Bank of British Columbia
The British government founded the Bank of British Columbia, also known as the Chartered
Bank of British Columbia and Vancouver's Island, in
1862 and appointed
Mr. James Davidson Walker as manager.
The bank's head office was in
London with its chief colonial establishment in
Victoria. Its responsibility was to issue notes, receive deposits, and conduct exchanges with
Canada, China, India, Australia, Japan, and other countries. It also functioned as
the
Agency for the Loan
for the colonies of
British Columbia and
Vancouver Island.
The discovery of gold in the
BC region led to the establishment of the main branch of the bank in
London and its subsequent expansion. The bank then became a
major lender to the financially struggling colonial government.
However, by the end of the nineteenth century, the bank was unable to compete against
the formation of other banks and had to merge with the Canadian Bank of Commerce in
1901.
- 1. Pelham-Clinton to Douglas, 31 May 1862, CO 410/1, p.373; Bank of British Columbia, Canada's Historic Places.
- 2. Duncan George Forbes Macdonald, British Columbia and Vancouver's Island: comprising a description of these dependencies,
their physical character, climate, capabilities, population, trade, natural history,
geology, ethnology, gold-fields, and future prospects: also an account of the manners
and customs of the native Indians, (London: Longman Green, 1862); Pelham-Clinton to Douglas, 12 November 1862, NAC RG7:G8C/10, p.281.
- 3. Bank of British Columbia, Canada's Historic Places.