Bernard Rice was an Irish-born miner who worked in
Yale,
B.C. during the Fraser Gold Rush.
1 Rice was shot and killed on
24 December 1858 by a gambler named
William Foster during a dispute that began when Rice
became intoxicated, and [refused] to pay for two glasses of liquor.
2 Oddly, no one stole any of Rice’s possessions and his body was found with
a Bag Containing Gold Dust value 69 Dollars and 50 Cents--In Silver Coin One Dollar
& 85 Cents and a Colt Revolver
,
along with an additional
400 Dollars,
that were given to the authorities.
3 Rice’s mother,
Elizabeth, attempted to claim her son’s possessions but had trouble contacting Justice of the
Peace
Peter Brunton Whannell who was in charge of his case.
4 Authorities also had trouble apprehending
Foster, who was found guilty of murder, as he had
crossed the border, putting himself beyond the reach of British Justice.
5