River area. He was later dismissed from his position.
Vancouver Daily News Advertiser, 23 and 30 September 1888, p. 2. VI 26.2.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Perry, William
Perry was the British consul in Panama.
Imperial Calendar, 1858, p. 142. BCPO 113.1.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Pestchouroff, A.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Peter, John
A merchant.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Peter, Thompson
A merchant.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Petrie, Samuel
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Petty-Fitzmaurice, third marquess of Lansdowne Henry
After an elite education at Westminster School, Edinburgh, and Cambridge, Petty-Fitzmaurice was elected to the Commons in 1802 and began his long career as a Whig.1 By 1806 he had become chancellor of the Exchequer and was mooted as a Whig leader in the Commons.2
With the death of a half-brother, he was raised to the Lords as third marquess of Lansdowne in 1810.3
A moderate reformer who campaigned against the slave trade and discriminatory legislation concerning Catholics, dissenters, and Jews, Lansdowne also sought to protect the landed interest in both the Commons and the Lords.4 He held various cabinet positions including serving as lord president of the privy council, which he held during the creation of the colony of Vancouver Island.5
-
Phillips, Arthur
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Phillips, Thomas
This despatch, by
Douglas, reports on Thomas Phillips's mining success, along with
John McArthur.
Douglas goes on to say the following: "Their largest earnings for one day amounted to five hundred and twenty five dollars, and no single days work yielded less than twenty five dollars. Both those persons have been mining in California, and are acquainted with its resources, yet they give it as their opinion that
Cariboo, as a 'generally paying country, surpasses the best days of California'."
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Phillpotts, Bishop of Exeter Henry
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Phinn, Thomas
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Phipps, Third Earl of Mulgrave and Second Marquess of Normanby George Augustus Constantine
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Pickett, G. E.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Playfair, Colonel
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Pleasonton, A.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Plowden, Colonel
Plowden was a retired officer from the Royal East India Company and sought appointment in British Columbia.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Politkowsky, Major General W.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Pressly, Charles
Charles Pressly was commissioner and chairman of the Inland Revenue Department, Somerset House, London.
BCPO 139.6.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Preston, John B.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Preuss, Charles
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Prevost, Captain James Charles (1810-1891)
Capt. James Charles Prevost first came to the Pacific coast in 1850 commander of the HMS Portland, the flagship of his father-in-law, Rear Admiral Fairfax Moresby. Promoted to captain in 1854, Prevost returned to the Pacific Station in 1857 as commander of HMS Satellite.
He was concerned about the lack of religious instruction available to the Haida on Haida Gwaii, and on his return trip to British Columbia offered a free passage to any representative of the Church Missionary Society; William Duncan accepted the offer and accompanied him and established a mission at Metlakatla.
Prevost remained on the Pacific Station until 1860. From 1864 to 1869 he was in charge of the naval establishment at Gibraltar.He retired in 1869 with the rank of rear admiral, becoming an admiral in 1880. Prevost appeared as a witness before the Emperor of Germany, who was responsible for settling the San Juan Islands boundary dispute in 1872.
In 1878 and 1879, Prevost travelled back to British Columbia and visited the Metlakatla mission he had helped establish. He died in 1891.
Dorothy Blakey Smith, The Journal of Arthur Thomas Bushby, 1858-1859, BCHQ 21, (1957-58): 191-192. VI 23.1
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Price
According to
this despatch, M
r Price was "a respectable tradesman, who was
barbarously murdered in his own house at
Cayoosh."
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Price, Captain T. S.
In
this despatch, Price writes a reference for
Blanshard's application for Crown employment, following
Blandshard's resignation as governor of
Vancouver Island.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Pringle, Reverend A. David
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Priser, Commander
Commander Priser, Commander of HMS Alert.
BCCOR 196.2.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Puget, Peter
(1765-1822)
Peter Puget, after whom Puget Sound, Puget Bluff, and Puget Cove are named, was a British naval officer. He joined the Royal Navy in 1778, and in 1783 he met Captain George Vancouver while assigned to the HMS Europa in the West Indies.1 Puget was 2nd lieutenant to Vancouver on board the Discovery during Vancouver’s explorations of the West Coast in 1792, and was later promoted to 1st lieutenant.2 Vancouver named Puget Sound, “to commemorate Mr Puget’s exertions”.3
Puget died in Bath, England on October 31, 1822.4
- 1. Andrew Scott, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Placenames (Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing, 2009), 481.
- 2. Captain John T. Walbran, British Columbia Coast Names (Vancouver, BC: Douglas & McIntyre, 1971), 404.
- 3. Hubert Howe Bancroft, History of British Columbia 1792-1887 (USA: Arno Press, 1967), 16-18.
- 4. Captain John T. Walbran, British Columbia Coast Names (Vancouver, BC: Douglas & McIntyre, 1971), 404.
- Purchas, Samuel
(1577-1626)
Samuel Purchas was an English geographical editor and clergyman, who compiled narratives of English navigators and explorers of the West into a volume titled
Hakluyt's Posthumus, or
Purchas, his Pilgrimes.
1 The Pilgrimes consists of four volumes, based off Hakluyt’s papers, containing oral and written narratives of travels across Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. North and South America are covered in the third and fourth volumes.2
Purchas was born to George and Anne Purchas, and was baptized on November 20, 1577 in Thaxted, Essex. After education at St. John’s College in Cambridge, he married Jane Lease on December 2, 1601, and together they had three children. Purchas died in the fall of 1626.3
Other published works by Purchas include Purchas, his Pilgrimage (1613), The Historie of Man (1619), and The King’s Towre (1623).4
- Pélissier, Aimable Jean Jacques 1st Duc de Malakoff (1794-1864)
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Pérez, Captain Juan Josef
(1725-1775)
Captain Juan Josef Pérez Hernández, a Spanish officer, was the first European to sight Nootka Sound, while he captained the Santiago on a scouting and exploration voyage up the Northwest Coast of North America in 1774. Born in Majorca, Spain in 1725, Pérez previously commanded the Príncipe, while the vessel delivered colonists to settlements at San Diego and Monterey in 1769.1
In 1774, the viceroy of New Spain, Antonio María Bucareli y Ursúa, ordered Pérez to command an expedition of the Northwest Coast to a latitude of 60° North, and to claim all land to the south for Spain, as well as to report on Russian activity in the area. Due to bad weather, Pérez was not able to sail as far north as he hoped. While on the voyage, Pérez traded with Haida First Nations off the coast of the Queen Charlotte Islands, and, on the return, with the Nootka First Nations at Nootka Sound; however, Pérez never entered Nootka Sound.2
The results of Pérez’s voyage displeased the viceroy, and when another expedition was planned in 1775, Pérez was demoted to second officer. Many of the participants of this voyage, likely including Pérez, contracted scurvy; shortly after a two month rest in Monterey, Pérez died at sea.3
Although the documented reports from Pérez’s expedition were deficient, the voyage became the basis of Spain’s claim to Nootka Sound, as issues of ownership would arise over the area in following years.4
- Quadra, Captain Don Juan Francisco de la Bodega y
(1743-1794)
Captain Don Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, born on June 3, 1743 in Lima, Peru, was a Spanish naval officer and explorer in charge of Spanish naval activity on the Northwest Coast in the late 18th century. In 1792, he took part in negotiations with Captain George Vancouver to implement the results of the Nootka Convention of 1790.1 Although they were on opposite sides of negotiations, Vancouver spoke very highly of Quadra’s character.2 Bodega Bay in Northern California, Quadra Island, and Quadra Street in Victoria, BC, were all named after Quadra.3
Quadra died suddenly in 1794 in Mexico City, Mexico.4
- 1. Christon I. Archer, Bodega y Quadra, Juan Francisco de la The Canadian Encyclopedia.
- 2. G.P.V. Akrigg and H.B. Akrigg, British Columbia Place Names, 3rd Edition (Vancouver: UBC Press, 1997), 219.
- 3. Andrew Scott, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Placenames (Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing, 2009), 483.
- 4. Christon I. Archer, Bodega y Quadra, Juan Francisco de la The Canadian Encyclopedia.
- Quillin
In the minutes of
this despatch,
Elliot describes Quillin as “a respectable old Priest from Canada.”
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Quimper, Captain Manuel
(1757-1844)
Captain Manuel Quimper was a Spanish naval officer and explorer. He was sent to the Northwest Coast in 1789,1 during the British/Spanish competition for control over the coast, known as the Nootka Sound Controversy.2
During the Spanish attempt to permanently reoccupy Nootka Sound in 1790, Quimper sailed on the Princesa Real, the captured British Princess Royal, with Captain Gonzalo Lopez de Haro to explore the southern coast.3 Quimper and Haro charted the entrance to the Juan de Fuca Strait and claimed points in the Sooke Inlet and Royal Roads for the Spanish.4 They travelled up to Rosario Strait and Whidbey Island before returning to Nootka Sound.5 Mt. Manuel Quimper near Victoria, BC and Quimper Penninsula in Washington State, USA are named after Quimper.6
- 1. Christon I. Archer, Quimper, Manuel The Canadian Encyclopedia.
- 2. Barry M. Gough, Nootka Sound Controversy The Canadian Encyclopedia.
- 3. G.P.V. Akrigg and H.B. Akrigg, British Columbia Chronicle, 1778-1846 (Vancouver, BC: Discovery Press, 1977), 58.
- 4. Hubert Howe Bancroft, History of British Columbia 1792-1887 (USA: Arno Press, 1967), 8 & 9.
- 5. G.P.V. Akrigg and H.B. Akrigg, British Columbia Chronicle, 1778-1846 (Vancouver, BC: Discovery Press, 1977), 58.
- 6. Captain John T. Walbran, British Columbia Coast Names (Vancouver, BC: Douglas & McIntyre, 1971), 411.
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Rae, Doctor
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Ram, Abel I.
-
Ramage, John
President, Municipal Council of New Westminster.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Ray, James H.
James H. Ray, miner, described by the Victoria Gazette as a "well-known land speculator," undertook to pre-empt 1,200 acres of land near Fort Langley and subdivide it into town lots."So far as we can learn," the Gazette continued, "this action of Ray's is done without the sanction of the Government, and any title derived from him is consequently of no account."
