The colonial despatches of Vancouver Island and British Columbia 1846-1871
Wootton, Captain Henry
b. 1826
d. 1875
Henry Wootton was born in England and joined the HBC as a mariner. In 1858, Wootton piloted HBC ship
Labouchere to Victoria.1
Married in England, he met up with his wife, Eliza Yardly, upon his arrival at the
colony nearly a year
later.2
Wootton became a member of the civil service colony and served as the first Postmaster
General of Vancouver Island, a position he
maintained for many years.3
Wootton was appointed to the combined position of Post Master and Harbor Master in
1861. He is described by
Governor Douglas as a man with high character for integrity and ability.Douglas further reports that Wootton has been for some time serving as Clerk of the Writs in
the Supreme Court [and] is a certificated Master in the Mercantile Marine.4
Wootton often dealt with debt collection, as well as customs laws concerning foreign
vessels trading in local
waters.5
1. J. F. Bosher, Imperial Vancouver Island: Who was Who 1850-1950 (Xlibris Corporation, 2010), 678.