 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "James Douglas" governor – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(December 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Sir James Douglas | |
|---|---|
 James Douglas, wearing the insignia of theOrder of the Bath | |
| 1stGovernor of British Columbia | |
| In office 1858–1864 | |
| Succeeded by | Frederick Seymour |
| 2ndGovernor of Vancouver Island | |
| In office 1851–1864 | |
| Preceded by | Richard Blanshard |
| Succeeded by | Arthur Edward Kennedy |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1803-08-15)August 15, 1803 |
| Died | August 2, 1877(1877-08-02) (aged 73) |
| Resting place | Ross Bay Cemetery |
| Political party | None |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 13 (6 lived to adulthood), includingJames W. Douglas |
| Parents |
|
Sir James Douglas,KCB (August 15, 1803 – August 2, 1877) was a Canadianfur trader and politician who became the firstGovernor of theColony of British Columbia. He is often credited as "The Father ofBritish Columbia". In 1863, Douglas was knighted by QueenVictoria for his services to the Crown.
Douglas was born inGuyana to a wealthyScottish planter and afree woman of colour. He started work at 16 for theNorth West Company and then theHudson's Bay Company, where he eventually became aChief Factor. From 1851 to 1864, he was Governor of theColony of Vancouver Island.[1] In 1858, he became the first Governor of theColony of British Columbia and asserted the authority of theBritish Empire during theFraser Canyon Gold Rush, which had the potential to turn the Mainland into an American state; in reaction to the threat of annexation, he sponsored the resettlement of 35 Black Americans, later known as the "Pioneer Committee", fromSan Francisco to Vancouver Island.[2][3] Douglas remained governor of British Columbia and Vancouver Island until his retirement in 1864.
Douglas was born in 1803 inEssequibo, then briefly a colony of theBatavian Republic. His father was John Douglas, a Scottish planter and merchant from Glasgow, who with his three brothers was a minor member of theplanter class of theWest Indies. His uncle was Lieutenant-General SirNeil Douglas,Commander-in-Chief, Scotland, and his aunt wasCecilia Douglas, who inherited two plantations by marriage and was an art collector. Through his paternal grandmother, James Douglas was related to the diplomatSir Andrew Buchanan, 1st Baronet.[4]
His mother was Martha Ann (née Ritchie, later Telfer).[5][6] Ritchie was classified asfree coloured, which in that time and place meant someone of mixed African and European family history, who was not a slave.[7]According to theDictionary of Canadian Biography, the couple had three children together (Alexander, born 1801 or 1802; James, born 1803, and Cecilia, born 1812), but never formally married.
In 1812, John Douglas returned toScotland with his children and put James into school atLanark to be educated. John married Jessie Hamilton in 1819, and had more children with her, making a second family. James went to school or was taught by a FrenchHuguenot inManchester, England, where he learned to speak and write in fluent French, which helped him in North America.
At the age of 16, James Douglas signed on to join theNorth West Company (NWC), a major organization active in theNorth American fur trade. He sailed fromLiverpool forLachine,Lower Canada, in spring 1819. From there, Douglas was assigned as a clerk atFort William in what is nowThunder Bay.
The following year, he was moved toÎle-à-la-Crosse on theChurchill River in what is now northernSaskatchewan. The rivalHudson's Bay Company was also active in this area, and Douglas was caught up in at least one argument with the fighting fur traders. Douglas continued his policy of self-education by reading books brought from Britain and meeting with many First Nations people.
In 1821, the NWC was merged into its powerful competitor, the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). Douglas's contract was placed onto the HBC's payroll. He quickly moved up the strict HBC hierarchy. In 1825, he was put in charge of the founding of theFort Vermilion trading post in what is now northernAlberta. He was next assigned atFort St. James onStuart Lake, headquarters of the company'sNew Caledonia District, roughly located within modern British Columbia.