Ray had been involved in similar activities in California; the Gazette of 28 September 1858 commented: "By the bye, I notice that a certain James H. Ray is going it rather largely at Fort Hope, in land speculations. I wish him as much success as he experienced in his quartz speculations in California."
BCDES 4.3. Gazette, 14 September 1858.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Raymond, Camille
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Rayne, M.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Read, W.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Reep, Richard Thompson
Richard Thompson Reep, was secretary of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company and also the European and Australian Royal Mail Company (Limited), both of which had offices at 55 Mongate Street in London.
Imperial Calendar, 1858, p. 304. BCPO 112.2.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Reeve, Henry
Registrar to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Reid, Captain James Murray
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Renaud, Captain Earnest
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Reynolds
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Reynolds, Henry Revell (1800-1866)
Henry Revell Reynolds was born in Bedford-Row, London, in 1800. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, and received a BA in 1822 and a MA in 1825. He was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in 1826. He was an assistant solicitor in the Treasury from 22 November 1842 to 30 December 1851, when he was promoted solicitor to replace G. Mauley. He remained in that position until 1 June 1866, when he resigned. He died three weeks later, at the age of 65. Six daughters and three sons by two successive wives, Marry-Anne Knotchbull and Charlotte Anne Bullock-Welster, survived him.
Office-Holders, Treasury, p. 146. BCDES 21.1. Gentleman's Magazine, August 1866, p. 273.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Rhodes, Henry
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Rice, Bernard
Son of Elizabeth Rice.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Rice, Elizabeth
Mother of Bernard Rice.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Richards, Charles
Charles Richards of the Admiralty.
BCPO 75.3. Possibly one of eleven unnamed temporary clerks in the Transport Branch of the Admiralty, acting under Willis. Imperial Calendar, 1858.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Richards, Captain George Henry (1820-1896)
Capt.George Henry Richards, was born 13 January 1820 and entered the Royal Navy in 1832. He joined the Sulphur as midshipman in 1836, saw active service in China, 1838-40, and was promoted to lietenant in July 1842. He spent the next three years surveying the southeast coast of South America and won promotion to commander while on active service up the Parana River in 1845.
From 1847 to 1852, Richards was second in command to Capt. John L. Stokes's survey of the New Zealand coast. He then served on the Assistance, travelling to the Arctic in 1852-54 in search of Sir John Franklin's expedition.
Promoted captain on 21 October 1854, Richards was commissioned on the Plumper in 1856; he arrived at Esquimalt on 9 November 1857 as second commissioner in the commission to survey the British-American boundary. Richards transferred to the Plumper's replacement, the Hecate, in January 1861 and returned to England in December 1862. He became Hydrographer of the Navy in 1864. Richards retired in 1874, was knighted in 1877, and became admiral in 1884. He died on 14 November 1896.
Dorothy Blakey Smith, The Journal of Arthur Thomas Bushby, 1858-1859, BCHQ 21, (1957-58): 192-93. See also London Times, 17 November 1896. VI 37.4. See Clowes, Royal Navy, pp. 464-65. BCMM dossier.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Richardson, T.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Riddel, Doctor A. A.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Riddel, Jas
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Ring, Captain
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Rising, Horace
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Roberts, Edward
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Roberts, Henry
Henry Roberts was trained as a lawyer; he was appointed chairman of quarter sessions and chief judge of common pleas in
Jamaica in 1840. He also served as commissioner of education there in 1845, resigning in 1853. He was appointed private secretary to Secretary of State
Newcastle, serving from 17 January 1853 to 12 June 1854; he was undersecretary for war from December 1854 to March 1865, when he resigned.
Office-Holders, Colonial Office, p. 47, Colonial Office List 1864, p. 201. BCPO 139.7.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Roberts, William
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Robinson, Quartermaster R. S.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Robson, Lieutenant Charles
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Rodrester
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Roebuck
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Rogers, Baron Blachford Frederic (1811-1889)
Frederic Rogers, Baron Blachford, was born at Marylebone on 31 January 1811. He attended Eton and Oriel College, Oxford, where he was elected to a fellowship in 1833. He was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn on 26 January 1837 but returned to Oxford in 1838, remaining a became a registrar of joint-stock companies, then a commissioner of lands and emigration.
From 19 May 1846 to 9 January 1847 he served as assistant undersecretary in the Colonial Office. In 1857, Rogers became assistant commissioner for the sale of encumbered estates in the West Indies, after which he went on a special mission to Paris in 1858 and 1859. He returned in 1860 to become permanent undersecretary of state for the colonies, remaining in that office until 1871.
Rogers succeeded his father as baronet in 1851, received a K.C.M.G. in 1869 and a G.C.M.G. in 1883, and was raised to the peerage as Baron Blachford in 1871. He died at Blachford on 21 November 1889.
Dictionary of National Biography (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1900-) 17, pp. 119-21. Office-Holders, Colonial Office, p. 47. BCCOR 200.2.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Roll, Peter
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Romaine, William Govett (1815-1893)
William Govett Romaine was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. He was called to the bar at the Inner Temple on 25 January 1839 and practiced as a lawyer until 1854, when he was appointed deputy judge advocate of the army in the east during the Crimean War.
He was made a companion of the Bath in 1857, and in April that year he became a secretary to the Admiralty. He became judge advocate general in India in June 1869 and remained there until 1873. In 1876 he became a member of the Egyptian Conseil du Treésor, eventually becoming president of the organization.
Romaine retired in 1879 and died at Old Windsor on 5 May 1893.
Dictionary of National Biography (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1900-) 17, p. 177. BCPO 76.1.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Romilly, Edward
Edward Romilly was commissioner and chairman of the Office for Auditing the Public Accounts, Somerset House, W.C.
BCPO 139.3.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Romilly, John
John Romilly was born in 1802 and received his education at Cambridge University. He was called to the bar in 1827.1
During the 1830s and 1840s, Romilly rose as a Whig politician and was appointed solicitor-general in 1848. He vetted the commission and instructions of
Richard Blanchard, the first governor of
Vancouver Island, as seen in
this despatch.
2 He was knighted shortly after his appointment to solicitor-general and raised to the peerage in 1866.
3 - Rooney, Captain Matthew
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Roses, Sir Hugh
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Ross, Isabella
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Ross, John
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Rothery, Henry Cadogan (1817-1888)
Henry Cadogan Rothery was born in London in 1817; he received his B.A. and M.A. from St.John's College, Cambridge. On 26 November 1853 he was appointed registrar of the old Admiralty court. In 1860 he became legal advisor to the Treasury, and in 1876 he was appointed commissioner to investigate shipwrecks and casualties at sea. Rothery retired in 1888 and died at Ribsden, Bagshot, Surrey, on 2 August 1888.
Dictionary of National Biography (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1900-) 17, pp. 303-4. BCPO 87.1.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Rousset, Paul G.
Paul G. Rousset was an importer with offices in San Francisco and Victoria; his company was Rousset, Auger & Co. In 1858, Rousset's residence was listed as Paris.
Henry G. Langley comp., The San Francisco Directory for the Year 1858: Embracing a General Directory of Citizens, a Business Directory, and an Appendix (San Francisco: Commercial Steam Presses, S.D. Valentine & Son, 1858); see also advertisement in the Colonist, 16 September 1858.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
-
Rowland
According to
this despatch, Rowland was the "owner of a little sloop of 40 tons,
the
Georgiana of Sydney."
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Rowlandson, Thomas
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Rupert, Prince
(1619-1682)
Prince Rupert, after whom Fort Rupert, Prince Rupert,and Rupert’s Land were named, was the first governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company.1 Prince Rupert was born at Prague on 18 December 1619, where—before they were driven out by the Habsburgs—his parents, Princess Elizabeth (Stuart), and Frederick V, ruled as king and queen of Bohemia.2
Rupert was ”an infant prodigy,” skilled in arts and languages; although, he had a temper, and often misbehaved. The young prince was also interested in military tactics; Rupert served briefly with the prince of Orange’s army,3 and, during the English Civil War, his uncle, King Charles I, made him commander of his Royalist cavalry,4 a position wherein Rupert gained a reputation as a fierce soldier.5
After a mild falling-out with the king, Rupert was exiled, and, for a number of years, he took to maritime activities—not dissimilar to piracy—along the coasts of Spain, Africa, and the Caribbean. Rupert returned to England after the the Restoration in 1660, and served his cousin, King Charles II, in the Anglo-Dutch wars.6
In 1670,7 Prince Rupert became the first governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company, and all the land that encompassed the waters that drained into the bay were named Rupert’s Land, with exclusive rights granted to the HBC.8
Though Rupert never wed, he fathered two children—a son, Dudley Bard, who was born in 1667, and died in 1686 at the Battle of Buda, as well as a daughter, Ruperta, born in 1673, to whom, along with her mother, Rupert left much of his estate. In November 1682, Rupert contracted a chest infection and passed away several days later.9
- 1. Andrew Scott, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Placenames (Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing, 2009), 478.
- 2. Ian Roy, Rupert, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Scott, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Placenames, 478.
- 5. Ian Roy, Rupert, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online.
- 6. Ibid.
- 7. Ibid.
- 8. Scott, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Placenames, 478.
- 9. Ian Roy, Rupert, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online.
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Russell, Lord John
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Rutland, 7th Duke
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Ryan, Sir Edward
(1793-1875)
After graduating from Cambridge University in 1817, Edward Ryan was called to the bar, practised on the Oxford circuit, and wrote legal treatises. Knighted for his publications, he spent almost twenty years in India where he became chief judge, noted for his philanthropy. Returning to England in 1843, he became a privy councillor and later wrote a report calling for open competition for positions in the home civil service. In 1848, as an officer of the privy council (cabinet), he exchanged notes with Colonial Office permanent under-secretary Herman Merivale concerning the grant of Vancouver Island to the Hudson's Bay Company.
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Sabiston, John
An interpreter.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Sanders, Edward Howard (1832-1902)
Edward Howard Sanders was born in Hampshire, England, but had been educated in Belgium and Germany. He had a commission in the Imperial Austrian Army from 1849 to 1855, serving in the Crimean War.
Sanders did come to Victoria in Spring 1859, receiving an appointment as justice of the peace and later as assistant gold commissioner at Yale; he was later also responsible for the district of Hope. Sanders served on the Legislative Council of British Columbia as representative for Yale and Hope from 1864 until Confederation.
