Colonial Despatches
The colonial despatches of Vancouver Island and British Columbia 1846-1871
Public Offices document
Hammond, Edmund to
Fortescue, 1st Baron Carlingford Chichester 10 December 1863, CO 305:21, no. 11909, 144.
Abstract
Hammond, Edmund to
Fortescue, 1st Baron Carlingford Chichester 10 December 1863, CO 305:21, no. 11909, 144.
Public Offices document.
Minutes (4), Enclosures (untranscribed) (1), Other documents (1).
Hammond to Under-Secretary of State
Foreign Office
10 December 1863
Sir,
I am directed by Earl Russell to transmit to you to be laid before
the Duke of Newcastle, a Copy of a Letter from the Hudsons Bay
Company calling attention to the loss sustained bythe
the Company owing
to the incursion of Squatters in the Island of San Juan.
the Company owing
to the incursion of Squatters in the Island of San Juan.
Minutes by CO staff
Mr Elliot
In the present state of the San Juan question, and under the joint Military occupation of the Island, there can I presume be no exclusive jurisdiction on either side, and any interference with these squatters (if American) could only be exercised in concert with the American Govt?
In the present state of the San Juan question, and under the joint Military occupation of the Island, there can I presume be no exclusive jurisdiction on either side, and any interference with these squatters (if American) could only be exercised in concert with the American Govt?
VJ
12 Decr
Any interference with the
squatters will probably be deemed out of
the question under present circumstances, and I do not think that
this is the point which is here mooted. The point is in the
concluding Par: of Sir E. Head's letter in which he says that his
only object is to let the Secretary of State know that the Hudson's
Bay company may be compelled to abandon their occupation of land in
San Juan.
squatters will probably be deemed out of
the question under present circumstances, and I do not think that
this is the point which is here mooted. The point is in the
concluding Par: of Sir E. Head's letter in which he says that his
only object is to let the Secretary of State know that the Hudson's
Bay company may be compelled to abandon their occupation of land in
San Juan.
Perhaps this may be viewed as a notice simply sent for information
and may be left without answer. If a reply were made, it could only
be, I apprehend, to disclaim the slightest responsibility on the part
of Government either for the Company's leaving or remaining in San Juan, or for any profit or loss which they may derive from either one
course or the other.
The opinions of this Dt to that effect are recorded in a letter to
the Foreign Office dated the 4 of January 1861 and a letter to Mr
Berens dated the 30h of April 1862, and in the minutes on which
those letters were founded.
TFE
14 Decr
Duke of Newcastle
There is no hint in this letter of Sir E. Head of any claims upon Govt on acct of San Juan. It is only a proper notice to the F.O. that the British occupation of the island is about to cease. I think the answer may be, that the probable abandonment of the island by British Subjects and its occupation by American squatters seems likely to increase the difficulty of enforcing our claim to San Juan and to make it more than ever desirable that the question should, if possible, be settled without delay.
There is no hint in this letter of Sir E. Head of any claims upon Govt on acct of San Juan. It is only a proper notice to the F.O. that the British occupation of the island is about to cease. I think the answer may be, that the probable abandonment of the island by British Subjects and its occupation by American squatters seems likely to increase the difficulty of enforcing our claim to San Juan and to make it more than ever desirable that the question should, if possible, be settled without delay.
CF
16
So write to F.O. I am much inclined to think that this is not an
unfavorable moment for negociation—denunciations of England
notwithstanding.
N
17
Documents enclosed with the main document (not transcribed)
Edmund Head, Hudson's Bay Company, to A.H. Layard, M.P., 3 December 1863, voicing the concerns of the company at losses incurred
as a result of squatters settling on San Juan Island.
