"CONTENTdm"@en . "http://resolve.library.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/catsearch?bid=3202327"@en . "British Columbia History"@en . "British Columbia Historical Association"@en . "2015-07-17"@en . "1950-10"@en . "British Columbia Historical Quarterly: Vol. 14 (XIV), No. 4"@en . ""@en . "https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bch/items/1.0190582/source.json"@en . "application/pdf"@en . " THE\nBRITISH\nCOLUMBIA\nHISTORICAL\nQUARTERLY\nOCTOBER, 1950 We\nBRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY\nPublished by the Archives of British Columbia\nin co-operation with the\nBritish Columbia Historical Association.\nEDITOR\nWillard E. Ireland,\nProvincial Archives, Victoria.\nASSOCIATE EDITOR\nMadge Wolfenden,\nProvincial Archives, Victoria.\nADVISORY BOARD\nJ. C. Goodfellow, Princeton. T. A. Rickard, Victoria.\nW. N. Sage, Vancouver.\nEditorial communications should be addressed to the Editor.\nSubscriptions should be sent to the Provincial Archives, Parliament\nBuildings, Victoria, B.C. Price, 50c. the copy, or $2 the year. Members\nof the British Columbia Historical Association in good standing receive the\nQuarterly without further charge.\nNeither the Provincial Archives nor the British Columbia Historical\nAssociation assumes any responsibility for statements made by contributors\nto the magazine.\nThe Quarterly is indexed in Faxon's Annual Magazine Subject-Index\nand the Canadian Index. 5?e\nBRITISH COLUMBIA\nHISTORICAL QUARTERLY\n\" Any country worthy of a future\nshould be interested in its past.\"\nVol. XIV Victoria, B.C., October, 1950 No. 4\nCONTENTS\nPage\nRev. Robert John Staines: Pioneer Priest, Pedagogue, and\nPolitical Agitator.\nBy G. Hollis Slater 187\nNotes on the Pre-history of the Southern North-ioest Coast.\nBy Charles E. Borden 241\nNotes and Comments :\nBritish Columbia Historical Association 247\nUnveiling of the Plaque to Mark the Site of the First School in\nBritish Columbia 248\nContributors to This Issue _\u00E2\u0080\u009E 249\nThe Northwest Bookshelf:\nHutchison: The Fraser.\nBy Willard E. Ireland ._. 251\nThe Fourteenth Report of the Okanagan Historical Society.\nBy A. F. Flucke 254\nSpencer: The Story of Sauvies Island.\nGibbs: Pacific Graveyard.\nBy Madge Wolfenden 255\nPapers Read before the Historical and Scientific Society of Manitoba, Series III, No. 5.\nBy Willard E. Ireland 257 REV. ROBERT JOHN STAINES: PIONEER\nPRIEST, PEDAGOGUE, AND POLITICAL\nAGITATOR*\nFollowing the departure from Fort Vancouver in November,\n1838, of Rev. Herbert Beaver and his wife, Jane, the position of\nchaplain in the Columbia Department remained unfilled for\nnearly ten years. Considering the Hudson's Bay Company's\nexperience with their first chaplain, it is relatively easy to account for the lack of celerity on the part of the Governor and\nCommittee in London in seeking a successor.1 The intervening\nyears, however, brought major changes to the Columbia Department. Thousands of settlers had crossed the plains and the\nWillamette Valley, and adjacent territory was rapidly being\nsettled. Fort Victoria had come into existence on Vancouver\nIsland and was about to become the headquarters for the Company's operations, since by the boundary treaty of 1846 Fort\nVancouver now lay within American territory. It is, therefore,\nof more than passing interest to record the circumstances surrounding the appointment of Robert John Staines and his\nsubsequent career in Vancouver Island.\nThrough the kind co-operation of the Hudson's Bay Company-\nin London a search has been made in their archives, and much\nnew and interesting information has been brought to light.2\nThe need for a school-teacher in the Columbia Department, particularly at Fort Vancouver, had long been recognized, and it\nnow is obvious that it was to fill this need that a new appointment\nwas taken under consideration. The inclusion in the position of\nthe duties of chaplain was an extension of the original plan and\n(*) A condensation of this article was presented to a meeting of the\nVictoria Section of the British Columbia Historical Association.