He was made a county court judge in 1867, serving in that post until he retired in 1881. He died at Bath, England, in October 1902.
Victoria Daily Colonist, 30 October 1902, p. 2, and Prince Rupert Daily News, 1 March 1971, p. 4, Colonial Office List, 1864, p. 204. BCCOR 252.1.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Sanders, Captain G. C.
BCCOR 254.1.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Sandford, F. R.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Sandon, Lord
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Sangster, James
After serving on several voyages between
London and the
Columbia District, James Sangster entered the service of the HBC in 1832 as a seaman. In 1848, he prepared a map of the coal beds of
Vancouver Island. The following year, he signed a petition protesting
Douglas's succession to
Blanshard as governor. He was master of the company vessel, Cadboro, when it was seized by the United States in 1850. In 1852,
Douglas recommended him for the post of Collector of Customs, as reported in
this letter. Sangster retired in 1858 and apparently committed suicide the same year.
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Sansum, Lieutenant
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Sargeaunt, William Charles
William Charles Sargeaunt was a supernumerary clerk in the Colonial Office from 8 February 1848 to 8 February 1849, when he became assistant junior clerk.He remained at that post until 13 April 1858, when he became junior clerk. On 1 January 1860, Sargeaunt was promoted assistant clerk, remaining until 1862 when he left office to become agent general for the crown colonies.
Office-Holders, Colonial Office, p. 48.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Sargent, T.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Scott, David
(1746-1840)
David Scott, an independent Bombay merchant, obtained the East India Company’s approval for his 1785 Northwest Coast expedition with James Strange.1 The goal of the expedition was to establish new trade between India and the Northwest Coast, and to survey the Northwest Coast and document new discoveries.2 Unfortunately, the expedition was a failure on all counts.3
Scott learned to be less supportive of risky expeditions.4 He became chairman of the East India Company from 1796–97 and again in 1801.5
- 1. Barry M. Gough, Distant Dominion: Britain and the Northwest Coast of North America, 1579-1809 (Canada: University of British Columbia, 1980), 57.
- 2. Ibid., 58.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Ibid., 65.
- 5. Andrew Scott, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Placenames (Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing, 2009), 107.
- Scott, W. C.
W.C. Scott, Lord Chancellor's Court.
BCCOR 255.2.
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Scott, Baron Stowell William
(1745-1836)
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Scott, General Winfield
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Scowell, Chief
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Seakai, Chief
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Seddall, J. V.
J.V. Seddall, Staff assistant surgeon. BCDES 46.2 Ormsby, A Pioneer Gentlewoman in British Columbia, n.118 has some info.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Seney
According to
this document, Seney was "killed by the fall off a Tree on
Frazers River."
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Seniavine, Imperial Minister Leon
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Seymour, Sir George Francis (1787-1870)
Sir George Francis Seymour, naval officer, was born on 17 September 1787. He served with distinction in several battles during the Napoleonic wars, including Trafalgar, and was later severely wounded by grapeshot at Santo Domingo.
After the wars, Seymour served as sergeant-at-arms in the House of Lords and later was master of robes to William IV. In 1841 he was appointed a lord of the Admiralty and commander of the Royal Navy's pacific station until 1848.
From 1851 to November 1853 Seymour was commander in chief of the North America and West Indies station. He was eventually promoted to admiral of the fleet in 1866. He died on 29 January 1870.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, s.v. "Seymour, Sir George Francis,"
http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/25170 (accessed June 5, 2009).
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Seymour, Hobart
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Seymour, Rear Admiral Michael (1802-1887)
Rear Admiral Michael Seymour was born on 5 December 1802. After studying at the Royal Naval College at Portsmouth, he joined active service with the Royal Navy, travelling to the Mediterranean, Algiers, South America, and the eastern Pacific.
He was promoted lieutenant on 12 September 1822 and commander on 6 December 1824, and he served as flag-captain on various ships from 1841 to 1848. In 1854, Seymour became captain of the fleet in the Baltic; on 27 May 1854 he was promoted rear-admiral. In 1856, he took command of the China Station, and at the end of his three-year term in 1859 he was nominated a G.C.B.
He represented Devonport in Parliament from 1859 to 1863, then served as commander in chief at Portsmouth from March 1863 to March 1866. Retiring in 1870, Seymour became vice admiral of the United Kingdom in 1875. He died on 23 February 1887.
Dictionary of National Biography (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1900-) 17, pp. 1264-65. BCDES 24.2.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Shaw, Norton
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Shaw-Lefevre, John George
A graduate of Eton College and a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, Shaw-Lefevre was called to the bar in 1825. Moving in whiggish circles, he joined the Political Economy Club in 1820, redrew county constituency boundaries in preparation for the Reform Act of 1832, and became a Poor Law Commissioner in 1834. In 1848, Lord John Russell appointed him deputy clerk of parliaments, a position in which he signed a request of the House of Lords for a "Copy of the Correspondence between the chairman of the Hudson's Bay Company and the Secretary of State for the Colonies, relative to the Colonization of Vancouver's Island." He was knighted in 1857, but only after he had distributed a printed memorandum of his official services.
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Shelbury
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Shelly
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Shepherd, John (d. 1859)
James Shepherd was nominated to the Committee of the HBC on 27 November 1850, took the position of deputy governor of the HBC on 24 November 1852, and became governor on 26 November 1856. Shepherd died in London on 12 January 1859.1
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Shillinglaw, John
On February 24, 1848,
J.E. Fitzgerald forwarded John Shillinglaw's pamphlet, as seen in
this despatch, entitled "A Proposal to Form a Company for the Purpose of Working the Coal, and Establishing a Colony in Vancouver's Island," to the Colonial Office to demonstrate that parties beyond the Hudson's Bay Company were interested in colonizing
Vancouver Island.
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Short, Eli
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Shrapnel, Henry
Father of Henry Needham Scrope Shrapnel.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Shrapnel, General Henry Needham Scrope
Son of Henry Shrapnel.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Sim, Captain
A Clerk in the Department of the Surveyor General.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Simpson, Sir George (1786-1860)
George Simpson, governor of the Hudson's Bay Company and businessman, was born in Scotland in 1786. An illegitimate child, he was raised by his aunt and uncle. Having obtained only a parish education, Simpson travelled to London in 1800 and was given a job at his uncle's sugar company. This company merged with Wedderburn & Company in 1812. It was through Andrew Colvile, a stock holder of Wedderburn and a member of the HBC governing board, that Simpson's keen business sense was noticed and he was given the job of governor of Rupert's Land in 1820.
Simpson possessed a natural aptitude for business and a tremendous, almost manic energy. Simpson brought both of these qualities with him to Canada. His 40 years as governor of
Rupert's Land saw the HBC reach its zenith in geography and commercial success. Simpson reorganized the fur trade and pushed the HBC into expanding its interest beyond fur to almost anything that could be had in areas where it operated. Not content to issue orders from behind a desk at headquarters at Fort York or Lachine, Simpson preferred to see things as they were on the ground, and he embarked on epic voyages throughout his career—by horse, canoe, and foot—to the HBC's far-flung posts in North America. His advice to the HBC governing council in London was always respected and usually followed. With profits soaring to from 10 to 25 per cent, he was given great leeway in making decisions, and was a defacto viceroy for the company in Canada. Friends and enemies alike referred to him as "Emperor of the Plains" and "The Birch-bark Emperor."
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, s.v. "Simpson, Sir George,"
http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?id_nbr=4188 (accessed June 3, 2009).
In the West, Simpson embarked on a trade offensive against the HBC's two biggest competitors: America and Russia. Successful, the HBC soon dominated trade from the
Columbia to Alaska. By 1833 American maritime trade had been virtually crushed and the policy of vigorously trapping out the Snake country had discouraged American inland traders. The
Oregon Country, however, could not be held in the face of increasing numbers of American settlers. At first Simpson hoped to provoke an incident between the two governments that would lead to the area being declared British, but by 1840 the sheer number of American settlers convinced Simpson that the HBC would eventually be forced out. In 1842, he ordered the construction of new headquarters for the district on
Vancouver Island to replace
Fort Vancouver, which he believed (correctly) would soon be part of the United States.
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, s.v. "Simpson, Sir George,"
http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?id_nbr=4188 (accessed June 3, 2009).
Simpson spent most of the 1850s in Montreal, tending to HBC and private interests. He died on 7 September 1860.
-
Simpson, Sir James Young (1811-1870)
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Simpson, First Baronet Sir John Sinclair (1754-1835)
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Sinclair, James
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Sinclair, Captain Robert Bligh
Capt. Robert Bligh Sinclair, a Yorkshireman, served from 1839-50 in the 42nd Regiment and had spent some time in the California mines. He was considered by the Colonial Office as a possible candidate as police inspector for British Columbia.
See testimonials in 6894, Sinclair to [Lytton], 16 July 1858, CO 6/29, p. 222.
BCDES 44.1. (Not yet transcribed, but the
page-images are available.)
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Sinclair, William
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Skea, James
Friend of a murdered HBC servant.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Skinner, Reverend Thomas James
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Skipwith, T. G.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Slaughter, Captain William
William Slaughter entered the Royal Navy in 1794.1 In 1837 he was promoted to the rank of captain and appointed a knight of the Royal Hanoverian and Guelphic Order.2
He applied to Lord Grey for a position in the government of
Vancouver Island, as seen in
this despatch.
- 1. Great Britain, Admirality, The Navy List, (London, England: John Murray, Albemare Street, 1848), 7.
- 2. Great Britain, Admirality, The Navy List, 118.
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Slidell
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Smith, D. G.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Smith, Henry
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Smith, Major General M. M.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Smith, Peter
Peter Smith was chief clerk in the Colonial Office. He entered the service as an extra clerk, 20 August 1810 to 5 April 1816, served as a translator from 5 January 1814 to 5 July 1819, clerk from 5 July 1819 to 28 March 1822, a supernumerary assistant clerk to 5 January 1824, senior clerk to 1 July 1843, and chief clerk to 1 January 1860, when he retired.
Office-Holders, Colonial Office, p. 48.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Smith, Robert Thompson (d. 1880)
Robert Thompson Smith was the first justice of the peace and revenue officer at Hope. He was an elected member of the Legislative Council of British Columbia in 1864, representing Hope, Yale, and Lytton, in 1866, representing Cariboo West, and in 1867, representing the Columbia River and Kootenay area. In 1864, Smith worked for Macdonald's Bank, purchasing gold dust in the Cariboo gold fields and transporting it to Victoria.
