The colonial despatches of Vancouver Island and British Columbia 1846-1871
Montresor, Captain Frederick Byng
b. 1811
d. 1887-12-15
Capt. Frederick Montresor was an officer of the Royal Navy. He was commissioned Lieutenant
in 1835, promoted to Commander in 1843, and promoted to Captain on 29 April 1851.1 From 23 November 1857 he commanded HMS Calypso, a Sixth Rate wooden ship of 18 or 20 guns without steam power.2
Calypso arrived in Esquimalt on 13 August 1858. The colonial government had asked for a show of force to deal
with the influx of American miners in the Fraser River area, but Calypso lacked steam power to manoeuver in the river and was under orders to continue to
Hawaii. As a result, Calypso left Esquimalt on 25 August 1858.3
As Commodore, Montresor commanded the East Indies Station from 1862-65. He was promoted
to rear admiral on 20 March 1867, retired in 1870, and rose to admiral on the retired
list, before his death on 15 December 1887.4
2. Barry M. Gough, 'Turbulent Frontiers' and British Expansion: Governor James Douglas, the Royal Navy,
and the British Columbia Gold Rushes, The Pacific Historical Review, vol. 41, no.1 (February 1972): 22. http://doi.org/10.2307/3638223