In 1827, he establishedFort Connolly onBear Lake. The station was named after his manager,William Connolly, who was impressed by Douglas' skills and viewed him favourably. Because of their close relations, Connolly agreed to Douglas marrying hisMétis daughterAmelia Connolly. Her mother wasCree and likely also Métis. Douglas and Amelia were married on 27 April 1828'à la façon du pays', a ceremony repeated almost a decade later atFort Vancouver.[8]
Throughout part of 1828, Connolly was absent from Fort St. James, leaving Douglas in charge. Two company traders were murdered with the help of aDakelh. Douglas was said to have marched into the Stuart Lake village and seized the accused murderer, but the exact events of the day are disputed. By some accounts, Douglas shot the native in the head on the spot, with everyone watching. In others, Douglas took him away from the village, to be executed later. Another story is that Douglas tried to shoot the man but missed and got his partners to beat the accused before taking him away. Various accounts were passed around the area, and Douglas generally acquired a negative reputation among the local First Nations as a result.
Fearing for Douglas's life, Connolly asked HBC GovernorGeorge Simpson to transfer the younger man elsewhere. He was reassigned to Fort Vancouver, headquarters of the company'sColumbia District, near the mouth of theColumbia River in present-dayWashington. His wife joined him after the death of their first child in 1830. While they lived in Fort Vancouver, she gave birth to ten more children (five died in infancy). Their sonJames W. Douglas grew up to become a politician and Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), 1875–1878.
Douglas spent 19 years working inFort Vancouver. He served as a Clerk until 1835, when he was promoted to Chief Trader, the second highest rank in the HBC. Being a Chief Trader was a very important position that was held by only four others in the large district. He received his commission as one of "the gentlemen of the interior" on June 3, 1835, inYork Factory during a meeting of the Council of the Northern Department. In 1838, Douglas was put in charge of the Columbia District while Chief FactorJohn McLoughlin was onfurlough in Europe. While he commanded Fort Vancouver, he denounced the enslavement ofChinookan peoples.
Douglas supported Simpson's plans of making a settlement with theRussian-American Company (RAC). InHamburg in early 1839, Simpson andGovernor of Russian Colonies in AmericaFerdinand von Wrangel negotiated a commercial treaty that established future relations between the two state companies.
TheRAC-HBC Agreement let the HBC rent a portion ofRussian American claimed territory referred to as the "Stikine lisière." The area leased by the RAC was on theAlaskan Panhandle, on the northern coast fromMount Fairweather south to 54°40′. In return, the RAC received 2000 otter pelts and a number of other goods, notably a large supply of wheat and provisions needed at various Russian stations. To meet the demand, Simpson and members of the governing committee created thePugets Sound Agricultural Company (PSAC) to both meet this demand and promote settlement of territories aroundCowlitz Farm andFort Nisqually. Both stations are now located within modernWashington.
In November 1839, Douglas was promoted to Chief Factor, the highest possible rank for field service with the HBC. As a Chief Factor, he traveled toAlta California, where he met with aMexican administrator and received permission to create a trading post inYerba Buena, California (modernSan Francisco,California). In 1841, Douglas was charged with the duty of setting up a trading post on the southern tip ofVancouver Island. George Simpson had recommended a second line of forts be built in case theColumbia River valley fell into American hands. Charged with the task, Douglas foundedFort Victoria, on the site of present-dayVictoria, British Columbia. That proved beneficial when in 1846 theOregon Treaty was signed, extending theBritish North America and the United States border along the 49th parallel from theRocky Mountains to theStrait of Georgia.
In 1849, Britain leased the entirety of Vancouver Island to the HBC under the condition that a colony be created. Douglas moved the headquarters of the western portion of the company from Fort Vancouver to Fort Victoria.
Douglas had aKanaka man accompany him in 1849 on his journey from Fort Vancouver to Victoria by canoe, and at Victoria, he had a Hawaiian cook and household servant.[9]
He was not initially appointed as Governor of theColony of Vancouver Island, which instead went toRichard Blanshard, an Englishbarrister. However, most practical authorities rested with Douglas as the chief employer and person in charge of its finances and land, and he effectively drove Blanshard from the position. Douglas acknowledged theRoyal Proclamation of 1763 and had the policy to trade the natives for their land.
Costs for each parcel of land were usually in the form of blankets, often three for each man. The policy also stemmed from a desire to have good interactions with natives while avoiding violence. After Blanshard resigned in 1851, the British government appointed Douglas as the Governor of Vancouver Island. As he was still Chief Factor of the HBC, he tried for several years to balance his important and time-consuming duties of both positions. He was the subject of controversy in local political debates and editorial tirades.