In 1868, he left British Columbia for the mines of Utah; in September 1880, Smith engaged in a shootout with Dr. B.C. Snedaker concerning Smith's fiancee, Agnes Davidson. Both Smith and Snedaker died from gunshot wounds.
See the Colonist, 14, 22 September 1880; the Daily Colonist, 27 October 1974; and Ronald Greene, The Demise of Macdonald's Bank, Canada West Magazine 7, no.4 (Fall 1983): 17-27. BCDES 6.6.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Smith, William G.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby Edward
(1799-1869)
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Sokeren, Adolphe
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Somersby, A. D.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Somerset, First Baron Raglan FitzRoy James Henry
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Sommer, W. R.
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Soseeah, Chief
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Southgate, J. J.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Spackman, Corporal S.
BCPO 154. Not in Army List 1858-59.
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Spence, John
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Spencer, Captain J. W. S.
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- Splintlum, Chief
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Spring-Rice, Stephen Edmund (1814-1865)
Stephen Edmund Spring-Rice was deputy chairman of the Board of Customs. He is mentioned in the entry for his father Thomas Spring-Rice.
Dictionary of National Biography (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1900-) 18, p. 837. Imperial Calendar, 1858. BCPO 129.1.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Spurgin, Doctor John (1796-1866)
The documents enclosed with
this despatch state that Spurgin was the English physician to whom
Governor Blanshard wrote regarding the latter’s “continual attacks of ague.” Based on
Blanshard’s descriptions of his own symptoms, Spurgin advised that the
Governor leave
Vancouver Island immediately.
Spurgin, who was from Orplands, Bradwell, Essex, was also a medical writer and an inventor. He filed a number of patents, including one for a device called an “endless ladder”—used to transport workers and instruments up and down mine shafts—and another for a system that utilizes chain-driven paddles to power water-craft.1
At Bishopsgate, on September 20, 1865, Spurgin was assaulted by thieves, who attempted to strangle him; the injuries from which eventually led to his death, on 20 March 1866.2
- 1. Anita McConnell Spurgin, John Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- 2. Ibid.
- proceeded to make seizures, and succeeded in carrying off with impunity, thirty four head of valuable breeding Rams,
Stafford, August
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Staines, Reverend Robert John
(1820-1854)
Nephew of Boys. After graduating from Cambridge University in 1845, Robert John Staines taught in England, Ireland, and France. In March 1848, the Hudson's Bay Company appointed him both schoolmaster and chaplain for the Columbia District after he took orders. Staines arrived in Victoria in March 1849, began work, and acquired two parcels of land. In 1850, he opposed the nomination of Douglas to succeed Blanshard as governor. In 1853, he signed a petition to the House of Commons calling for an independent governor. Aware of criticism of Staines's duties as schoolmaster, Douglas gave him notice in February 1854 that his services would no longer be required. Staines quickly became the spokesperson of another group of colonists dissatisfied with the appointment of Douglas's brother-in-law, David Cameron, as acting chief justice. Dispatched to England with petitions, Staines drowned when his ship sank off Cape Flattery.
- Staines, Emma
In
this despatch,
Boys includes a letter he received from
Reverend Staines. In it, Staines makes two references to his wife, Emma, who, apparently, "cannot eat meat well without vegetables, & cannot eat them unless nicely cooked."
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Stamp, Captain Edward
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Stanley, Lord Edward Henry (1826-1893)
Lord Edward Henry Stanley was born on 21 July 1826. Educated at Rugby and Trinity College, Cambridge, he received his M.A. in 1848. On 22 December 1848 he was elected to represent King's Lynn in the House of Commons, remaining there until he succeeded to the earldom in October 1869 at which time he entered the House of Lords as Lord Derby.
He travelled widely and wrote about his experiences. His father, Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, Lord Derby, led the government in 1852 and appointed his son under secretary of state for foreign affairs, where he remained until December of that year, when the government fell. In February 1858, Stanley became secretary of state for the colonies, and, in June, moved to the India board. With the passage of the India Bill, Stanley became the first secretary of state for India but left office again in June 1859.
When Lord Derby returned to power again in 1866, Stanley entered the foreign office, continuing in that post after Lord Derby's retirement in February 1868; however, Stanley eventually resigned in December of that year. In February 1874, as Lord Derby, he joined Disraeli's government as foreign secretary.
On 28 March 1878, he resigned from government and from the House of Lords, opposing the Conservative government's policies. On 12 March 1880 he severed all connection with the Conservative party and from 1882 to 1885 served as secretary of state for the colonies in in Gladstone's administration.He was knighted in 1884.
In 1886, he changed his political allegiance again, joining the Liberal Unionists and representing them in the Lords. He retired from public life in 1890 and died on 21 April 1893 at his home in Knowsley.
Dictionary of National Biography (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1900-) 18, pp. 948-51. VI p. 20.
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Steele, H. M.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Stephen, Sir James (1789-1859)
Sir James Stephen (1789-1859), lawyer and civil servant, was born on January 3, 1789 at Lambeth, London to father James Stephen, a lawyer, and mother Anna. As a child, Stephen suffered an attack of smallpox that left his eyesight permanently weakened. As a result, he was a shy boy who was privately schooled, but who did eventually enrol at Trinity Hall, Cambridge in 1806. He went on to practice in the court of chancery after he was called to the bar at Lincoln’s Inn in November of 1811 and received his LLB degree in 1812.
Stephen was appointed legal adviser to the Colonial Office in 1813. As such, Stephen had to review all acts passed in the colonies. In December of 1814, he married Jane Catherine Venn, the daughter of Henry Venn, the rector of Clapham, and together they had five children.
In 1834, Stephen was appointed assistant under-secretary at the Colonial Office and then two years later made permanent under-secretary. Here he would remain until 1848.
As the top bureaucrat at the Colonial Office, Stephen rarely delegated work to his staff (most of whom he considered less than mediocre), restricting them to mindless tedium, like copying letters and drafts.John W. Cell,
British colonial administration in the mid-nineteenth century; the policy-making process [by] John W. Cell (New Haven, Yale University Press, 1970), 26. The privilege of advising government on colonial problems of the day was the purview of Stephen alone, as was the process at arriving at such an opinion. This, and his formidable memory, made Stephen's knowledge of the colonies unmatched; his advice carried great weight when given to the secretary of state. However, he remained a bureaucrat, and his advice, especially on matters of policy fiercely debated in the House of Commons, could be and was frequently overruled. Still, his domination of his office as it pertained to legality, details and matters of colonial precedent was such that he earned the nickname "Mr.Over-Secretary" and "Mr. Mother-Country".
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, s.v. "Stephen, Sir James,"
http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/26374 (accessed June 2, 2009).
An indefatigable worker, meticulous and possessing a voluminous memory, Stephen's influence on Colonial Office was lasting. Stephen streamlined the disorganized and ad hoc office run by his predecessors into a place where rational work-flow prevailed. The most noticable of these reforms was a stamp for all papers that included the names of officials who had read it and when. Stephen also initialed and minuted every paper, a habit passed on to staff, and required that copies of drafts and outgoing letters be kept. Once in place, Stephen's system remained unchanged until 1870, a testament to its efficiency. In this, the deliverer of something like bureaucratic rationality, he can be regarded as the Colonial Office's founding father.John W. Cell, British colonial administration in the mid-nineteenth century; the policy-making process [by] John W. Cell (New Haven, Yale University Press, 1970), 10.
Stephen believed all the British colonies would mature and inevitably leave the mother country and its empire. Although he wished it were otherwise, the pessimistic Stephen—who was against imperial expansion—surrendered to the need for conciliation and relented to what he thought was the distasteful inevitability of responsible government in Canada and elsewhere in the empire.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, s.v. "Stephen, Sir James,"
http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/26374 (accessed June 2, 2009). He understood the limits of his office—the colonies would develop whether officials in Britain liked it or not—and stubborn resistance to change would only make it worse, perhaps with a repeat of the American Revolution.
Stephen retired in poor health from the Foreign Office in 1848. He was given honorary professorships at Cambridge in 1849 and at the East India Company's college at Haileybury in 1853.
Stephen died on September 14, 1859 at Koblenz, in Prussia's Rhine province, after having been in ill health for many months.
- Cell, John W. British Colonial Administration in the Mid-Nineteenth Century: the Policy Making Process.M New Haven: Yale University Press, 1970.
- Stephenson, R.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Stephenson, William Henry
William Henry Stephenson joined the Treasury as a junior clerk on 23 March 1827, serving until 22 May 1838, when he was promoted to assistant clerk. From 8 September 1841 to July 1846, Stephenson served as private secretary to the first lord; from 15 November 1850 to 12 August 1851 he was private secretary to the chancellor of the exchequer. He was also clerk of parliamentary accounts from 22 March to 15 November 1850. On 25 February 1851, Stephenson was promoted to senior clerk, remaining there to 20 February 1852, when he was made principal clerk assistant. From 4 July 1856 to 9 December 1862 he served as principal clerk, resigning in 1862 to accept the appointment of chairman of the Board of Inland Revenue.
Office-Holders, Treasury, p. 153. Imperial Calendar, 1858. BCPO 130.2.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Steptoe, Colonel Edward
See Olympia Pioneer and Democrat (Washington Territory), 28 May 1858. VI 27.1.
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- Stevens, Isaac Ingalls (1818-1862)
Isaac Ingalls Stevens (1818-62) was born at Andover, Massachusetts, on 25 March 1818. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1839 and was commissioned a second lieutenant of engineers. In 1849, after serving as engineer adjutant during the Mexican War, Stevens was appointed executive assistant in the United States Coast Survey.
On 16 March 1853, he resigned from the army to accept the post of first governor of the new Washington Territory, remaining there until 1857, when he was elected territorial delegate to Congress. In 1860, he served as chairman of the Breckinridge and Lane National Committee.
During the American Civil War, Stevens was colonel of the 79th Regiment of New York Volunteers, rising to major general on 4 July 1862. He died in battle at Chantilly on 1 September 1862.
