Webster William
Mr. Webster is mentioned in this letter from Staines to Boys as a man knowledgeable and ambitious in the timber industry.1
Before he came to Victoria, Webster lived in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand, where he had a contract supplying the British government with spars. The letter reports that Webster intends to establish a similar timber trade between England and Fort Rupert.2
In another despatch, Douglas mentions two cases that involve Webster, a crafty American Adventurer who wanted to secure a monopoly of the timber exports from Soke. In the first case, Webster had two cargo ships unjustly arrested; in the second case, he sued the Muir family, his competitors. Douglas cites these cases, in which Webster exploits British Columbia's nascent legal system, as part of his argument to establish a supreme court.3
Mentions of this person in the documents