Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866)
Colony of British Columbia | |||||||||||||||||
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1858–1866 | |||||||||||||||||
Indigenous beliefs | |||||||||||||||||
Government | Constitutional monarchy | ||||||||||||||||
Queen | |||||||||||||||||
• 1858-1866 | Queen Victoria | ||||||||||||||||
Historical era | Colony of British Columbia (1866-1871) | 6 August 1866 | |||||||||||||||
Currency | Pound sterling (to 1865) British Columbia dollar (1865–66) | ||||||||||||||||
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The Colony of British Columbia was a
This first colony of British Columbia did not originally include the Colony of Vancouver Island, or the regions north of the Nass and Finlay rivers, or the regions east of the Rocky Mountains, or any of the coastal islands, but it did include the Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands,[3] and was enlarged in 1863 in the north and northeast up to the 60th parallel and the 120th meridian. The colony was incorporated with the Colony of Vancouver Island in 1866 to create the new Colony of British Columbia (1866–1871).
Background
The explorations of
With the signing of the Treaty of Washington in 1846, which established the US border along the 49th parallel, the HBC moved the headquarters of its western operations from Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River (present day Vancouver, Washington) to the newly established Fort Victoria, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. Vancouver Island and the surrounding Gulf Islands in the Strait of Georgia were organized as a crown colony in 1849. Meanwhile, the mainland continued to function under the de facto administration of the HBC, whose chief executive, James Douglas, was also governor of Vancouver Island. The non-Indigenous mainland population during this time never exceeded about 150 at Fort Victoria,[4] mostly HBC employees and their families.
Governorship of James Douglas
By 1857, Americans and British were beginning to respond to rumors of gold in the Thompson River area. Almost overnight, some ten to twenty thousand men moved into the region around present-day Yale, British Columbia, sparking the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush. Governor Douglas - who had no legal authority over New Caledonia – stationed a gunboat at the entrance of the Fraser River to exert such authority by collecting licences from prospectors attempting to make their way upstream. To normalize its jurisdiction, and undercut any HBC claims to the resource wealth of the mainland, the district was converted to a Crown colony on 2 August 1858 by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and given the name British Columbia. Douglas was offered the governorship of the new colony by the British colonial secretary, Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton, provided that he sever his employment by the Hudson's Bay Company, that Douglas accepted to do, and received a knighthood.
The numerous immigration into the new colony obliged Douglas to act quickly to define regulations and to create infrastructure.
The rush indeed was short lived, and the exodus of miners, speculators, and merchants was already underway by the time the Royal Engineers had laid out the colony's new capital at New Westminster. Prospecting continued, however, and additional finds farther inland in the Cariboo region in 1860 signalled an impending second gold rush. Provisioning was already proving to be an acute problem, and with more distant finds it became clear that wagon trains would have to replace pack horses, necessitating new infrastructure.