Dumas Malone, ed., Dictionary of American Biography (New York: Scribner's, 1964) 9, pp. 612-14.See Kent D.Richards, Isaac I.Stevens: Young Man in a Hurry (Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1979). BCDES 62.2.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Stirling, Sir Walter
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Stokes, Thomas N.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Storks, Major General Henry Knight (1811-1874)
Major General Henry Knight Storks was educated at the Charterhouse before being commissioned as ensign in the 61st Foot on 10 January 1828. Transferring to the 14th Foot in March 1832 and to the 38th Foot in May 1836, Storks served in the Ionian Islands, at the Cape of Good Hope, and at Mauritius. He became colonel on 28 November 1854 and major general during the Crimean War, on 23 November 1855.1
Upon his return to England he became secretary for military correspondence in the War Office from 1857 to 1859. Made a K.C.B. on 2 January 1857, Storks was appointed high commissioner of the Ionian Islands on 2 February 1859. He received the G.C.M.G. in 1860 and was promoted major general on 12 November 1862. On 1 July 1864 he received the G.C.B., and on 15 November he became governor of Malta. On 12 December 1865, he became governor of Jamaica, leaving that post on 16 July 1866.2
He became a privy councillor in November 1866, and he was appointed controller in chief and under secretary of the War Office in December 1867. Storks became member of Parliament for Ripon on 15 February 1871; he died on 6 September 1874.3
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Strachey, William
William Strachey served as a precis writer in the Colonial Office from 20 November 1847 to 2 September 1870, when he retired.
Office-Holders, Colonial Office, p. 49.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Straith, Major H.
Major H. Straith was a member of the Church Missionary Society.
1 In
this letter to Pakington, he makes suggestions “for the establishment of Schools for the moral training & instruction of the Native Tribes” to follow the model “of [the] industrial Boarding Schools” that had been set up in New Zealand.
- Strange, James Charles Stuart
(1753-1840)
Traders such as James Charles Stuart Strange were inspired to form expeditions of their own after Captain King published the report of Captain Cook’s third Northwest Coast trading expedition in 1784.1 Strange was tempted by the seemingly effortless and lucrative business, and he enlisted the help of David Scott, an independent merchant in India.2
Strange and Scott fitted two ships, Captain Cook and Experiment, and sailed out of India for for the northwest Pacific coast in 1785; their journey was ill-fated.3
They were unable to purchase many of the goods that they had intended to sell, the Experiment was holed and needed to stop for repairs, and many of the crew members came down with scurvy.4 Strange fell far behind schedule, and did not arrive in Nootka Sound until June of 1786.5
Strange had arrived too late in the season to acquire many furs, and he soon realized that he was working with with wise and seasoned traders who would not easily part with their pelts.6 The expedition, clearly a financial failure, also failed to contribute much in the way of exploration or knowledge.7
Strange eventually retired to Scotland, where he died in 1840.8
- 1. Robin A. Fisher, Strange, James Charles Stuart, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 2. Barry M. Gough, Distant Dominion: Britain and the Northwest Coast of North America, 1579-1809 (Canada: University of British Columbia, 1980), 57.
- 3. Robin A. Fisher, Strange, James Charles Stuart, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 4. Ibid.
- 5. Ibid.
- 6. Ibid.
- 7. Barry M. Gough, Distant Dominion: Britain and the Northwest Coast of North America, 1579-1809 (Canada: University of British Columbia, 1980), 58.
- 8. Robin A. Fisher, Strange, James Charles Stuart, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- Stuart, Charles Edward (d. 1863)
Charles Edward Stuart was born in Bristol, England. He was in charge of the Hudson's Bay Company post at Nanaimo, where he also served as magistrate. Stuart established a post of his own at Uclulet in 1860; he died in 1863.
George F.G. Stanley, Mapping the Frontier: Charles Wilson's Diary of the Survey of the 49th Parallel, 1858-1862 (Toronto: Macmillan, 1970), p. 35. VI 28.1.
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Stuart, James
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Sturge, Thomas
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Suggin, John Bobs
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Sulivan, Captain B. J.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Sulivan, S. C.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Sumner, Archbishop of Canterbury Reverend John Bird (1780-1862)
The Rev. John Bird Sumner was born at Kenilworth, England, on 25 February 1780. Educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge, he received his B.A. in 1803, his M.A. in 1807, and his D.D. in 1828. Sumner was ordained in 1803; he rose in the clergy until he was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in March 1848. He published numerous works of theology throughout his career. He died at Addington on 6 September 1862.
Dictionary of National Biography (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1900-) 19, pp. 168-70.VI 40.1.
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Swanston, Robert S.
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Swartwout, Captain S.
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Swinton, Captain
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Symonds, Sir William
(1782-1856)
William Symonds, who served in various capacities throughout his naval career, including as an officer and an architect, became a lieutenant in the Royal Navy in October 1801, and participated in the Napoleonic Wars.1
In 1821, Symonds constructed an experimental vessel which he then published a pamphlet about; this began Symonds’s career as a naval architect. His designs promoted greater speed, but also allowed for larger ships and more weaponry. Symonds built a few steam-powered vessels, but believed that the sail should always be the primary method of propulsion, and steam was to be used only as an aid.2
On 15 June 1836, unbeknownst to the admiralty, King William IV knighted Symonds, who, in 1853, also served as naval aid-de-camp to Queen Victoria. Due to his health later in his later years, Symonds spent most of his time in the Mediterranean. He died in March 1856 aboard the French vessel Nil. Symond’s ships were “class for class the largest and most powerful sailing warships ever built.”3
- Taggart, William
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Talbot, Clere
Clere Talbot was an assistant junior clerk in the Colonial and War Office from 5 July 1826 to 25 August 1828, when he was promoted junior clerk. He was private secretary to the parliamentary under-secretary from 25 August 1828 to 17 November 1834 and from 26 January 1835 to 1 July 1843. On 1 July 1843 he became assistant clerk, remaining at that post until 1 April 1854, when the department divided into the Colonial Office and the War Office. Talbot accepted the appointment of senior clerk in the War Office on 5 December 1854.
Office-Holders, Colonial Office, p. 49-50. BCPO 155.3.
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Tathlasut
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Tatulat
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Taylor, G.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Taylor Juniour, John
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Taylor, Captain O. H. P.
- Taylor, Richard
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Temple, Third Viscount Palmerston Henry John
(1784-1865)
Henry John Temple, third Viscount Palmerston, prime minister and statesman, was born on 20 October 1784.
Privileged with a lavish aristocratic education from early childhood, Palmerston could speak five languages and attended both Edinburgh University (1800-1803) and St John's at Cambridge (1803-1806), where he ran for Parliament while still an undergraduate.
Socially connected and with recognized potential, Palmerston became secretary of war in 1809 at the age of 25, a position he held under five consecutive prime ministers until 1827. Out of Cabinet in this younger period, Palmerston was cautious, declining higher office for fear of failing due to lack of experience, but joined with other liberal colleagues in bringing down Wellington's government in 1828.
An aristocratic liberal in sentiment, Palmerston believed in "equitable laws", security of property and person, and the right for people to have "something to say in the management of their community." He was also in favour of the abolition of slavery. However, he was generally opposed to the democratic government like that being practised in the United States.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, s.v. "Temple, Henry John,"
http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/27112 (accessed June 2, 2009).
From 1830 to 1834 and 1835 to 1841, Palmerston was foreign secretary. His grasp of European politics and public opinion was masterful. Greek independence, followed by the defeat of Muhammad Ali, pasha of Egypt, and finally the conquest of Chusan and Hong Kong from China in the first Opium War, were a few of the successes for British imperialism that marked his time in office. Palmerston's liberal world view rarely influenced his conduct of foreign policy, especially when it came to Britain's relations with the other great powers and weaker states; here, might was right as Palmerston acted in the interest of the British for the expansion and protection of its empire, rarely backing down. Palmerston, widely admired in thePparliament and in the public, left the government in 1841. He was out of office for the Oregon boundary dispute, and was disgusted with the wholesale surrender to the Americans in the subsequent treaty.John S. Galbraith, The Hudson's Bay Company as an imperial factor, 1821-1869 (New York : Octagon Books, 1977, c1957), 220.
Palmerston was in opposition from 1841 to 1846, and then given the foreign office under Prime Minister Russell, a position he held until 1852. His policies were very popular with the British public, but engendered increasing unease from his party and the Queen. Independent and frequently taking actions without the knowledge of his government or the Queen, Palmerston was dismissed by Russell on 19 December 1851, but returned the favour by helping to bring down Russell's government on 20 February 1852.
The Crimean War, a military debacle that brought down the government of the day, launched Palmerston into the prime minister's office. Queen Victoria exhausted all options before asking Palmerston to form a government on 6 February 1855. Taking control just when historical chance precipitated Russian collapse, Palmerston brought the war to a victorious conclusion and absorbed much of the public's acclaim.
Palmerston's first sojourn as prime minister was brief, but lead to a second, long-lasting term in office. Brought down by the absurd allegations of insult to the British flag by the Chinese seizure of the British captained pirate ship Arrow in 1857, Palmerston dissolved Parliament and appealed to the nation. His enemies in Parliament characterized the British Consul's naked aggression against the Chinese that followed the seizure of the Arrow as an immoral and illegal act that should not be tolerated by the British government. Palmerston, understanding perhaps the power of nascent British nationalism, rallied to the flag and backed the British Consul's belligerence, despite the damning details. The public in turn rallied to Palmerston and returned a massive majority for his party.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, s.v. "Temple, Henry John,"
http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/27112 (accessed June 2, 2009).
Palmerston's second term in office lasted from 1859 until his sudden death in 1865. Slow, careful social reforms like the Divorce Act of 1857, modest expansion of the voter franchise, and some small improvements of factory conditions characterized his domestic policy while his government successfully navigated the tumultuous international scene. Neutrality, while still hoping for a Confederate victory in the American Civil War (with its consequent weakening of America) further revealed the stark realism of Palmerston's international policy.
Elected again in July 1865 at the age of 81, Palmerston caught a chill and died suddenly in October 1865. Given a state funeral, he was interned in Westminster Abbey.
- Galbraith, John S. The Hudson's Bay Company as an imperial factor, 1821-1869. New York : Octagon Books, 1977, c1957.
- Tennent, Sir James Emerson (1804-1876)
Sir James Emerson Tennent was born in Belfast, Ireland, on 7 April 1804 and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1831. On 21 December 1832, he was elected a member of the House of Commons for Belfast and held his seat intermittently until July 1845, when he was knighted.