\n(1) G. Hollis Slater, \" New Light on Herbert Beaver,\" British Columbia\nHistorical Quarterly, VI (1942), pp. 13-29.\n(2) Information credited to the archives of the Hudson's Bay Company\n(hereafter cited as H.B.C. Archives) is reproduced by permission of the\nGovernor and Committee of the Hudson's Bay Company.\nBritish Columbia, Historical Quarterly, Vol. XIV, No. 4.\n187 188 G. Hollis Slater October\nthat Fort Victoria, and not Fort Vancouver, became the scene of\naction was the result of altered circumstances in the Pacific\nNorthwest.\nWhether or not the position of schoolmaster in the Columbia\nDepartment was advertised is not known, but early in March,\n1848, the Hudson's Bay Company received a recommendation on\nbehalf of Robert John Staines from Captain R. Owen, of Marl-\nfield, Gorey, Ireland. The Company immediately communicated\nwith Staines, who was at that time conducting an educational\nestablishment at Boulogne sur Mer, France.3 Staines replied in\na letter dated March 7,1848, in which he set out the qualifications\nof himself and his wife for the appointment with printed copies\nof no less than twelve supporting testimonials.\nRobert John Staines was then 27 years old. He was the eldest\nson of a family of nine children born to John Collins Staines and\nhis wife, Mary. The register of the Oundle Parish Church of\nSt. Peter indicates that he was baptized on November 8, 1820,\nand that his father, a tailor by trade, then lived in North Street,\nOundle, Northamptonshire.4 He appears to have entered the\nOundle Grammar School in the midsummer term, 1828, the one\nhundred and eighty-ninth boy to be registered by Rev. John\nJames, M.A. In the register his name is given as William, but a\n(3) J. Chadwick Brooks, Secretary, Hudson's Bay Company, to G. H.\nSlater, October 31, 1947, with enclosed excerpts from the H.B.C. Archives.\n(4) Rev. Canon J. L. Cartwright, Vicar of Oundle, to G. H. Slater,\nApril 23, 1947. The parish registers reveal the following information\nconcerning his brothers and sisters:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nMary Ann: Baptized May 5, 1822; buried April 15, 1823.\nWilliam Collins: Baptized July 14, 1824; buried December 16, 1846.\nHarriet Charlotte: Baptized July 21, 1826.\nThomas James: Baptized April 18, 1826 [?].\nCharles: Baptized November 15, 1830.\nJane Ann: Baptized September 25, 1835.\nCharles Henry: Baptized January 19, 1838.\nMary Ann: Baptized December 11, 1839.\nMary Staines, his mother, was buried at Oundle, November 30, 1853, aged\n55 years; and his father was buried at Oundle on August 7, 1864, aged 65\nyears. Evidently prior to his death, his father was an inmate of Laxton\nHospital, Oundle, an alms-house founded in 1556 by Sir William Laxton and\nmanaged by the Grocers' Company of London, who were also governors of\nthe grammar school. 1950 Rev. Robert John Staines 189\nnote added later states \" a mistake in the Christian name which\nshould have been Robert John.\"5 Subsequently, at the age of 19,\nhe was admitted to St. John's College, Cambridge, on March 24,\n1840, where he kept four terms,6 transferring to Trinity Hall,\nCambridge, where he was admitted as a pensioner on February 4,\n1842. His record at Trinity Hall, leading to his Bachelor of Arts\ndegree in 1845, was as follows:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nKept: Lent, Easter, Mich. 1842.\nLent, Easter, Mich. 1843.\nLent 1844 kept only part of the term, and as he did not\ngo in for the B.A. exam in Jan., though he had kept all\nhis terms, he is to come up again for the exam in Jan.\n1845.\nLent 1845 admd. adresponsionem quxstionum 18th Jan.?\nFrom the testimonials presented by Staines, it is apparent\nthat he was well thought of by his teachers. William Marsh,\nvice-master and tutor of Trinity Hall, in a letter dated June 22,\n1844, recommending Staines for a position at the Derby Grammar School, considered him a good classical scholar and possessed\nof considerable abilities, such as would enable him to undertake\n(5) Graham Stainforth, Headmaster, The School, Oundle, to Rev. G. A. A.