Throughout his tenure in British Columbia, Douglas feuded with
Foundation by Richard Clement Moody
Selection
When news of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush reached London,
Richard Clement Moody and his wife Mary Moody (of the
Ned McGowan's War
Moody had hoped to begin immediately the foundation of a capital city, but on his arrival at Fort Langley, he learned of an insurrection, at the settlement of Hill's Bar, by a notorious outlaw, Ned McGowan, and some restive gold miners.[5] Moody repressed the rebellion, which became popularly known as 'Ned McGowan's War', without loss of life.[5] Moody described the incident: The notorious Ned McGowan, of Californian celebrity at the head of a band of Yankee Rowdies defying the law! Every peaceable citizen frightened out of his wits!—Summons & warrants laughed to scorn! A Magistrate seized while on the Bench, & brought to the Rebel's camp, tried, condemned, & heavily fined! A man shot dead shortly before! Such a tale to welcome me at the close of a day of great enjoyment.[16] Moody described the response to his success: 'They gave me a Salute, firing off their loaded Revolvers over my head—Pleasant—Balls whistling over one's head! as a compliment! Suppose a hand had dropped by accident! I stood up, & raised my cap & thanked them in the Queen's name for their loyal reception of me'.[17]
The Foundation of British Columbia
In British Columbia, Moody 'wanted to build a city of beauty in the wilderness' and planned his city as an iconic visual metaphor for British dominance, 'styled and located with the objective of reinforcing the authority of the Crown and of the robe'.[18] Subsequent to the enactment of the Pre-emption Act of 1860, Moody settled the Lower Mainland. He founded the new capital city, New Westminster,[5][19] at a site of dense forest of Douglas pine[19] that he selected for its strategic excellence including the quality of its port.[18] He, in his letter to his friend Arthur Blackwood of the Colonial Office that is dated 1 February 1859, described the majestic beauty of the site:[20][12]
"The entrance to the Frazer is very striking--Extending miles to the right & left are low marsh lands (apparently of very rich qualities) & yet fr the Background of Superb Mountains- Swiss in outline, dark in woods, grandly towering into the clouds there is a sublimity that deeply impresses you. Everything is large and magnificent, worthy of the entrance to the Queen of England's dominions on the Pacific mainland. [...] My imagination converted the silent marshes into Cuyp-like pictures of horses and cattle lazily fattening in rich meadows in a glowing sunset. [...] The water of the deep clear Frazer was of a glassy stillness, not a ripple before us, except when a fish rose to the surface or broods of wild ducks fluttered away".[2]
Moody designed the roads and the settlements of New Westminster,
The British designated multiple tracts as government reserves. The Pre-emption Act did not specify conditions for the distribution of the land, and, consequently, large areas were bought by speculators.[8] Moody requisitioned 3,750 acres (sc. 1,517 hectares) for himself,[8] and, on this land, he subsequently built for himself, and owned, Mayfield, a model farm near New Westminster.[22] Moody was criticised by journalists for land grabbing,[8] but his requisitions were ordered by the Colonial Office,[5] and Moody throughout his tenure in British Columbia received the approbation of the British authorities in London,[19] and was in British Columbia described as 'the real father of New Westminster'.[23] However, Lord Lytton, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, 'forgot the practicalities of paying for clearing and developing the site and the town' and the effort of Moody's Engineers was continually impeded by insufficient funds, which, together with the continuous opposition of Governor Douglas, whom Sir Thomas Frederick Elliot (1808 - 1880) described as 'like any other fraud',[24] 'made it impossible for [Moody's] design to be fulfilled'.[25]
Throughout his tenure in British Columbia, Moody feuded with Sir James Douglas, Governor of Vancouver Island, whose jurisdiction overlapped with his own. Moody's offices of Chief Commissioner and Lieutenant-Governor were of 'higher prestige [and] lesser authority' than that of Douglas, despite Moody's superior social position in the judgement of the Royal Engineers and of the British Government which had selected Moody to 'out manoeuvre the old Hudson's Bay Factor [Governor Douglas]'.[6][26]
Moody had been selected by Lord Lytton for his qualities of the archetypal 'English gentleman and British Officer', and because his family was 'eminently respectable': he was the son of
Margaret A. Ormsby, who was the author of the Dictionary of Canadian Biography entry for Moody (2002), unpopularly censures Moody for the abortive development of the New Westminster.[8] However, most significant historians commend Moody's contribution and exonerate Moody from culpability for the abortive development of New Westminster, especially with regard to the perpetual insufficiency of funds and of the personally motivated opposition by Douglas that continually retarded the development of British Columbia.[33] Robert Burnaby observed that Douglas proceeded with 'muddling [Moody's] work and doubling his expenditure'[6] and with employing administrators to 'work a crooked policy against Moody' to 'retard British Columbia and build up... the stronghold of Hudson's Bay interests' and their own 'landed stake'.[34] Therefore, Robert Edgar Cail,[35] Don W. Thomson,[36] Ishiguro, and Scott commended Moody for his contribution, and Scott accused Ormsby of being 'adamant in her dislike of Colonel Moody' despite the majority of evidence,[37] and almost all other biographies of Moody, including that by the Institution of Civil Engineers, and that by the Royal Engineers, and that by the British Columbia Historical Association, commend Moody's achievements in British Columbia.
The Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment was disbanded in July 1863. The Moody family (which now consisted of Moody, and his wife, and seven legitimate children)[5] and the 22 Royal Engineers who wished to return to England, who had 8 wives between them, departed for England.[5] 130 of the original Columbia Detachment decided to remain in British Columbia.[8] Scott contends that the dissolution of the Columbia Detachment, and the consequent departure of Moody, 'doomed' the development of the settlement and the realisation of Lord Lytton's dream.[38] A vast congregation of New Westminster citizens gathered at the dock to bid farewell to Moody as his boat departed for England. Moody wanted to return to British Columbia, but he died before he was able to do so.[39] Moody left his library behind, in New Westminster, to become the public library of New Westminster.[5][8]
In April 1863, the Councillors of New Westminster decreed that 20 acres should be reserved and named Moody Square after Richard Clement Moody. The area around Moody Square that was completed only in 1889 has also been named Moody Park after Moody.
Governorship of Frederick Seymour
Douglas's successor was
On Seymour's return overland, he made a tour of the Cariboo minefields, and along the Fraser Canyon, which made him increasingly convinced of the colony's future prosperity. On returning to the capital, however, fiscal reality set in as it became clear that British Columbia's indebtedness was getting worse. Even as the colonial administration took drastic measures to augment revenues and improve the road system to attract prospectors and settlers, the economic situation grew increasingly dire, and agitation grew for an amalgamation of the two colonies. Seymour opposed this proposal, but with pressure from various quarters of the colonial government, he eventually relented, recommending that British Columbia be the dominant partner, and (unsuccessfully) that the capital be located at New Westminster. The two colonies were united by an Act of the British Parliament, and proclaimed on 6 August 1866 (see
Governors
- Sir James Douglas, 1858–1864
- Frederick Seymour, 1864–1866
Colonial Assembly
Members 1863–1864[43]
- Arthur Nonus Birch, Colonial Secretary and Presiding Member
- Henry Pering Pellew Crease, Attorney General
- Wymond Ogilvy Hamley, Collector of Customs
- Chartres Brew, Magistrate. New Westminster
- Peter O'Reilly, Magistrate Cariboo East
- E.H. Sanders, Magistrate, Yale
- Henry Maynard Ball, Magistrate, Lytton
- Philip Henry Nind, Magistrate, Douglas
- Joshua Homer, New Westminster District
- Robert Thompson Smith, Yale and Lytton District
- Henry Holbrook, Douglas and Lillooet District
- James Orr, Cariboo East District
- Walter Shaw Black, Cariboo West District
Members 1864–1865[44]
- Arthur Nonus Birch, Colonial Secretary and Presiding Member
- Henry Pering Pellew Crease, Attorney General
- Charles William Franks, Treasurer
- Wymond Ogilvy Hamley, Collector of Customs
- Chartres Brew, Magistrate. New Westminster
- Peter O'Reilly, Magistrate Cariboo
- Henry Maynard Ball, Magistrate, Lytton
- Andrew Charles Elliott, Magistrate, Lillooet
- John Carmichael Haynes, Magistrate, Osoyoos and Kootenay
- Joshua Homer, New Westminster District
- Clement Francis Cornwall, Hope, Yale and Lytton District
- Henry Holbrook, Douglas and Lillooet District
- George Anthony Walkem, Cariboo East and Quesnel Forks District
- Walter Moberly, Cariboo West and Quesnelmouth District
Members 1866[45]
- Henry Maynard Ball, Acting Colonial Secretary and Presiding Member
- Henry Pering Pellew Crease, Attorney General
- Charles William Franks, Treasurer
- Joseph Trutch Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works and Surveyor General