He served as secretary to the India Board from 8 September 1841 to 5 August 1843 and as civil secretary to the colonial government of Ceylon [Sri Lanka] from 12 August 1845 to December 1850. On his return from India, he sat in Parliament as member for Lisburn from January to December 1852, before becoming permanent secretary to the Poor Law Board from March to September 1852 and secretary to the Board of Trade from November 1852 to his retirement on 2 February 1867, when he was created a baronet. He died at Tempo Manor, Fermanagh, on 16 November 1876.
Dictionary of National Biography (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1900-) 19, pp. 545-46. BCPO 124.2.
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Thomas, L.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Thomas, Nesac
Nesac Thomas, secretary for Colonial Church and School Society.
BCPO 116.1.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Thompson, David
(1770-1857)
David Thompson was a fur trader, explorer, surveyor, justice of the peace, businessman, and author, born in Westminster, England on April 30, 1770. In 1806, Thompson set out to explore, survey, and map the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean. American expeditions to the coast were also being conducted in 1806, including that by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Thompson reached the Pacific on July 15, 1811, failing to arrive at his destination before the American Pacific Fur Company, who had arrived a few weeks earlier.1
After receiving an education at the Grey Coat mathematical school, where he was trained in navigation, Thompson was apprenticed to the Hudson’s Bay Company for seven years in 1784.2
After fracturing his right leg in the winter of 1788, Thompson spent the winter of 1789-90 in recovery, studying mathematics, surveying, mapmaking, and astronomy with Philip Turnor, the HBC’s official surveyor.3 In 1797, Thompson left the HBC and joined the North West Company where he was assigned to survey along the 49th parallel and locate NWC posts.4
In 1814, Thompson retired from the fur trade and completed a large map of the Northwest for the NWC. In 1815 he moved to Williamstown, Upper Canada with his wife and five children. Thomson died on February 10, 1857 in Longueuil, Lower Canada.5
- 1. John Nicks, Thompson, David, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. John S. Nicks, Thompson, David, The Canadian Encyclopedia.
- 4. Ibid.
- 5. John Nicks, Thompson, David, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
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Thorn
Referred to as "the Recorder."
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Thorne, James
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Tiedemann, H.
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Tilton, Major James
Adjutant general and acting governor of Washington
Territory.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Tod, John
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Tolmie, William Fraser
(1812-1886)
William Fraser Tolmie, having studied medicine at the University of Glasgow, signed a five-year contract to serve as a clerk and surgeon in the Columbia District in 1832.1 A keen and serious student, he used the eight-month voyage to the Columbia as “an admirable opportunity for self improvement”, studying medicine, surgery, botany, biology, geography, and languages.2
In May of 1833, Tolmie arrived at Fort Vancouver where he met Dr. John McLoughlin, then chief factor in charge of the Columbia District.3 McLoughlin sent Tolmie to Fort Nisqually, where he tended to an injured man for six months.4 Next, Tolmie was sent to Fort McLoughlin where he joined Peter Skene Ogden’s failed expedition to establish a trading post up the Stikine River.5 In late 1834, Tolmie helped move Fort Simpson from its initial site on the Nass River to McLoughlin's Harbour.6
When Tolmie’s contract expired in 1837, he requested a leave; however, he was delayed for nearly four years because a replacement could not be secured.7
Tolmie was successful in building relationships with the Aboriginal people in the Columbia District area. He began trading furs with them, and eventually set up a Sunday school at Fort Vancouver where he shared his faith.8 His Aboriginal allies also taught him that coal deposits existed on Vancouver Island, which was, until then, unknown amongst explorers.9
Forever the student, Tolmie studied the local flora, fauna and languages.10 He sent collections of plants, animals, and Aboriginal art and vocabulary home to Scotland.11 Tolmie published some of the first compilations of Aboriginal vocabularies, including Chinook jargon—an important trading language of the West Coast.12
When Tolmie was finally granted his leave in 1841, he took the opportunity to travel—first to Upper Fort Garry (now Winnipeg) and York Factory, and eventually to Paris and London.13
In 1842, he signed back on with Hudson’s Bay Company and was sent back to Fort Nisqually as a medical officer, trader, and manager of agricultural operations for the Puget’s Sound Company.14 It was hoped that his knowledge would aid in the PSC’s goals to conduct farming operations and encourage immigration of British settlers to this disputed territory; however, when the Oregon Treaty was signed in 1846, setting the 49th parallel as the international boundary, Fort Nisqually became American land and the HBC was later removed from the area.15
Tolmie moved to Victoria in 1859, where he constructed British Columbia’s first large stone house on his 1,100 acres at Cloverdale Farm.16 Tolmie was asked to stand for the House of Assembly of Vancouver Island shortly after his arrival, and was elected to serve in public office repeatedly between 1860 and 1878.17 After his retirement, he continued to publish collections of Aboriginal vocabularies.18 He also persisted in his botany research and at least eight plants were named after him.19
In February of 1850, Tolmie was married to Jane, the daughter of Chief Factor John Work.20 The two had five daughters and seven sons together, including Simon Fraser Tolmie, who would become premier of British Columbia.21
Tolmie died on December 8, 1886 near Victoria, British Columbia.22
- 1. W. Kaye Lamb, Tolmie, William Fraser, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Ibid.
- 5. Ibid.
- 6. Ibid.
- 7. Ibid.
- 8. Ibid.
- 9. Ibid.
- 10. Ibid.
- 11. Ibid.
- 12. Ibid.
- 13. Ibid.
- 14. Ibid.
- 15. Ibid.
- 16. Ibid.
- 17. Ibid.
- 18. Ibid.
- 19. Ibid.
- 20. Ibid.
- 21. Ibid.
- 22. Ibid.
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Tomlin
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- Tomlinson
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Tooke, William (1777-1863)
William Tooke was born at St. Petersburg on 22 November 1777, travelling to England in 1792 and completing his law studies under William Devon, a solicitor in Gray's Inn, with whom he established a partnership in 1798. Tooke later formed a partnership with Charles Parker and then established Tooke, Son, & Hallowes. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society on 12 March 1818. He was elected to Parliament on 15 December 1832, representing Truro until 1837, when he lost his seat. Tooke died on 20 September 1863 at 12 Russell Square, London.
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Torrens, R. W.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Townley, Greaves
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Travaillot, Oswald Justice (1816-1879)
Oswald Justice Travaillot was a sailor from France who travelled to Oregon and the gold fields of the Fraser River in the 1850's. By 1858, he was a well-known, but not well-respected, miner; he later served as surveyor in the Cariboo from about 1859 to about 1874. Captain Travaillot, as he was called, died in hospital in Barkerville on 1 February 1879.
See the Colonist, 6 June, 22 July 1859; the Cariboo Sentinel, 24 and 28 May 1866, 28 October, 16 and 23 December 1871; and the Colonist, 2 February 1879. VI 30.1.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Trefry, Captain
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Trescot, William Henry
Secretary of the U.S. State Department.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Trevelyan, Sir Charles Edward (1807-1886)
Sir Charles Edward Trevelyan was born at Taunton on 2 April 1807. He entered the East India Company's Bengal civil service in 1826, and on 4 January 1827 he became assistant to the commissioner at Delhi, where he remained for four years. In 1831 he became deputy secretary to the government in the political department in Calcutta, and from 1836 to 1838 he served as secretary to the board of revenue.
Having returned to London in 1838, he became assistant secretary to the Treasury on 21 January 1840, remaining in that post for nineteen years. He was made a K.C.B. on 27 April 1848. Trevelyan became governor of Madras in Spring 1859 but was recalled in 1860; in 1862 he went to India as finance minister, returning to London in 1865. Trevelyan died in London on 19 June 1886.
Dictionary of National Biography (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1900-) 19, pp. 1135-36. BCDES 30.1.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Trudelle, Louis
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Trutch, Sir Joseph William (1826-1904)
Joseph William Trutch was born at Ashcot, Somerset, in 1826. Trutch was educated as a civil engineer. He emigrated to North America in 1849, arriving in
Victoria in 1859 after ten years in the United States. He worked as a surveyer and engineer while pursuing political contacts. He was a member of the
Vancouver Island House of Assembly from November 1861 to the end of 1863. Trutch succeeded
Richard Clement Moody as chief commissioner of lands and works and surveyor general of the
British Columbia in 1864.
He was a leading supporter of union with Canada from 1869 onwards, and was the first to propose that the terms include a transcontinental railroad. In 1871, Trutch became lieutenant governor of the new province of British Columbia, remaining at that post until 1876. From 1879 to 1889 he served as resident agent for the dominion in British Columbia. He retired to England in 1890, and died there in 1904. Like many wealthy Britons, he saw the colonies as a place to make money and advance himself, but never as a permanent home.
Dictionary of Canadian Biography (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1966-) Vol.13, London Times, 11 March 1904, p. 172; Montreal Canadian Illustrated News, 19 August 1871, vol. 4, no. 8. Hollis R. Trutch, Sir Joseph William Trutch, A British-American Pioneer on the Pacific Coast, The Pacific Historical Review Vol. 30 No. 3 (1961): 243-255. BCCOR 256.1.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Trutch, William
William Trutch was a solicitor in England who later moved to
St. Thomas, Jamaica, where he became a clerk of the peace and a militia lieutenant. He married there, and moved back to England in the 1830s with his wife and children. His son,
Sir Joseph William Trutch, would have a major role in BC history.
Hollis R. Trutch,
Sir Joseph William Trutch, A British-American Pioneer on the Pacific Coast, The Pacific Historical Review Vol.30 No.3 (1961): 243-255,
Trutch Family: An Inventory of their Fonds, http://www.library.ubc.ca/spcoll/AZ/PDF/T/Trutch_Family.pdf (University of British Columbia Special Collections, 2002), accessed 25 April 2008.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Tuite
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Tully, Joseph
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Turquand
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Van de Weyer, Swain
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Van Lokeren, M. Adolphe
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Vancouver, Captain George
(1757-1798)
During the 1770s, George Vancouver received his training as a seaman and a hydrographic surveyor under the guidance of Captain James Cook. After Cook's final expedition returned in 1780, Vancouver spent the next decade serving on Royal Navy ships in the Caribbean. At the end of 1790, an influential patron arranged for Vancouver's appointment as captain and commander of an expedition to the Northwest coast of North America to settle the question of a Northwest passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. After a one-year transit, the expedition reached the coast in 1792 and surveyed every inlet between California and Alaska during three seasons, wintering in the Sandwich Islands. The survey was carried out with remarkable accuracy. When Vancouver returned to England in 1795, allegations of misconduct spread by dissatisfied crew members with powerful connections dampened the recognition of his achievement. He retired and prepared his journals for publication which appeared after his death.