\nWright, South Liberty, Wells, May 5, 1947; also Graham Stainforth to\nG. H. Slater, April 22, 1947. It is interesting to note that one of the testimonials presented by Staines was from William Layng, M.A., Curate of\nStrubby and Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire, formerly second master of the\nOundle Grammar School, who, in recommending Staines for a position in the\nFree Grammar School, Bradford, stated he had known him for several years\nand \" had very frequent opportunities of judging of his general merit, as\nwell as of estimating his scholarship.\" Enclosure in R. J. Staines to Secretary, Hudson's Bay Company, March 7, 1848, AfjS., H.B.C. Archives.\n(6) Information supplied to G. H. Slater by St. John's College in a letter\ndated April 29, 1947. F. B. Scott, M.A., 11th Wrangler of St. John's College,\nlater certified that Staines was his pupil in mathematics and that he considered him fully qualified to teach the first branches of that science.\nEnclosure in Staines to Secretary, Hudson's Bay Company, March 7, 1848,\nAfjS., H.B.C. Archives.\n(7) C. W. Crawley, Tutor, Trinity Hall, Cambridge, to Rev. G. G.\nWright, April 19 and 29, 1947. These facts are corroborated in a testimonial\nby William Marsh, Vice-Master, Trinity Hall, dated June 4, 1847, enclosed\nin Staines' letter to the Hudson's Bay Company, March 7, 1848, MS., H.B.C.\nArchives. 190 G. Hollis Slater October\nthe tuition of boys preparatory for the universities.8 A fortnight later, Marsh, in commending him for the vice-principalship\nof St. Mark's College, Chelsea, added that he was well qualified\nfor imparting instruction as a mathematical lecturer.9 It is not\nsurprising, therefore, to discover that Staines readily found\nemployment. In the Michaelmas term, 1844, he became assistant\nclassical and mathematical master of the Derby Grammar School.\nThis was a temporary engagement, and his headmaster, John\nHudson, gave him a strong recommendation for the mastership\nof St. Asaph's Grammar School.10 In this he was supported by\nWilliam Layng, a former master at the Oundle Grammar School,\nwho stated that in addition to having a very competent and creditable proficiency in classical and mathematical requirements,\nStaines possessed a more perfect knowledge of English literature\nand arithmetic than the generality of young men on leaving the\nuniversity. Layng further indicated that Staines had had some\nexperience in tuition and possessed the aptitude to teach and to\ncommunication so necessary for the instruction of youth. Moreover, he affirmed that Staines was deeply attached to the Church\nof England and would probably soon desire to be admitted into\nHoly orders.11\nPresumably Staines did not secure the appointment to St.\nAsaph's, for in October, 1845, he went to Gorey, County Wexford,\nIreland, to become the tutor in the family of Captain R. Owen,12\nwhich position he filled with complete satisfaction.13 It is not\nknown exactly when Staines established his school in Rue Basse\n(8) Letter dated June 22, 1844, by William Marsh, enclosed in Staines\nto Secretary, Hudson's Bay Company, March 7, 1848, MS., H.B.C. Archives.\n(9) Letter dated July 4, 1844, by William Marsh, ibid.\n(10) Letter dated March 20, 1845, by John Hudson, ibid.\n(11) Letter dated April 4, 1845, by William Layng, ibid.\n(12) Letter dated June 30, 1846, by H. Newland, D.D., Dean of Ferns,\nGorey, Ireland, ibid. Dean Newland further commented that his impression\nof Staines was \" such as prove him to be a faithful member of the Church\nand enabled to lay a solid foundation in his pupils' minds on this most\nimportant branch of learning\" and, moreover, he considered his manners\nand general demeanor \" most gentlemanlike and pleasing.\" This opinion\nwas fully substantiated by Rev. Henry Robinson, Curate of Gorey, in a letter\ndated July 3, 1846, also submitted by Staines to the Hudson's Bay Company.