Leonard McClure was born on
Christmas Day in 1835 near Belfast, Northern Ireland, and came to
Victoria,
B.C. in
September 1859.
1 He worked as a journalist, printer, and politician in the colony of
Vancouver Island from his arrival until
1866.
2 McClure was known for being outspoken about the political issues that were prevalent
on the Island during that period.
3 An example of his outspoken nature is this lengthy
letter that he sent to
the Duke of Newcastle on
11 February 1863 where he requested better representation for the residents of
Victoria.
4 This letter was sent two months after two additional Members had been added to the
Legislative Assembly under the City of
Victoria Representation Act, a change that was thought to appease McClure’s previous criticisms.
5 As a result, McClure wasn’t very popular with the Colonial Office staff; the minutes
on his letter include remarks that his complaints about the Administrative Departments
were
not very tangible offences
and
that the Duke of Newcastle [had] already given much attention to this subject.
6
While the majority of the political issues that McClure mentioned in the despatches
concern the lack of sufficient political representation on
Vancouver Island, he was also very involved in the discussions surrounding the merger of the Colonies.
7 Initially McClure supported the union, so long as it included a revenue tariff, a
stance that earned him a seat in the Legislative Assembly in
February 1865.
8 However, McClure began to fear (correctly) that the union would cause
Vancouver Island to lose its ability to self-govern and chose to support annexation to the United
States instead, despite the minimal support annexation had on the Island.
9 When McClure lost his position as editor of
The Colonist during its merger with
The Chronicle in
June 1866, he also lost most of his political influence.
10 McClure ended up leaving
Victoria that
December for
San Francisco where he worked as the editor for
The Times until his death, caused by illness, on
14 June 1867.
12