Head to Rogers (Permanent Under-Secretary)
Hudsons Bay House,
London
December 12 1864
Sir,
With reference to a letter which I had the honor to address to you on the 26th of February last on the subject of a claim made upon this Company respecting a small lot of land in Victoria Vancouvers Island which has frequently been alluded to in the correspondence with Her Majestys Government as Lot Z. I beg now to transmit a copy of a letter recentlyaddressedManuscript image addressed to this Board by Mr Lowenberg the purchaser of the lot in question in which he complains that he is still kept out of possession of [by] the Colonial authorities, and a note signed by Mr Dallas, who acted in this matter on behalf of the Hudsons Bay Company in which he states that Mr Lowenberg is unjustly deprived of his property and subjected to much annoyance & expense by the delay which has taken place.
Having in my letter of the 26th of February stated at great length the facts connected with Mr Lowenberg's claim I do not thinkitManuscript image it necessary to trouble you on the present occasion with a repetition of them; but the Committee of the Hudsons Bay Company trust that the Secretary of State for the Colonies will now give positive orders on the subject to the Governor of Vancouvers Island as will prevent the authorities in that Colony from depriving Mr Lowenberg any longer of his just rights and save this Company from the annoyance to which they continue to be subjected by the obstacles which have been so persistently offered in the Colony to the carrying out of the Agreement entered into between HerMajesty'sManuscript image Majesty's Government and this Company on the 3rd February 1862 for the settlement of all questions connected with the claim of the Company to lands in that Island.
I have the honor to be
Sir,
Your most obedient Servant
Edmund Head
Governor
Minutes by CO staff
Manuscript image
Mr Elliot
The Governor was authorized by Despatch of 16th of March last "to take the necessary steps for giving Mr Lowenberg a valid title to this Land." No reply has been received. Call the Govrs attention to the Subject & inform the H.B. Company?
VJ 14 Decr
This should be done. But the delay that has occurred is wrong, and is much to be lamented.
TFE 16/12
EC 19
Documents enclosed with the main document (not transcribed)
Manuscript image
L. Lowenberg to Governor and Committee of the Hudson's Bay Company, 30 November 1864, again calling attention to the disputed land purchase and asking for assistance in resolving the situation.
Manuscript image
Memorandum of A.G. Dallas, late Governor of the Hudsons Bay Territory, 12 December 1864, advising that the land known as Lot Z was "sold to Mr Lowenberg absolutely and in good faith."
Other documents included in the file
Manuscript image
Elliot to Head, 27 December 1864, advising that the attention of the governor would called to a previous instruction authorizing the conveyance of the land to Lowenberg.
Manuscript image
Draft reply, Cardwell to Kennedy, No. 69, 22 December 1864, requesting Kennedy report on the steps Kennedy has taken to give Lowenberg a valid title to the land he purchased.