\n(13) Letter dated June, 1846, by R. Owen, enclosed in Staines' letter of\nMarch 7, 1848. 1950 Rev. Robert John Staines 191\ndes Tintelleries at Boulogne sur Mer, but from his letter of\nMarch 7, 1848, to the Hudson's Bay Company the inference is\nthat he had not long been there.\nI wish it to be understood that the Establisht. which I have formed here\nthough but in an incipient state, is of the most respectable kind. Amongst\nmy pupils are two sons of Sir Broderick Hartwell Bart., one son of Sir\nAlexr. Ramsay Bart., one grandson of Lord Dunboyne (boarder), one son of\nLady Smith (boarder), a cousin of the Marquis of Sligo aged 20 (a private\npupil), 2 sons of Captn. Revel Carnac, R.N., &c. &c.14\nNor is the date of his marriage to Emma Frances Tahourdin\nknown, although presumably it occurred following his return\nfrom Ireland sometime after July, 1846.\nStaines set out his own qualifications, as follows:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nI could take the Classics, Mathematics, and every branch of the usual routine\nof an English education, including drawing if required. For instance in my\nown school here where I have 4 boarders and 8 day scholars, I teach all the\ndepartments myself, except the French, which as we are in France, is of\ncourse expected to be taught by a Frenchman.\nIn so far as his wife was concerned, he added:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nMrs. Staines is perfectly qualified to take every department in the usual\ncourse of a gentlewoman's education, including music and French, of both\nwhich she is perfectly mistress, and Italian and German sufficiently to read\nand translate.\nMoreover, he pointed out that both he and his wife considered\n\" religious instruction in accordance with the doctrines of the\nChurch of England as an indispensable part of a sound education.\" His reason for abandoning his school in France was quite\nsimply stated\u00E2\u0080\u0094\" the present precarious state of our peaceful\nrelations with this country.\"15\nIt is not to be wondered, therefore, that the Hudson's Bay\nCompany considered itself particularly fortunate in securing so\nhighly recommended and so versatile a couple for their projected\nschool at Fort Vancouver. At a meeting of the Governor and\nCommittee on April 26 it was resolved \" that if Mr. Staines be\nadmitted to holy Orders, an addition of \u00C2\u00A3100 a year be allowed\nhim for the performance of clerical duties as chaplain to the\n(14) R. J. Staines to Secretary, Hudson's Bay Company, March 7, 1848,\nMS., H.B.C. Archives.\n(15) Ibid. 192 G. Hollis Slater October\nCompany.\"16 This decision was communicated to Staines, who\nimmediately took steps for admission to Holy orders.\nI wrote to the Bishop of London immediately upon the receipt of your letter,\nand have received an answer from his Lordship, which evinces a very favorable disposition. But he says before he can give me a positive answer, he\n\" must know whether the Hudson's Bay Company will give me such a nomination as may serve for a Title to Holy Orders.\" I have written to satisfy\nhis Lordship on this head, and he will receive my letter tomorrow, and I have\nalso therein stated that the Ven. the Archdeacon of Maidstone, Dr. Harrison,\nwill be authorized to explain to his Lp. on the part of the Company the\nnature of the appointment; I shall feel much obliged to you therefore, if you\nwill have the kindness to state this to Mr. Harrison, in order that the Ven.\nthe Archdeacon may be prepared to make the necessary explanation to his\nLdp. when he requests it. 17\nIt thus fell to Benjamin Harrison, Treasurer of Guy's Hospital,\nLondon, and a member of the Board of the Hudson's Bay Company since 1807, to take up the matter with his son, the Venerable the Archdeacon of Maidstone. Two days later, on May 26,\nHarrison wrote:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nUnder the circumstances of the case the Bishop may be induced to dispense\nwith many of the usual forms. The Archdeacon is on his visitation but will\nprobably be in London on Monday [May 29], I could see his Lordship on the\nsubject now that he has entertained the application, but I had feared that\nthe time was so short that it would scarcely be possible to complete the\narrangements. 