Colonial Despatches

Wylde was a revenue officer under Hon. Wymond Hamley, the collector of customs for British Columbia.1 After the union of the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia in 1866, Wylde transferred to Victoria from New Westminster to establish the customs house in a wooden structure near the post-office of that day.2 In 1868, Wylde applied for an increase in his annual salary of $1,704; and in 1869, Wylde applied for an advance of $300 to relieve him from pecuniary difficulties incurred through change of residence and increased expenses owing to Union. Council denied both applications.3 Brand and Company to Fortescue, 1st Baron Carlingford Chichester 6 May 1862, CO 60:14, no. 4601, 335, shows that Wylde appeared to be acting on behalf of Green & Benjamins of Surinam.

Wylde was born in Blaydon, Somersetshire in 1816,4 and passed away in 1892, leaving four daughters and two sons to mourn his loss.5

• 1. Edward Mallandaine, First Victoria Directory, Fifth Issue, and British Columbia Guide, Canadiana.
• 2. Edgar Fawcett, Some Reminiscences of Old Victoria, (Toronto: W. Briggs, 1912), 111.
• 3. Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Journals Executive Council, Jul 27, 1868 to Aug 13, 1869, Archived Journals of the Legislative Assembly, 110.
• 4. Capt. Charles Wylde Obituary. Victoria Daily Colonist, August 31, 1892.
• 5. Ibid.