Colonial Despatches

Alfred James Langley sat on the Legislative Council of Vancouver Island, ran a local drug store, and conducted real estate investments. He often partnered with his brother, Alfred John Langley, in his business ventures.1

Born in Staffordshire, England, circa 1825, Langley journeyed to Nova Scotia as a young man with his brother. They later moved to New York, followed by a stint in California during the gold rush.2 With their brother Charles, they opened a drug store in San Francisco. Charles remained in San Francisco when John and James moved to Victoria, where they established a new drug and retail store, called Langley & co.3

James married Anna “Annie” Maria Thain, a New Brunswicker, in 1861. They had three children together.4 In 1863, when the council of Vancouver Island was split into legislative and executive branches, Governor Douglas appointed James Langley to the Legislative Council.5

James died in Victoria during November 1895. Victoria's Langley Street bears his surname, and two houses he and his brother financed still stand, protected by the Victoria Heritage Foundation.6

• 1. Douglas to Newcastle, 23 July 1863, 9248, CO 305/20, 270; Donald Luxton, 1133 Fort St, Victoria Heritage Foundation.
• 2. J. F. Bosher, Imperial Vancouver Island: Who Was Who, 1850-1950 (Bloomington: Xlibris Corporation, 2010), 420.
• 3. D. Humphreys, On the Street Where You Live: Victoria's Early Roads and Railways (Victoria: Heritage Publishing House, 2000), 52-54.
• 4. Ibid.
• 5. Douglas to Newcastle, 23 July 1863, 9248, CO 305/20, 270.
• 6. Humphreys, On the Street Where You Live; Luxton, 1133 Fort St.