Colonial Despatches
The colonial despatches of Vancouver Island and British Columbia 1846-1871
Despatch to London
Douglas, Sir James to Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle Henry Pelham Fiennes 28 March 1860, CO 305:14, no. 4820, 145.
Abstract
Douglas, Sir James to Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle Henry Pelham Fiennes 28 March 1860, CO 305:14, no. 4820, 145.
Despatch to London.
Minutes (4), Enclosures (untranscribed) (1), Other documents (1), Marginalia (1).
No. 17
28 March 1860
I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch No 1 of
the 2nd January transmitting Copy of a letter from Mr Berens
together with your Grace's reply
reply thereto having reference to the
subject of the advance of Twenty seven thousand Dollars ($27,000.00)
by the Hudson's Bay Company for the erection of Public Buildings in
Vancouver Island.
reply thereto having reference to the
subject of the advance of Twenty seven thousand Dollars ($27,000.00)
by the Hudson's Bay Company for the erection of Public Buildings in
Vancouver Island.
2. My recent Despatch No 11 of the 16th Ultimo will I trust have
placed your Grace in possession of every detail in connection with
the transaction, and I therefore will confine myself in this Despatch
solely to the question of the claim now put forth by the
the Company to
the Ownership of the Land.
the Company to
the Ownership of the Land.
3. I must confess that it is not without some surprise that I have
perused the letter of Mr Berens, and I am convinced that the course
pursued by that gentleman must originate through want of proper and
full information in the premises.
4. During the period I have been Governor of Vancouver Island I have
always found the Hudson's Bay Company most liberal in their views,
and sparing of no reasonable
reasonable expense for promoting the good of the
Colony, and in the present instance the right of the Colony to the
land sold is so clear and indisputable that I cannot but presume that
so soon as the Company become aware of the facts in connection
therewith, they will at once relinquish a claim which I feel assured
has only been advanced through misconception.
reasonable expense for promoting the good of the
Colony, and in the present instance the right of the Colony to the
land sold is so clear and indisputable that I cannot but presume that
so soon as the Company become aware of the facts in connection
therewith, they will at once relinquish a claim which I feel assured
has only been advanced through misconception.
5. On the 1st January 1851 the Hudson's Bay Company acquainted
Governor Blanshard that the sum of Four thousand Pounds (£4000) would
be placed
placed at his disposal for the erection of some of the Buildings
most urgently required, and informed him that those Buildings
"and the Lands that may be appropriated with them" were to be
held by him and his Council as Trustees
for the Colony, and further, that "the site of these Buildings
should be near the Fort (Victoria) for convenience and protection."
placed at his disposal for the erection of some of the Buildings
most urgently required, and informed him that those Buildings
"and the Lands that may be appropriated with them" were to be
held by him and his Council as Trustees
for the Colony, and further, that "the site of these Buildings
should be near the Fort (Victoria) for convenience and protection."
6. For the better information of your Grace I enclose a Copy of the
entire Despatch in which the above instructions are embodied.
7. Shortly after the receipt of these
these instructions Governor
Blanshard left the Colony, but a residence for the Governor was put
up before his departure, and this very building
with the land appropriated to it was that sold in May last, and
is now claimed by Mr Berens on behalf of the Hudson's Bay Company.
these instructions Governor
Blanshard left the Colony, but a residence for the Governor was put
up before his departure, and this very building
with the land appropriated to it was that sold in May last, and
is now claimed by Mr Berens on behalf of the Hudson's Bay Company.
8. I became Governor Blanshard's immediate successor, and carried
out so far as I was able the other arrangements Contemplated by the
Hudson's Bay
Bay Company. The land appropriated to the Government House
was always regarded by me as a Government Reserve, and the Colonial
Surveyor had strict orders from me not to dispose of any part
thereof, and although no formal conveyance had been effected, yet I
did not view that circumstance at the time as a matter of any
any moment,
the intentions of the Hudson's Bay Company being so unmistakeable.
Bay Company. The land appropriated to the Government House
was always regarded by me as a Government Reserve, and the Colonial
Surveyor had strict orders from me not to dispose of any part
thereof, and although no formal conveyance had been effected, yet I
did not view that circumstance at the time as a matter of any
any moment,
the intentions of the Hudson's Bay Company being so unmistakeable.
9. In point of fact had the Hudson's Bay Company themselves not
adopted the foregoing arrangement—an arrangement which apparently
removed all probability of cavil or dispute, it becomes a question
whether
whether the land could not have been reserved from the first under the
Charter of Grant which prohibits the disposal by sale of any land
"which may be required for public purposes";
but as in the interpretation of this passage it is not improbable
that some controversy might have arisen, I consider that the Hudson's
Bay Company acted very wisely and properly at the outset in laying it
down as a rule that the lands appropriated with the public Buildings
were to be held in trust for the Colony.
whether the land could not have been reserved from the first under the
Charter of Grant which prohibits the disposal by sale of any land
"which may be required for public purposes";
But the Compy maintain that this land was not included in the Grant
of the Island i.e. that they held it before that grant.
10. The ground upon which the
the claim is now advanced is I perceive
considered by Her Majesty's Government as utterly untenable; but were
it not so, I think that the information I now supply sets the
question entirely at rest so far as the public reserves are
concerned.
the claim is now advanced is I perceive
considered by Her Majesty's Government as utterly untenable; but were
it not so, I think that the information I now supply sets the
question entirely at rest so far as the public reserves are
concerned.
11. I will not fail in furnishing Your Grace, as soon as I can
obtain it, with the information you require as to the land claimed by
the Hudsons Bay Company under a title anterior to the Grant, and as
to the land acquired by them in their private capacity.
I have etc.
Minutes by CO staff
Mr Elliot
As Mr Fortescue has observed in his minute on 3603/160 the decision of the Judicial Comee on the Hudson's Bay Company's title to their Fur Trade Reserve will probably carry this question also. But in the mean-while I think that this despatch and the preceding one on the same subject—3603 should be sent to the Company for their observations.
As Mr Fortescue has observed in his minute on 3603/160 the decision of the Judicial Comee on the Hudson's Bay Company's title to their Fur Trade Reserve will probably carry this question also. But in the mean-while I think that this despatch and the preceding one on the same subject—3603 should be sent to the Company for their observations.
ABd
17/5
Mr Fortescue
This is a subject to which you have particularly attended. Your note on 3603 shows (& this despatch confirms) the probable nature of the difference between Governor Douglas and the Company: the facts supplied by the present report appear strongly to support the former.
This is a subject to which you have particularly attended. Your note on 3603 shows (& this despatch confirms) the probable nature of the difference between Governor Douglas and the Company: the facts supplied by the present report appear strongly to support the former.
TFE
18 May
This is certainly a strange & unsatisfactory affair. It is difficult
to read the H.B. Co's letter of Decber 16/59 & its
enclosures—especially the language of the Govr & Mr Pemberton in the latter—without believing that the Govr
began by admitting this land to be the Cos. property,
and has since found out that he ought never to
have made that admission—but will not confess his blunder.
But send to the H.B.Co.?
CF
21
To H.B.C. in first instance, but this affair must be carefully
watched.
N
23
Documents enclosed with the main document (not transcribed)
A. Barclay, Secretary, Hudson's Bay Company, to Blanshard, 1 January
1851, with information on the disposition of land and buildings
required for public use, as per despatch.
Other documents included in the file
Draft,
Fortescue to H.H. Berens, Hudson's Bay Company, 7 June 1860,
forwarding two despatches on the subject of disputed land in
Vancouver Island, and asking whether their position had altered as a
result of the information contained therein.