John D'Ewes was acting postmaster for the colony of
Vancouver Island from
December 1859 to September 1861.
In the mid-1850s, he served in Australia as
Police Magistrate in the Gold Fields at Ballarat,
as well as
Commissioner of Crown Lands and Deputy Sheriff in Victoria,
but was forced from his positions after
facing allegations of misconduct. While living in England in
1858, D'Ewes planned to emigrate to
British Columbia, and was able to secure a letter of reference from
Edward Bulwer Lytton,
Secretary of State for the Colonies, based on
the representation of various Gentlemen who vouched for his respectability of character.
Shortly after providing
the letter,
Lytton learned of D'Ewes's past and wrote to warn colonial governor
James Douglas, but misspelled
D'Ewes
as
Dewes.
When
Douglas chose to appoint an acting postmaster in
Victoria, he did not recall
Lytton's warning and, on the strength of
Lytton's original reference, as well as
other letters and testimonials bearing evidence to his abilities, literary attainments,
and to the position which he held in Society,
gave D'Ewes
the position. D'Ewes seemed to perform well, and, according to
Douglas,
maintained his reputation with the public for being attentive, energetic, and most
obliging in carrying out the functions of his not very enviable office.
In
September 1861, D'Ewes left
Vancouver Island for
a shooting excursion to the Columbia River
but,
rather than return to the colony, continued on to England. His disgraced family followed
shortly after.
It wasn't long before it was discovered that, in addition to abandoning his wife,
children, position, and unpaid debt, D'Ewes had embezzled an estimated £1000 from
the
post office.
In early
December 1861, perhaps hoping he could collect some additional salary before the news from
Vancouver Island caught up with him, D'Ewes
called
at the
Colonial Office in
London and told staff that he
intended to return to the Colony by the next opportunity.
Then he disappeared. In
April 1862,
Victoria's
Daily British Colonist
newspaper reported that D'Ewes had
committed suicide by blowing out his brains, at Homburg, a watering place in Germany.