Colonial Despatches
The colonial despatches of Vancouver Island and British Columbia 1846-1871
Despatch to London
Douglas, James to Lytton, Edward George Earle Bulwer 6 November 1858, CO 60:1, no. 541, 374.
Abstract
Despatch to London.
Minutes (2), Other documents (1).
This document contains mentions of Indigenous Peoples. The authors of these documents
often perpetuate a negative perspective of Indigenous Peoples and it is important
to look critically at these mentions. They sometimes use terminology that is now considered
hurtful and offensive. To learn more about modern terminology pertaining to Indigenous
Peoples, Indigenous ways of knowing, and decolonization, please refer to the Glossary of terms.
Douglas acknowledges the intention of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel to send one or two missionaries to British Columbia and will
render every assistancein his power.
The minutes
communicatean extract of this letter to the Society.
Enclosed is Merivale to the Reverend Ernest Hawkins forwarding an extract of the despatch for information.
No. 22
I have duly received your (Despatch No 13) of the 2nd September
last,
1
acquainting me that the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel propose
to send one or two Missionary Chaplains to British Columbia with as
little delay as possible.
2. I am glad to learnthat
that such is the intention of this Society,
and I shall be most happy to render every assistance in my power to the
Clergymen when they arrive. They will find there is an extensive field
open to Missionary enterprise, as well amongst the white population as
amongst the native Indian Tribes.
that such is the intention of this Society,
and I shall be most happy to render every assistance in my power to the
Clergymen when they arrive. They will find there is an extensive field
open to Missionary enterprise, as well amongst the white population as
amongst the native Indian Tribes.
3. The recent immigration into the British Possessions in these
parts has consisted mainly of Foreigners, and bearing this in mind, with
the local position of the Territory, and the influence that maybe
be
exercised by the Ministers of Religion over a people, it appears to me
very desirable that there should be but little opening for the
introduction of any Foreign Clergy; and for these reasons alone, merely
as a matter of policy and without entering into higher considerations, I
esteem it of some importance that every encouragement should be given
to promote the emigration to this Country of English Clergymen.
be
exercised by the Ministers of Religion over a people, it appears to me
very desirable that there should be but little opening for the
introduction of any Foreign Clergy; and for these reasons alone, merely
as a matter of policy and without entering into higher considerations, I
esteem it of some importance that every encouragement should be given
to promote the emigration to this Country of English Clergymen.
Minutes by CO staff
Other documents included in the file
Merivale to the Reverend Ernest Hawkins, 26 January 1859,
forwarding extract of the despatch for information.
Footnotes
- = Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
(see Lytton to Douglas CO 398/1, p. 66, No. 13, 2 September 1858).
The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, with
offices at 79 Pall Mall, arose out of the Society for Promoting Christian
Knowledge, formed by Dr. Thomas Bray, a clergyman active in England
and the American colonies at the beginning of the eighteenth century.
The stated purposes of the Society were:
(1) to provide a sufficient maintenance for an orthodox clergy to live among the colonists; (2) to make other provision for the propagation of the gospel in those parts; (3) to receive, manage, and dispose of, the charity of His Majesty's subjects for these purposes.
Rev. E.L. Cutts, Dictionary of the Church of England (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1895), pp. 565-67. See also Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, Work in the Colonies: Some Account of the Missionary Operations of the Church of England (London: Griffith and Farran, 1865), pp. 84-90; and Report of the Incorporated Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts for the Year 1859 (London: Richard Clay, 1859). Refer to difference with CMI?? - The third paragraph of the despatch has been crossed out in pencil.