Peter O'Reilly was born on
27 March 1827 in Ince, England, but raised in Ireland. After serving in the Irish civil service,
he was appointed a lieutenant in the revenue police, he was honourably discharged
in
1857. O'Reilly left Ireland for
British Columbia on
5 February 1858 and arrived in
Victoria via
Panama in April. Upon his arrival, O'Reilly was appointed as stipendiary magistrate for
Langley District, but soon transferred to
Hope in
1859. In November of that year he became high sheriff of the colony, holding this position
until
1866.
In
1864 he was appointed chief gold commissioner. And in
1866, O'Reilly was sent to the
Columbia River, near present day Revelstoke where a large portion of gold was discovered, here he
was tasked with enforcement of the mining laws. Later, due to the union of
Vancouver Island and
British Columbia, O'Reilly's position as stipendiary magistrate changed, and in
1867 he was appointed as a county court judge. Throughout these changes in his career, O'Reilly had continuously sat in the
British Columbia Legislative Council from
1863 until the colony joined Confederation in
1871. In
1880, O'Reilly served as
Indian Reserve Commissioner;
however, the reserves that he laid down in
Metlakatla in
1882 were heavily and reasonably disputed by the Indigenous population. He served in this
position for 18 years until his retirement at the age of 71 in
1898. In his “declining years,” O'Reilly spent his time in his garden, visiting friends,
and attending church until his death from heart failure on
3 September 1905.