- VanKoughnet, Philip Michael Matthew Scott (1822-1869)
Philip Michael Matthew Scott VanKoughnet was born at Cornwall, Upper Canada, on 21 January 1822. He served in the rebellion of 1837-38, then studied law. In 1856, VanKoughnet became president of the Executive Council and minister of agriculture for the Canadian government, becoming commissioner of crown lands in 1858 and chief superintendent of Indian affairs in 1860.
An expansionist, he advocated the transfer of territory in the northwest from the Hudson's Bay Company to Canada and the development of railways across the country. In March 1862, he became chancellor of the Court of Chancery of Upper Canada, becoming chancellor of Ontario in 1867. VanKoughnet died on 7 November 1869.
DCB 9, pp. 803-4. BCCOR 255.3.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Vavasour, Lieutenant Mervin (1821-1866)
Mervin Vavasour was British officer in the Royal Engineers, selected along with Captain Henry James Warre to spy on the Americans in the Oregon Territory in 1845.
Vavasour was born in Upper Canada in 1821 to Captain Henry William Vavasour of the Royal Engineers and Louisa Dunbar, daughter of Sir George Dunbar. After training as a gentleman officer and then as a Royal Engineer, Vavasour was posted to Canada in 1842, where he worked on the Rideau Canal.
At the height of tensions between the United States and Britain over ownership of the
Oregon Territory, the British government sent two officers,
Captain Warre and Lieutenant Vavasour, to spy on the American military strength and determine the defensibility of the British position in
Oregon, in the case of a war with the United States. Disguised as travellers,
Warre and Vavasour journeyed from the
Willamette Valley in present day Oregon to
Fort Victoria on
Vancouver Island from May 1845 to July 1846. They concluded that the British position in
Oregon was indefensible.
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, s.v. "Vavasour, Mervin,"
http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?id_nbr=4759 (accessed June 2, 2009).
This information was given to the British government. It is likely this strengthened those favouring a boundary settlement along the 49th parallel when negotiating the Oregon Treaty of 1846.
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, s.v. "Vavasour, Mervin,"
http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?id_nbr=4759 (accessed June 2, 2009).
Vavasour later helped the the surveying of Ireland, after which he was promoted to captain. From 1851-1852 he served in the West Indies and in 1853 went on half pay.
-
Victoria, Queen Alexandrina
(1819-1901)
Alexandrina Victoria, after whom HBC officials named Fort Victoria, and later, the city of Victoria,1 was the queen during the period in which Canada and other British colonies became independent nations. Born at Kensington Palace on May 24, 1819, Victoria became queen of the United Kingdom in 1837, after the death of her uncle, King William IV, and reigned until her death in 1901.2
From early on, Victoria was groomed for the throne, and spent most of her youth isolated from others her own age, as well as from the often “morally contaminated” royal court. Nearly three years after her accession, in February 1840, Victoria married her cousin, Albert, who was the prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The couple, with their nine children, would become the exemplar of the ideal British family. Despite being the ruling monarch, Victoria would largely concede the running of the household to her husband, and, after Albert’s death, Victoria often noted how dependant on him she had been.3
Queen Victoria reached her diamond jubilee on 20 June 1897, having ruled for 60 years, and, by 1898, her health began to deteriorate. Victoria died on 22 January 1901 as the longest serving British monarch.4
Throughout her reign, Queen Victoria established a monarchy that was far more involved in the daily governance of the nation than her subjects were aware, and she remained a figure of stability during a transitory period for the British Empire. There are very few major cities of the former British Empire that do not bear some tribute in name to Queen Victoria.5
- 1. John T. Walbran, British Columbia Coast Names (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1971), 512.
- 2. H.C.G Matthew and K.D. Reynolds, Victoria, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Ibid.
- 5. Ibid.
- Villiers, Charles Pelham
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Villiers, George William Frederick
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Waddington, Alfred Penderell
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Waddington, H.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Wakefield, Edward Gibbon
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Walcott, Stephen
Stephen Walcott was appointed civil secretary to the government of Canada in 1835 and secretary to the colonial land and emigration commissioners in March 1840; he was promoted second commissioner in that office in July 1860.
Colonial Office List 1864, p. 212. BCCOR 200.1.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Walinisley
According to the documents attached to
this despatch, Walinisley, along with
Parrat, wrote to the British House of Lords to describe the proposed “Vancouver’s Island Sawing Mill and Agricultural Company.”
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Walker, Captain Baldwin Wake
(1802-1876)
Baldwin Wake Walker was a British naval officer, born on January 6, 1802.1 From 1846-1847, Walker captained the HMS Constance in the Pacific.2
Walker joined the navy in 1812. On September 9, 1834, he married Mary Catherine Sinclair, with whom he had nine children.3 Walker was knighted on January 12, 1841, and was promoted to admiral in 1870.4
Walker died in Hoxne, Suffolk, on February 12, 1876.5
- Walker, Joshua
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Wallace, Doctor Peter William
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Walpole, Spencer Horatio (1806-1898)
Spencer Horatio Walpole was born on 11 September 1806. He was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, and was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1831, becoming queen's council in 1846. On 30 January 1846, he entered the House of Commons as conservative member for Midhurst, which he represented until 1856, when he became the member for the university of Cambridge, which he represented until 1882.
In 1852, in Lord Derby's government, Walpole accepted the post of secretary of state for the Home Office, serving from 27 February to 28 December 1852. He resumed the position when Lord Derby's government returned to power in 1858, serving from 26 February 1858 to 3 March 1859. Walpole resigned his position in 1859 but resumed it under Lord Derby's third administration from 6 July 1866 to 17 May 1867.
He finally withdrew from the government in February 1868, after much conflict over his views on parliamentary reform.Walpole died at his home at Ealing on 22 May 1898.
Dictionary of National Biography (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1900-) 20, pp. 666-68. BCPO-97.1 Office-Holders, Home Office, p. 60.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Warbass, Edward D.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Ward, Sir Henry George (1797-1860)
Sir Henry George Ward was born in London on 27 February 1797. He was educated at Harrow and sent to Europe to study languages, and in 1816 he became attaché to the British legation at Stockholm. He was transferred to the Hague in 1818 and to Madrid in 1819, before travelling to Mexico as minister plenipotentiary in 1823 and 1825.
Retiring from the diplomatic service in 1827, Ward entered the House of Commons in 1832, representing St. Albans from 1832 to 1837 and Sheffield from 1837 to 1849. He was made a G.C.M.G. in 1849 and, in May of that year, accepted the position of lord high commissioner of the Ionian islands. He remained there until 13 April 1855, when he became governor of Ceylon [Sri Lanka].
In June 1860 he was appointed governor of Madras but fell ill with cholera almost immediately after his arrival and died on 2 August 1860.
Dictionary of National Biography (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1900-) 20, pp. 773-74.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Warre, Henry James (1819-1898)
Captain Henry James Warre was a British officer selected along with Lieutenant Mervin Vavasour to spy on the Americans in the Oregon Territory.
At the height of tensions between the United States and Britain over ownership of the Oregon Territory, the British government sent two officers, Captain Warre and Lieutenant Vavasour, to spy on the American military strength and determine the defensibility of the British position in Oregon, in the case of a war with the United States. Disguised as travellers, Warre and Vavasour journeyed from the Willamette Valley in present day Oregon to Fort Victoria on Vancouver Island from May 1845 to July 1846. They concluded that the British position in Oregon was indefensible.
This information was given to the British government. It is likely this strengthened those favouring a boundary settlement along the 49th parallel when negotiating the Oregon Treaty of 1846.
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, s.v. "Vavasour Mervin,"
http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?id_nbr=4759 (accessed June 2, 2009).
During this mission, Warre painted over 80 pictures of the landscapes and people he encountered. These remain one the earliest visual records of European colonization of the Pacific Northwest. Arader Galleries, "Sir Henry James Warre—Sketches in North America and the Oregon Territory," Arader Galleries,
http://www.aradergalleries.com/detail.php?id=1587 (accessed June 2, 2008).
- Washington, Captain John
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Watson, Alexander
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Webber, Henry
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Webster
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Weekes, Henry
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Weir, Robert
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Weirs, Heirim
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Welden, David K.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Wellesley [formerly Wesley], Duke of Wellington Arthur
(1769-1852)
Arthur Wellesley began his military career in 1787.1 In the mid-1790s he embarked on two extended, ultimately successful, campaigns: first in India, and then in the Iberian Peninsula.2
Given the nickname Nosey by his men, he was elevated to Duke of Wellington in 1814 for his victories in the Peninsular War.3 The following year Wellington achieved his greatest military triumph at Waterloo over Napoleon.4
As a Conservative peer and prime minister, he passed the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829,5 but later failed to prevent his political opponents from passing the Great Reform Act.2 He ended his political career in 1846 by supporting the government of Sir Robert Peel, despite opposing the repeal of the Corn Laws.7
- Wellesley, Captain George G. (1814-1901)
According to
this despatch, and several others, Wellesley captained the H.M.S.
Daedalus while it policed the Pacific coast from 1849 to 1853.
1 Wellesley, who was the great-nephew of the Duke of Wellesley, joined the Royal Navy in 1828; before he captained the Daedalus he served as lieutenant on several other Royal Navy vessels.2 Wellesley served as commander in chief of the Royal Navy’s North American station–in 1869, and again in 1873–before he became first sea lord in W.H. Smith’s Board of Admiralty, in 1879.3
Wellesley had a decorated naval career; he was named Knight Commander (KCB) of the Order of Bath, in 1880, and received the rank of Knight Grand Cross (GCB), in 1887.4
Wellesly died in his home in London on April 6, 1901.5
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Wesley, Major General S. R. M.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- West, R. R. Thornton
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Whaedon, Captain L.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Whannell, P. B.
