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 5 November 1858, CO 60:1, no. 538, 370.
Abstract
Despatch to London.
Minutes (1).
Douglas acknowledges the receipt of the CO’s despatch informing him that the Great Seal for
British Columbia was not completed in time for the mail.
The minutes “Put by.”
No. 19
I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your
Despatch marked private of the 2nd of September,
1
informing me that in consequence of the Great Seal 2
for
the Government of British Columbia, not being completed
in time for the mail, a small seal bearing the Royal
Arms, had been forwarded to be used insealing
sealing the public
Documents of British Columbia, until a larger Seal can
be supplied. I beg in reply to inform you that the seal
has been received and will be made use of according to
your instructions.
sealing the public
Documents of British Columbia, until a larger Seal can
be supplied. I beg in reply to inform you that the seal
has been received and will be made use of according to
your instructions.
Minutes by CO staff
Footnotes
- = Lytton to Douglas, Private, CO 398/1, p. 56, 2 September 1858.
- The Great Seal of British Columbia measured 51 mm (2 in.) in diameter and showed Queen Victoria, wearing the robes of estate and a tiara, seated on her a throne with a sceptre in her right hand and an orb in her left. The royal cypher, a crowned "VR", was displayed on either side of the throne, and the image was encircled with the legend, "The Seal of the Colony of British Columbia." British Columbia was the only colony in British North America to have a single-sided seal including an effigy of the Queen. Conrad Swan, Canada: Symbols of Sovereignty: An Investigation of the Arms and Seals Borne and Used from the Earliest Times to the Present in Connection with Public Authority in and over Canada, along with Consideration of some Connected Flags (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1977), pp. 182-83. Any ref to small seal?? When did it arrive?? Swan notes it was used for years after confederation.