- Wymond Ogilvy Hamley, Collector of Customs
- Chartres Brew, Magistrate. New Westminster
- Peter O'Reilly, Magistrate Kootenay
- Andrew Charles Elliott, Magistrate, Lillooet
- John Carmichael Haynes, Magistrate, Osoyoos and Kootenay
- Joshua Homer, New Westminster District
- Clement Francis Cornwall, Hope, Yale and Lytton District
- Henry Holbrook, Douglas and Lillooet District
- George Anthony Walkem, Cariboo East and Quesnel Forks District
- Robert Smith, Cariboo West and Quesnelmouth District
Supreme Court
In 1858 the British Government sent over Matthew Baillie Begbie as Chief Justice for the colony. Although trained at Lincoln's Inn he had never practised law, but soon published a Rules of Court and a timetable of sittings. He held the post, under consecutive administrative regimes, until his death in 1894.[46]
See also
- Former colonies and territories in Canada
- Territorial evolution of Canada after 1867
- List of governors of Vancouver Island and British Columbia
- Alaska boundary dispute
References
- ^ Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Volume 90, Issue 1887, 1887, pp. 453-455, OBITUARY. MAJOR-GENERAL RICHARD CLEMENT MOODY, R.E., 1813-1887.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4426-9184-1.
- ^ Douglas, James. Proclamation of the Colony of British Columbia.
- ^ Dunae, Patrick A.; Forward, C.N.; Newcomb, John (15 February 2017) [18 October 2011]. "Victoria (BC)". The Canadian Encyclopedia (online ed.). Historica Canada.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Tatham, David. "Moody, Richard Clement". Dictionary of Falklands Biography.
- ^ a b c "Letters of Robert Burnaby, 3rd December 1859". Archived from the original on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
- ^ Dorothy Blakey Smith, ed., 'The Journal of Arthur Thomas Bushby, 1858 - 1859,' British Columbia
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Ormsby (1982)
- ^ a b Drummond, Sir Henry (1908). "XXIII". Rambling Recollections, Vol. 1. Macmillan and Co., London. p. 272.
- ^ Donald J. Hauka, McGowan's War, Vancouver: 2003, New Star Books, p.146
- ^ Scott (1983), p. 13.
- ^ a b Scott (1983), p. 19.
- ^ "Royal Engineers Museum, Library and Archive, Gillingham, Kent: Individual Records" (PDF). Retrieved 3 June 2017.
- ^ War Office of Great Britain (1863). Return to an Address of the Honourable The House of Commons, dated 25 June, 1863 : for, "Copy of the Correspondence Between the Military Authorities at Shanghai and the War Office Respecting the Insalubrity of Shanghai as a Station for European Troops:" "And, Numerical Return of Sickness and Mortality of the Troops of All Arms at Shanghai, from the Year 1860 to the Latest Date, showing the Per-centage upon the Total Strength". p. 107.
- ^ "Colonel Moody and what he did prior to arriving in British Columbia". Retrieved 4 July 2016.
- ^ Moody (1951), p. 95.
- ^ Moody (1951), p. 97.
- ^ a b Scott (1983), p. 26.
- ^ a b c d e f g Vetch1894, p. 332
- ^ Moody (1951), pp. 85–107.
- ^ "Heraldic Science Héraldique, Arms and Devices of Provinces and Territories, British Columbia". Retrieved 3 November 2016.
- ^ a b Brissenden, Constance (2009). The History of Metropolitan Vancouver's Hall of Fame: Who's Who, Moody. Vancouver History.
- ^ Edward, Mallandaine (1887). The British Columbia Directory, containing a General Directory of Business Men and Householders…. E. Mallandaine and R. T. Williams, Broad Street, Victoria, British Columbia. p. 215 in New Westminster District Directory.
- ^ "'Elliot, Thomas Frederick', University of Victoria British Columbia, Colonial Despatches of Vancouver Island and British Columbia". Retrieved 30 April 2023.
- ^ Scott (1983), p. 27.
