d. 1896
Reverend Henry Alexander was a Royal Navy chaplain who wrote the Colonial Secretary
in London on
14 October 1863 to determine whether he was entitled to land in British Columbia under the provisions
of the
Military and Naval Settlers' Act, 1863.
1 This act, proclaimed by British Columbia governor
James Douglas, provided British military and naval officers
free grants
of land in the colony based on their years of service.
2 Alexander was informed that as he was a chaplain, and not a regular officer, he did
not qualify for the grants.
Henry Pelham Fiennes Pelham Clinton, the fifth
Duke of Newcastle, noted in the file that
Chaplains have not the qualifications for settling a country which Military & Naval
Officers have…
3
Alexander, who had been in the navy since 1854, continued to serve until 1872.4 Educated at Cambridge, he was a British citizen who had been born abroad, his birthplace
being officially listed as Not Known.
5 He was ordained deacon in 1852, priested in 1853, and held the position of Rector of Colwick from 1874 until his death in 1896 at the age of 70.6
- 1. Alexander to Colonial Secretary, 14 October 1863, 9951, CO 60/17.
- 2. James Douglas, Military and Naval Settlers' Act, 1863 (BC Historical Documents), 2.
- 3. Romaine to Under-Secretary of State, 28 October 1863, 10420, CO 60/17.
- 4. C.E. Warren and F. Lean, The Royal Navy List, January 1880 (London: Witherby & Co., 1880), 114.
- 5. John Venn, ed., Alumni Cantabrigienses: a Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders
of Office at the University of Cambridge, vol. 1, part 2 (Cambridge University Press, 1940), 29; United Kingdom. The National Archives. RG12
General Register Office: 1891 Census Returns. RG12/2679, 55.
- 6. Alumni Cantabrigienses, 29; United Kingdom. General Register Office Index. Deaths Registered in July, August, and September 1896. Basford, vol. 7b, 128.