18\nStaines, however, was quite confident that the arrangements\ncould be completed, for on June 6 he wrote to the Governor, Sir\nJohn Pelly:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nNot having yet heard from the Bishop of London, I fear either that his\nLordship has not yet received any communication from Mr. Harrison, or\nthat he cannot have received my letter, which I sent last Wednesday week,\nMay 24th. I am therefore at present quite uncertain as to what his Lordship intends to do about ordaining me on Trinity Sunday [June 18], & I feel\nquite unable to help myself about the matter as long as I stay here. I shall\ngive up my School on the 14th (tomorrow week) and if I could at the same\ntime settle all my affairs here and come to England at once, I feel that it\nwould be much more advantageous for me. This however must necessarily\nbe attended with considerable expense. . . .19\n(16) MS., H.B.C. Archives.\n(17) Staines to Sir J. H. Pelly, May 24, 1848, MS., H.B.C. Archives.\n(18) Benjamin Harrison to Sir J. H. Pelly, May 26, 1848, MS., H.B.C.\nArchives.\n(19) Staines to Sir J. H. Pelly, June 6, 1848, MS., H.B.C. Archives. 1950 Rev. Robert John Staines 193\nIn a letter to the Governor three days later, still no word had\ncome from the Bishop of London, and the assumption is that\nStaines carried out his plan of closing his affairs in France in\nmid-June and returning to England.20 The exact date of his\nordination has not come to light, but according to the Registrar\nof the Bishop of Norwich \" Robert John Staines was ordained\nDeacon and Priest in August, 1848, in Norwich Cathedral by the\nBishop of Norwich, on letters dimissory from the Bishop of\nLondon.\"21 Thus it came to pass that the entry in the log of the\nHudson's Bay Company's barque Columbia under date September 12, 1848, read \". . . the following is the List of Passengers\non board, Revd. Mr. Stains [sic] Wife and Child with there\n[sic] Man & Maid Servant.\"22\nIn the letter to the Board of Management of the Western\nDepartment at Fort Vancouver informing them of Staines' appointment, the Company's opinion of their appointee is made\nplain.\nIt has been a subject of regret to us that circumstances should have prevented the permanent residence of a Clergyman at the Company's principal\nestablishment, West of the Rocky Mountains; we have therefore prevailed\nupon Mr. Staines to take Holy Orders and to act as Chaplain to the Company. Mr. Staines' usefulness as a teacher will thus be increased, while\nprovision will be made for the regular performance of religious offices\u00E2\u0080\u0094an\nobject of the first importance in every community.\nSpeaking further of Staines and his wife, the letter continued:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nWe believe them to possess in an eminent degree the qualifications requisite\nfor their tasks, and we hope they will discharge their important duties in\nsuch a manner as to reflect credit on themselves and give satisfaction to all\nconcerned. 23\nIndeed, further evidence that the Company at this time held a\nhigh opinion of Staines is confirmed by Sir John Pelly's recommendation of Staines to the Colonial Office for a Commission of\n(20) Staines was still in France on June 17 when he addressed a further\nletter to the Secretary of the Hudson's Bay Company, MS., H.B.C. Archives.\n(21) Rt. Rev. Percy M. Herbert, Bishop of Norwich, to G. H. Slater,\nDecember 17, 1949. The information leading to the search of the records at\nNorwich was provided in a letter from H. T. A. Dashwood, Registrar of the\nBishop of London, to G. H. Slater, December 10, 1948.\n(22) Loflr of the Columbia, September 12, 1848, MS., H.B.C. Archives.