37 Great Ormond Street
London
9 August,1852
Sir,
I beg to acknowledge the receipt of a letter from the Colonial office dated 5 August 1852, to the effect that the present Governor of Vancouvers Island has stated that I left no copies of my official correspondence with the Secretary of State, among the public documents transferred to him on my retirement from the government, and further inferring that I have withdrawn such copies, desiring me to send them to the Colonial Office that they may be forwarded to Vancouvers Island.
In replyManuscript imageIn reply, I beg to inform you that the copies or originals of my whole official correspondence as Governor of Vancouvers [Island] were left by me among the documents which on my retirement I transferred to the council, of which Mr Douglas was the Senior Member, if now missing, they must have been abstracted since that transfer. So far from being able to furnish fresh copies of that correspondence, I applied to Lord Grey in a personal interview I had with his Lordship on my return from Vancouvers Island for leave to copy parts of the correspondence, my own papers having been destroyed by the loss of a boat in crossing the Isthmus of Panama on my journey home, his Lordship gave me a conditional permission, but I did not avail myself of it, as circumstances did not render it necessary.
I have the honor to be Sir
Your Most obedient humble Servant
Richard Blanshard
late Governor of Vancouvers Island

The Rt Honble
Sir John Pakington Bart
Minutes by CO staff
Manuscript image
Mr Elliot
As this Statement is at variance with the assertion of the Governor respecting the missing Despatches perhaps the most convenient course will be to add a Postscript to the Draft answer to Mr Douglas sending him a Copy of this letter?
VJ 12 Augt
TFE 13 August
JSP 14
Blanshard, Governor Richard to Pakington, Captain John Somerset 9 August 1852, CO 305:3, no. 7500, 54. The Colonial Despatches of Vancouver Island and British Columbia 1846-1871, Edition 2.0, ed. James Hendrickson and the Colonial Despatches project. Victoria, B.C.: University of Victoria. https://bcgenesis.uvic.ca/V526B02.html.

Last modified: 2020-03-30 13:22:16 -0700 (Mon, 30 Mar 2020) (SVN revision: 4193)