Colonial Despatches
The colonial despatches of Vancouver Island and British Columbia 1846-1871
Despatch to London
Douglas, Sir James to Lytton, Sir Edward George Earle Bulwer 3 November 1858, CO 60:1, no. 529, 338.
Abstract
Despatch to London.
Minutes (1).
Douglas acknowledges the receipt of a despatch informing him the “Tribune,” “Pylades,” and “Amethyst” are on their way to Vancouver Island with supernumerary Marines.
The minutes “Put by.”
No. 10
I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your Despatch
No 6 of the 2nd September
1858,
1
acquainting me that Her Majesty's Ships Tribune, Pylades, and
Amethyst,
2
had been ordered
from the East Indies to Vancouver's Island, and that the former
Ship would conveyas
as many Supernumerary Marines as she can carry
and as Rear Admiral Sir Michael Seymour can spare, and I beg to
offer you my thanks for this very satisfactory
information.
3
as many Supernumerary Marines as she can carry
and as Rear Admiral Sir Michael Seymour can spare, and I beg to
offer you my thanks for this very satisfactory
information.
3
Minutes by CO staff
Footnotes
- = Lytton to Douglas No. 6, CO 398/1, p. 57, 2 Sept 58.
- The H.M.S. Tribune, a 31-gun screw-frigate, acquired by the Royal Navy in 1853 and ordered to the China Station in 1857. It arrived in Esquimalt on 13 February 1859, after stopping at Nagasaki en route, and operated in British Columbian waters until January 1860 and again from 1864-66. The H.M.S. Pylades, a wooden screw corvette, 21 guns, left Singapore on 5 December 1858, and arrived in Esquimalt on 14 February 1859, remaining in BC waters until 14 December 1859, and returning again from 1868 to 1871. Captain Michael De Courcy was senior officer on the Pylades in 1858. The H.M.S. Amethyst, a 6th rate, first class sailing frigate, 26 guns, left Hong Kong on 11 October but had to return to have its bowsprit replaced. It left again on 22 November, reached Valparaiso in March 1859, and was ordered home the following year.
- = Supernumary Marines. Seymour, commander of the Royal Navy's China Station, informed the Admiralty on 27 October that he was would dispatch 150 Supernumarary Marines to British Columbia via the Tribune.