A justice of the peace in Yale.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Whish, Major George
In
this despatch, George Whish writes a reference for
Blanshard's application for Crown employment, following
Blandshard's resignation as governor of
Vancouver Island.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Whish, Sir William Sampson
(1787-1853)
In
this despatch, William Whish writes a reference for
Blanshard's application for Crown employment, following
Blandshard's resignation as governor of
Vancouver Island.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Whitboard, S. H.
BCCOR 233.2.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Whitende, J.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Whiteside, Right Honorable J.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Whitman, Henry
Henry Whitman, about John Gaggin.
BCCOR 258.3.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Wilhelm, Friedrich Ludwig Emperor Wilhelm I (1797-1888)
Wilhelm I, son of King Frederick Willhelm III and Queen Louise of Prussia, was born in Berlin and trained as a soldier. In 1858, he became regent for his brother, Frederick William IV of Prussia, who was mentally ill, and in 1861 was proclaimed king of Prussia, with the title Wilhelm I.during the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, Wilhelm became Kaiser Wilhelm of a united Germany.
In 1868 he was called on to settle the San Juan Islands dispute between Britain and the United States, which had dragged on since 1859. He assigned the case to three scholars, who found that Haro Strait (between the San Juan Islands and Vancouver Island) was the most just boundary between Canada and the United States. In 1872 he announced his decision in favour of the United States, granting it control of the islands.
Theo Aronson, The Kaisers (London: Cassell & Company Ltd., 1971). Keith A. Murray, The Pig War (Tacoma, Washington: Washinton State Historical Society, 1968). BCCOR 252.2.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Wilkes, Lieutenant Charles
(1798-1877)
US Navy Lieutenant Charles Wilkes was the commander of the United States Exploring Expedition, which explored the portions of the coast and islands of the Pacific Ocean from 1838-1842. In 1841, the expedition made surveys of the Pacific Northwest coast. In 1845, Wilkes published a narrative of the expedition in five volumes, from which the Colonial Office copied excerpts concerning his appraisal of the Hudson's Bay Company, as a document included in
this despatch, in the
Oregon Territory.
- Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS), Wilkes
- Wilkes, John Edward
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Wilkin, John
Receiver of Fines and Forfeitures for the Crown.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Willes, Justice
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Williams, A.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Williams, Captain
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Williams, Henry
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Williams, Robert
The Colonist, 8 January 1859, notes that "Mr. Robert Williams, a most reliable gentleman, from the Forks of Fraser and Thompson, has given us a specimen of copper found in that country, which will assay 95 per cent. He also showed us a beautiful specimen of amber found there."
BCDES 40.2.
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Williams, Thomas G.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Willis, William
William Willis was a clerk of the first class (acting) in the Department of Victualling and Transport Services, Transport Branch, Admiralty Office, which had offices in Somerset House.
Imperial Calendar, 1858, p. 220.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Willoughby De Broke, Robert John (1809-1862)
Robert John Willoughby De Broke, the ninth baron, was born on 7 October 1809. He died on 5 June 1862, when his son Henry Verney succeeded as the tenth baron.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Wilson, John
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Winchester, Captain
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Wingfield, Richard R.
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Winnet, John
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Wise
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Withers, John
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Wodehouse, Sir Philip Edmond
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Wolff, Henry Drummond (1830-1908)
Henry Drummond Wolff was educated at Rugby and joined the Foreign Office in 1846, travelling to Florence, Brussels, and the Ionian Islands. In 1858 he was appointed assistant private secretary to the Earl of Malmesbury and private secretary to
Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton. In 1878, Wolff served as commissioner for Great Britain on the International Commission at Berlin for the reorganization of Eastern Roumelia. He was a member of Parliament from 1874 to 1885, then the British ambassador to Madrid from 1892 to 1900. Wolff died on 11 October 1908.
Michael Stenton, Who's Who of British Members of Parliament Vol.1, 1832-1885 (Sussex, England: Harvester Press, 1976-1981) p. 416. BCCOR 183.4.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Wood, C. Alexander
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Wood, Thomas Lett
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Woods
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Wootton, Captain Henry
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Work, John (1792-1861)
John Work was born in county Donegal, Ireland. Work joined the Hudson's Bay Company on 15 June 1814 at Stromness in the Orkney Islands. He served at York Factory and Severn House before becoming district master in 1818-19. Becoming a first class clerk in 1821, Work too charge of the island Lake District in 1822-23. In July 1823, he was assigned to the Columbia District, serving at Spokane House, Fort George, Fort Vancouver, and Fort Colvile before taking charge of the Snake country brigade in August 1830. On 3 November 1830, Work was promoted to chief trader; he travelled to California in September 1832 and returned to Fort Vancouver in October 1833, transferring to Fort Simpson in December 1834.
He travelled around the coast, from northern
Vancouver Island to
Haida Gwaii, returning regularly to his base at the fort. Work's health deteriorated in the 1840's, but he continued with the company, receiving a commission as chief factor in 1846. Work moved his family to
Fort Victoria in 1849, so his children could receive formal schooling, and he continued to travel throughout
New Caledonia until August 1852, when he settled at
Fort Victoria, buying 823 acres of land to the north of the town. In 1853,
Douglas appointed Work to the Legislative Council of
Vancouver Island, a position he held until his death.
Work also continued to serve as chief factor for the Hudson's Bay Company, joining
Alexander Grant Dallas and
Dugald MacTavish to manage the company's affairs in 185-8, when
Douglas resigned to become governor of
British Columbia. Work died on 22 December 1861 at his home near
Fort Victoria.
Dictionary of Canadian Biography (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1966-) 9, pp. 850-52. See also Henry Drummond Dee, An Irishman in the Fur Trade: The Life and Journals of John Work, BCHQ 7 (1943): 229-70. BCDES 58.1.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
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Wrangell, Baron
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Wright, Colonel
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
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Wright, George J.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Wylde, General C. B.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Wymore, Justice of the Peace John H. C.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Wynne, J.
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Wyon, Benjamin (1802-1858)
Benjamin Wyon was born in London on 9 January 1802, the son of Thomas Wyon, the elder, chief engraver of the seals from 1816 to 1830. His older brother Thomas, the younger, chief engraver to the mint from 1815 to 1817, instructed Benjamin in the art of engraving. On 10 January 1831, Benjamin was appointed chief engraver of the seals, remaining in that post until his death on 21 November 1858.
Dictionary of National Biography (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1900-) 21, p. 1183. BCDES 20.1.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Wyon, Joseph Shepherd (1836-1873)
Joseph Shepherd Wyon was born on 28 July 1836, the son of Benjamin Wyon, chief engraver of the seals from 1831 to 1858. Upon the death of his father, Joseph was appointed chief engraver of the seals, on 2 December 1858, a post he held until his death at Winchester on 12 August 1873.
Dictionary of National Biography (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1900-) 21, p. 1183.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Xavier, Louis 18th Stanislas
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Yale, James Murray
(1798-1871)
James Murray Yale joined the Hudson's Bay Company in 1815 and participated in the final years of the conflict with the North West Company. In 1821, Yale was transferred to the Columbia District, taking charge of Fort Langley in 1833. To replace the declining revenue from furs at that fort, he encouraged the export of new resources—crops and packed fish. He rose to rank of chief trader in 1844. In 1848, HBC Governor Pelly recommended him to Earl Grey for a commission as justice of the peace in the new colony of Vancouver Island. That same year, as part of a transportation route that was later abandoned, the company named a newly established post in the Fraser Canyon after him. In 1851, he bought property on Vancouver Island and retired eight years later to a farm in Saanich.
- Yates, James (1809-1900)
James Yates first arrived in Victoria in 1849, setting up business as a fur merchant there. He died in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 23 February 1900.
Vancouver Daily World, 24 February 1900, p. 1. VI 26.1. See VI Journals.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Yorke, Sir
Charles (1790-1880)
Sir Charles Yorke was born on 7 December 1790; he joined the army in 1807 as ensign in the 35th Foot, became lieutenant on 18 February 1808, and on 25 February moved to the 52nd foot. He was promoted captain on 24 December 1813. Yorke served at Waterloo as Major General Adam's aide de camp. On 30 November 1826 he was made lieutenant colonel, and on 23 November 1841 he became colonel, serving as assistant quartermaster general first at Cork and then at Manchester from 1842 to 1851.
On 11 November 1851 Yorke was promoted major general; he was made a colonel of the 33d Foot on 27 February 1855 and K.C.B. on 5 February 1856. On 13 February 1859, he became lieutenant general, receiving the G.C.B. on 29 June 1860, when he ended his tenure as military secretary. Yorke was promoted general on 5 September 1865 and was appointed constable of the Tower of London on 5 April 1875. He died in South Street, Grosvenor Square, on 20 November 1880.
Dictionary of National Biography (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1900-) 21, pp. 1255-56. BCPO 154.3.
Biographical information for this person is not yet complete.
- Young
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
-
Young, Brigham
Biographical information is not yet available for this person.
- Young, William Alexander George (1827-1885)
William Alexander George Young enlisted in the Royal Navy in 1841, becoming a captain in 1855. Young was decorated for his services in the Crimean War and was appointed secretary of the British Boundary Commission in
British Columbia. He arrived in
Victoria in June 1857, and in November
James Douglas seconded him from the boundary commission, giving him the temporary position of colonial secretary for
British Columbia. The Colonial Office approved the appointment on 3 March 1859, and later in that year Young took on the role of acting colonial secretary of
Vancouver Island, giving him considerable authority in the colony.
When the governments of the colonies of
Vancouver Island and
British Columbia were separated, Young chose to remain in
Victoria, losing his salary as colonial secretary of the mainland. Young ran for election to the assembly, winning a seat in the four-member riding of
Victoria. When
Douglas announced his retirement on 14 March 1864, Young applied for leave of absence, travelling to England with
Douglas and returning to
Victoria in June 1865.
When the colonies were united in 1866, Young served as acting colonial secretary, although Governor Frederick Seymour felt Young untrustworthy because of his close association with Victoria. Young and his family left British Columbia on 1 June 1869. He was later appointed financial secretary of Jamaica but fell ill with yellow fever and returned to England in 1872. In 1877 he was named a C.M.G. and was appointed governor of the Gold Coast in Africa. Young died there on 25 April 1885.
Dictionary of Canadian Biography (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1966-) 9 (1880-91): 949-51. VI 28.6.
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