As governor, Douglas faced a number of significant challenges, not least of which was the expansionist pressure of the neighboring United States of America. Using his meagre resources, Douglas created the Victoria Voltigeurs, Vancouver Island's first militia, using money from the company and composed ofMétis andFrench Canadians in the company's service. He created the Victoria Pioneer Rifle Corp, otherwise known as the African Rifles, an all-Black militia of immigrants from San Francisco's First African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church who settled onVancouver Island in the 1860s at his invitation.[10] He also used the sparse presence of theRoyal Navy for protection. During theCrimean War, the British and French carried out an attack onPetropavlovsk in 1854, and casualties were sent to Victoria. After facilities of the key port proved inadequate, the British government charged Douglas to build a hospital atEsquimalt harbour, as well as improve Royal Navy supply capacity. This base proved to be important and successful when in 1865 the headquarters of the North Pacific Squadron were moved to Vancouver Island.
In 1859, Douglas also found his colony embroiled in a dispute withWashington Territory over sovereignty in theSan Juan Islands. The protracted, twelve-year standoff came to be known as thePig War. Douglas pressed Britain to exert sovereignty over all islands in the archipelago dividing theStrait of Georgia fromPuget Sound. Named for the largest island of the group, the San Juan Islands are immediately adjacent to Victoria and so were of great strategic interest and worry. While opposing troops remained garrisoned onSan Juan Island, the dispute was eventually settled by arbitration in favour of the United States.[11]
Douglas's largest problem in the mid- and late 1850s concerned relations with the majority First Nations peoples. These numbered around 30,000 local Songhee,Cowichan,Nanaimo,Nuu-chah-nulth, including raidingHaida fromHaida Gwaii and theEuclatawsKwakiutl of northern Georgia Strait and the Sechelt,Squamish, andSto:lo peoples of theLower Mainland. In contrast, Europeans in the Colony numbered under 1000. Meanwhile, in neighboringOregon andWashington Territory theCayuse andYakima Wars and other conflicts between Americans and Indigenous peoples were raging.
His relations with First Nations peoples were mixed. On the one hand, Douglas' wife wasCree, he had established many close business and personal relationships with indigenous peoples as a fur trader, and he sought to conclude treaties (theDouglas Treaties) with First Nations on southern Vancouver Island. TheDouglas Treaties included compensation[12] to First Nations in return for their cession of large swaths of territory. The treaties, concluded between 1850 and 1854, acquired 14 parcels of land for the Crown from the native peoples, totaling 570 square kilometres (220 sq mi). The treaty-making was halted after the Colony ran out of money to pursue its expansion policy.[13] Douglas directed surveyors to lay out British Columbia’s first reserves to include all occupied village sites and farm fields, “and as much land in the vicinity of each as they could till, or was required for their support.” Douglas further instructed that Indigenous people should be allowed to “freely exercise and enjoy the rights of fishing the Lakes and Rivers, and of hunting over all unoccupied Crown Lands in the Colony,” and should be permitted to “dig and search for gold, and hold mining claims on the same terms precisely as other miners.”[14]On the other hand, in 1856, Douglas supplied Washington Territory's GovernorIsaac Stevens with ammunition and other supplies to assist the US government in its conflict with Native American tribes.[15] In correspondence between the two, Stevens requests, on credit, $10,000 to $15,000 of "Indian goods, for the distribution among the friendly Indians."[16] The Hudson's Bay and other vendors would not accept Steven's promissory note for the goods requested, so Douglas purchased sugar, coffee, blankets, gunpowder and lead with his own personal funds.[17]
The administration also founded public elementary schools, worked to control alcohol in the colony, and constructed the Victoria District Church (the forerunner to theChrist Church Cathedral). In 1856, as ordered by the British Government, Douglas reluctantly established an electedLegislative Assembly. That was a turning point for Douglas, who had grown accustomed to administering the colony with absolute authority. The council was opposed to Douglas on many issues and consistently criticized him for having aconflict of interest between his duties to the company and to the colony.
