Colonial Despatches

Robert William Weir Carrall was a physician and politician in the Cariboo Region.1 Carrall was a staunch supporter of Confederation and helped to ensure British Columbia's membership.2 Carrall first arrived to British Columbia in 1865 and opened a medical practice in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island.3 In 1867, he moved to Barkerville in the Cariboo Region where he practiced medicine while also investing in various mining operations in the area.4

In October 1868, Carrall was elected to the Legislative Council of the colony of British Columbia.5 His positive views on Confederation made him instrumental in many of the policy decisions that would occur over the next few years. In 1870, he was appointed to the colony's Executive Council in order to further cement pro-confederation views in government.6 In 1871, he was one of three delegates selected to discuss the terms of British Columbia's entry into Confederation.7 These discussions would ultimately result in British Columbia's accession to Confederation, despite little consultation with residents and Indigenous groups.8

Carrall would be awarded one of British Columbia's first federal senate seats for his efforts to bring colony into Confederation.9 Carrall remained a member of the senate until his death in 1879.10 Shortly before his death, he introduced the bill that established July 1 as Canada's national day.11

• 1. Dorothy Blakey Smith, Carrall (Carroll), Robert William Weir, Dictionary of Canadian Biography.
• 2. Carrall, Robert William Weir, Encyclopedia of BC.
• 3. Dorothy Blakey Smith, Carrall (Carroll), Robert William Weir, Dictionary of Canadian Biography.
• 4. Ibid.
• 5. Ibid.
• 6. Ibid.
• 7. Ibid.
• 8. Tom Snyders and Jennifer O'Rourke, Namely Vancouver: The Hidden History of Vancouver Place Names, (Vancouver, BC: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2001), 57.
• 9. Carrall, Robert William Weir, Encyclopedia of BC.
• 10. Dorothy Blakey Smith, Carrall (Carroll), Robert William Weir, Dictionary of Canadian Biography.
• 11. Carrall, Robert William Weir, Encyclopedia of BC.