- ^ Dorothy Blakey Smith, ed., 'The Journal of Arthur Thomas Bushby, 1858 - 1859,' British Columbia
- ^ Scott (1983), pp. 19–20.
- ^ Howard, Joseph Jackson; Crisp, Frederick Arthur, eds. (1900). "Boyd of Moor House, Co. Durham". Visitation of England and Wales. Vol. 8. pp. 161–164.
- ^ Scott (1983), p. 23.
- ^ Scott (1983), p. 25.
- ^ Scott (1983), p. 109.
- ^ Scott (1983), pp. 115–117.
- ^ Scott (1983).
- ^ "Letters of Robert Burnaby, 22 February 1859". Archived from the original on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
- ISBN 978-0-7748-0029-7.
- ISBN 9780660115580.
- ^ Scott (1983), p. 131.
- ^ Scott (1983), p. 137.
- ^ New Westminster Council. Parks & Recreation History of Park Sites and Facilities, Moody Park…. p. 67.
- ^ New Westminster Council. Parks & Recreation History of Park Sites and Facilities, Moody Park…. p. 62.
- ^ New Westminster Council. Parks & Recreation History of Park Sites and Facilities, Moody Park…. p. 65.
- ^ The Royal British Columbia Museum: Annual Report: 2013 - 2014
- ^ "Journals of the Legislative Council of the Colony of British Columbia 21 January 1864 to 4 May 1864". Archived from the original on 13 May 2013.
- ^ "Journals of the Legislative Council of the Colony of British Columbia from the 12th December 1864, to the 11th April, 1865". Archived from the original on 12 May 2013.
- ^ "Journals of the Legislative Council of the Colony of British Columbia from the 18th January, to the 5th April, 1866". Archived from the original on 13 May 2013.
- ^ Duhaime, Lloyd (26 September 2012). "Wild, Wild West Law". lawMAG. Archived from the original on 16 August 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
Sources
- "The Photographic Album of Richard Clement Moody, Royal British Columbia Museum" (PDF).
- "Col. Richard Clement Moody". Archived from the original on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
- "Letters of Mary Moody, Royal British Columbia Museum Archives" (PDF). Retrieved 4 July 2016.
- Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Volume 90, Issue 1887, 1887, pp. 453-455, OBITUARY. MAJOR-GENERAL RICHARD CLEMENT MOODY, R.E., 1813-1181.
- Cleall, Esme; Ishiguro, Laura; Manktelow, Emily J. (Spring 2013). "Imperial Relations: Histories of family in the British Empire". Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History. 14 (1). S2CID 162030654.
- Francis, Daniel, ed. (1999). ISBN 1-55017-200-X.
- Hayes, Derek (2005). Historical Atlas of Vancouver and the Lower Fraser Valley. Douglas & McIntyre. pp. 26–29. ISBN 978-1-55365-283-0.
- Moody, Richard Clement (January 1951). Willard E. Ireland (ed.). "Letter of Colonel Richard Clement Moody, R.E., to Arthur Blackwood, February 1, 1859". British Columbia Historical Quarterly. XV (1 & 2): 85–107.
- Morton, Arthur S. (1973) [1939]. A History of the Canadian West to 1870-71, Second Edition. University of Toronto Press. p. 775f. ISBN 0-8020-0253-6.
- Ormsby, Margaret A. (1982). "Moody, Richard Clement". In Halpenny, Francess G (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. XI (1881–1890) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
- Scott, Laura Elaine (1983). The Imposition of British Culture as Portrayed in the New Westminster Capital Plan of 1859 to 1862 (PDF) (M.A. thesis). Simon Fraser University.
- Sweetman, John. "Moody, Richard Clement". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/19085. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Vetch, Robert Hamilton (1894). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 38. pp. 332–333.
Further reading
- Ormsby, Margaret A. (1972). "Douglas, Sir James". In Hayne, David (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. X (1871–1880) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
- Ormsby, Margaret A. (1976). "Seymour, Frederick". In Halpenny, Francess G (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. IX (1861–1870) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.