In 1856, gold was discovered in theThompson River, a tributary of theFraser River, and a year later in the Fraser River itself. That sparked an influx of miners and others, as word of the discoveries spread south to the United States. Thousands of Americans flooded into British Columbia during theFraser Canyon Gold Rush. Although without political authority on the Mainland, Douglas worked to exert British jurisdiction over the territory. He stationed a warship at the mouth of the Fraser in order to issue licenses toprospectors and merchants. A major task during the huge inflow of settlers was to prevent violence between the recent arrivals and the local First Nations peoples. TheIndian Wars in the United States West made American animosity against natives often high. In the fall of 1858, escalating tensions between the miners and the Nlaka’pamux people of the central area of the canyon broke into theFraser Canyon War.
Douglas's actions in asserting British sovereignty over the Mainland is generally conceded today to have helped exert control over American miners and to undermine American territorial ambitions toward this part of British North America. Shortly thereafter, the Colonial Office formally confirmed Douglas's proclamation of sovereignty and established a new colony encompassing the Mainland.
After the British Parliament in 1858 created the CrownColony of British Columbia, Douglas was assigned as governor and was asked to resign as Chief Factor of the western portion of the Hudson's Bay Company. The Crown did not renew the company's trade monopoly on the mainland or Douglas' position as Chief Factor.
Richard Clement Moody was handpicked by theColonial Office, underSir Edward Bulwer-Lytton, to establish British order and to transform the newly established Colony of British Columbia into the British Empire's "bulwark in the farthest west"[18] and "found a second England on the shores of the Pacific".[19] Lytton desired to send to the colony "representatives of the best of British culture, not just a police force," sought men who possessed "courtesy, high breeding and urbane knowledge of the world,"[20] and decided to send Moody, whom the Government considered to be the archetypalEnglish gentleman and British Officer"[21] at the head of theRoyal Engineers, Columbia Detachment.
Moody and his family arrived inBritish Columbia in December 1858, and was sworn in as the firstLieutenant-Governor of British Columbia and appointed Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works for British Columbia. Throughout his tenure in British Columbia, Moody was engaged in a bitter feud with Douglas, whose jurisdiction overlapped with his own. Moody's position as Chief Commissioner and Lieutenant-Governor was one of ‘higher prestige [and] lesser authority' than that of Douglas, despite Moody's superior social position in the eyes of the Engineers and the British Government. 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 ofColonelThomas Moody and Martha Clement who were socially superior members of theplanter class of the West Indies, includingDemerara andThe Guianas, in which Douglas's father and brothers owned less land and from which Douglas's 'a half-breed' mother originated. Governor Douglas's ethnicity was 'an affront to Victorian society'.[22] Mary Moody, who was a member of theHawks industrial dynasty and of the Boydmerchant banking family,[23] wrote, on 4 August 1859 'it is not pleasant to serve under a Hudson's Bay Factor' and that the 'Governor and Richard can never get on'.[24] In a letter to the Colonial Office of 27 December 1858, Moody boasted that he has ‘entirely disarmed [Douglas] of all jealously'[25] Douglas repeatedly insulted the Engineers by attempting to assume their command,[26] and refusing to acknowledge their value in the nascent colony.[27]
Margaret A. Ormsby, author of theDictionary of Canadian Biography entry for Moody (2002), condemns Moody for a contribution to the abortive development of the city. However, most other historians have exonerated Moody for the abortive development of the city and consider his achievement to be impressive, especially with regard to the perpetual insufficiency of funds and the personally-motivated opposition of Douglas, whose opposition to the project continually slowed its development. Robert Edgar Cail,[28] Don W. Thomson,[29] Ishiguro, and Scott have praised Moody for his contribution, the latter accusing Ormsby of being ‘adamant in her dislike of Colonel Moody’ despite the evidence,[30] and almost all biographies of Moody, including those of the Institute of Civil Engineers, the Royal Engineers, and the British Columbia Historical Association, are flattering.
| This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "James Douglas" governor – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(December 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
In August 1858, news reached Douglas that two Vancouver Island miners had been killed by natives. He believed that the whole region was on the verge of war and went out to investigate. Numerous minor clashes between natives and whites had concluded without fatalities. After investigating the situation he found that alcohol had been a major cause, and prohibited the sale of liquor to natives. While on the trip to the murder scene, Douglas brought the Crown Solicitor of Vancouver Island to uphold the law and make a show that demonstrated British law was still in effect. During the trip, he encountered a great number of squatting foreigners, reducing the total possible revenues for land sales to the government.
