1771 VanCouvers Island.
recd 11 Sepr 1848.

2Copied for Parlt
March 1849
Hudson's Bay House
September 9. 1848
My Lord
I have to acknowledge the receipt of Mr Secretary Hawes's letter of the 4th Instant, stating that it is your Lordships opinion that there should be introduced into the Grant a formal condition that the Hudson's Bay Company will be prepared to sell land to persons desiring to settle on Vancouver's Island on reasonable
2Copied for Parlt
March 1849
terms, and that the whole price received for the land so disposed of by them together with any receipts on account of coals or other minerals should, after making a fair deduction for profit to the Company, be applied in the colonization of Vancouver's Island,Manuscript image and that Your Lordship would suggest (as you did when I had the honour of an interview with your Lordship a few days ago) that a deduction of 10 p cent from the gross amount received for land and minerals might be regarded as affording a fair remuneration to the Company, and further, that a stipulation to that effect should be inserted in the Grant.
At the interview to which I have already alluded, Your Lordship did not, as I understood you, consider that an express stipulation to the above effect in the grant would be necessary, but that a written acknowledgement of the understanding would be deemed sufficient. At the same time I beg to assure your Lordship that I have no objection to the introduction of the condition into the Grant. I request however that you will send me a draught of the condition for my consideration and approval.
I have the honour to acquaint your Lordship that on Wednesday last I laid before a General Court the correspondence on the Grant printed by order of the House of Commons,Manuscript image and mentioned the additional condition and that the Court unanimously adopted the following resolution: "That upon the formal execution of the Grant, a copy of which has now been read to the Court the Governor and Committee be authorised to accept the same and to make sub-grants on such terms and conditions as they think fit." I therefore now only wait till I receive the Grant to commence operations.
I have the honour to be
My Lord
Your Lordships obedient servant
JH Pelly
Minutes by CO staff
Manuscript image
Mr Merivale
I presume that a copy of this Letter should be sent to the Board of Trade; the preceding portion of the correspondence having been sent there. I annex the whole of that correspondence up to this date.
ABd 11 Sepr
Lord Grey
I received this from your Lordship this morning: & have given directions to have it copied & sent to the Commrs of Bd of Tr.
HM 11 S.
G. 12
Other documents included in the file
Manuscript image
1 Draft, Hawes to Grey, 4 September 1848, proposing terms respecting the commission the Hudson's Bay Company might charge for the sale of lands and minerals in Vancouver Island.
Minutes by CO staff
Mr Blackwood
I think this should be communicated to the Bd of Trade Committee.
Footnotes
  1. Note that this is not a reply to Pelly, but rather, the letter to which Pelly is responds in his of 9 September.
  2. Author unknown.
  3. Text runs perpendicular to body text.
People in this document

Blackwood, Arthur Johnstone

Grey, George

Grey, Henry George

Hawes, Benjamin

Merivale, Herman

Pelly, John Henry

Organizations in this document

Board of Trade

Hudson's Bay Company

Places in this document

The Rocky Mountains

Vancouver Island