In attempt to suppress unlawful acts, Douglas appointed regionalconstables, a Chief Inspector of Police (Chartres Brew), and a network of intelligence officials. He also created Assistant Gold Commissioners (he appointedChartres Brew as Chief Gold Commissioner) to look after mining and civil cases. Such preventive measures helped ensure that the chaos accompanying theCalifornia Gold Rush was not repeated in British Columbia. He was nicknamed "Old Squaretoes" for his stiffness.[31]
In December 1861, during the ongoingTrent Affair, Douglas argued for his London superiors to invade and conquer the Washington Territory as America was too busy in the East with theCivil War. He reasoned because there were few U.S. troops stationed in the territory since most other units stationed there were off to war in the East, the region's population was scattered, and there was little to no U.S. naval ships in the area. He also said the Royal Navy and Marines were powerful and could easily do the job, ending with a statement that "with Puget Sound, and the line of the Columbia River in our hands, we should hold the only navigable outlets of the country — command its trade, and soon compel it to submit to Her Majesty's Rule."[32]
Continuing his service as governor, Douglas authorised construction of the government buildings known as the "Birdcages" in 1859. In 1862, with the discovery of rich gold deposits in theCariboo region, sparking theCariboo Gold Rush, Douglas ordered the construction of theCariboo Road. This engineering feat ran 400 miles fromFort Yale toBarkerville through extremely hazardous canyon territory. The Cariboo road was also called the "Queen's Highway" and the "Great North Road".
Near the end of his term as governor, Douglas was criticized for not developing the colony as a self-governing body. His only political reform had been to initiate an elected Legislative Council. His argument against the creation of a self-governing colony was the state of the population: few were British subjects, most held permanent residence in the colony, and few of them owned property.
He was friends withRobert Ker, the First Auditor General of the Two Colonies of British Columbia, andJohn Sebastian Helmcken a futureSpeaker of the House of theLegislative Assembly of British Columbia. Like Douglas, they are both considered founding fathers of British Columbia. Helmcken married Douglas's daughter, Cecilia.
When Douglas ended his service to theEmpire, QueenVictoria promoted himKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath. Upon his retirement, Douglas was honoured with banquets in both Victoria andNew Westminster, the capital of the mainland. He also received a thank you on paper signed by 900 people. From 1864 to 1865, Douglas toured Europe. He visited relatives inScotland and a half-sister in Paris. He had to return early when his daughter, Cecilia, died.
Douglas continued to be active but kept out of politics in all forms. He died in Victoria of a heart attack on August 2, 1877, at the age of 73. His funeral procession was possibly the largest in the history of B.C., and he was interred in theRoss Bay Cemetery.
In 1858,James Douglas, the governor of the British colony ofVancouver Island, replied to an inquiry from a group of black people in San Francisco about the possibilities of settling in his jurisdiction. They were angered that the California legislature had passed discriminatory laws to restrict black people in the state, preventing them from owning property and requiring them to wear badges. Governor Douglas, whose mother was a "free coloured" person of mixed Black and White ancestry from the Caribbean,[34] replied favourably. Later that year, an estimated 600 to 800 black Americans migrated toVictoria, settling onVancouver Island andSalt Spring Island. At least two became successful merchants there: Peter Lester andMifflin Wistar Gibbs. The latter also entered politics, being elected to the newly established City Council in the 1860s.
Gibbs returned to the United States with his family in the late 1860s after slavery had been abolished following the war; he settled inLittle Rock, Arkansas, the capital of the state. He became an attorney and was elected as the first black judge in the US. He became a wealthy businessman who was involved with the Republican Party; in 1897 he was appointed by the President of the US as consul to Madagascar.[citation needed]
| Preceded by | Chief Factor of Hudson's Bay Company 1840–1858 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Governor of Vancouver Island 1851–1864 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Position Nonexistent | Governor of British Columbia 1858–1864 | Succeeded by |
HistoricHBC operations in the Pacific Northwest | ||||||||
| Columbia Department |
|  | ||||||
| New Caledonia District |
| |||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