\n(23) Governor and Committee to the Board of Management, September\n8, 1848, MS., H.B.C. Archives. 194 G. Hollis Slater October\nthe Peace under the Act for regulating the Fur Trade and for\nthe establishment of a Civil and Criminal Jurisdiction within\ncertain parts of North America (1 & 2 Geo. IV, Cap 66) .24\nPrevious to Staines' departure from England, the Council of\nthe Northern Department in session at Norway House on June\n12, 1848, resolved: \" That the sum of One hundred Pounds be\ncontributed towards the support of a school in the Columbia\nDistrict for the Current Outfit.\"25 That it was contemplated\nthat this school was to be established at Fort Vancouver is evidenced by the letter to Governor George Simpson announcing\nStaines' departure.\nThe Columbia . . . sailed from Gravesend on the 12th. with a fair wind,\nwhich has continued ever since. Mr. Staines his wife and nephew are passengers by her. Mr. Staines goes to the Columbia to take charge of the\nschool at Fort Vancouver and to act in the capacity of Chaplain, having\nbeen admitted to holy orders for that purpose. 2 6\nThis intention is further confirmed in a letter to the Board of\nManagement at Fort Vancouver under date September 30, which\ngives further details concerning the arrangement with Staines.\nMr. & Mrs. Staines have gone out in the Columbia to take charge of the\nschools to be established at Fort Vancouver. They are to be provided with a\nresidence, but are to maintain themselves, their servants and a nephew,\nwhom they take out with them. Mr. Staines is in Holy Orders and is\nappointed Chaplain to the Company. 2 7\n(24) Sir J. H. Pelly to Earl Grey, September 13, 1848, MS., H.B.C.\nArchives. There is no evidence that this recommendation was ever implemented.\n(25) MS., H.B.C. Archives.\n(26) Secretary of the Hudson's Bay Company to Sir George Simpson,\nSeptember 12, 1848, MS., H.B.C. Archives.\n(27) Secretary of the Hudson's Bay Company to the Board of Management, September 30, 1848, MS., H.B.C. Archives. This is similar to the\ninformation provided Sir George Simpson in November, 1848. \" The agreement with Mr. Staines was modified after the letter to the Board of Management dated Septem. 8th was written . . . and he was to maintain himself\nand his family at his own charge, a residence being provided for him. His\nnephew is a boy of ten years of age. The Board of Management have been\ninformed of the footing, on which Mr. Staines is to be placed.\" Secretary\nof the Hudson's Bay Company to Simpson, November 3, 1848, MS., H.B.C.\nArchives. 1950 Rev. Robert John Staines 195\nHowever, the Board of Management at Fort Vancouver decided\nbefore his arrival in the country that Staines should remain at\nFort Victoria instead of proceeding to Fort Vancouver.\nWe think it expedient that Mr. Staines should remain at Fort Victoria,\nwhere we intend to establish the School\u00E2\u0080\u0094as it is probable the Company will\nretire from the Columbia before the close of the present year\u00E2\u0080\u0094and it would\nnot only be a loss of time, but involve much unnecessary expense to the supporters of the institution by having to sacrifirice [sic] our buildings and\nother improvements after getting everything comfortably arranged. We\ntherefore propose to found the School at Fort Victoria\u00E2\u0080\u0094and we beg you well\n[sicl signify our intention to the Revd. Mr. Staines and request him to\nremain with you until you receive further instructions. You will please to\ngive him lodging in the establishment, allow them a servant and a separate\ntable, and make them in other respects as comfortable as possible. 2 8\nConsequently, when Staines, his wife, and nephew, Horace\nTahourdin, then 10 years of age, set sail in the Columbia on September 12, 1848, it was with the expectation that their future\nhome would be Fort Vancouver. The voyage did not start auspiciously, for Staines was ill; in fact, a letter to the Company from\nshipboard some days before departure was written at Staines'\ndictation by his brother-in-law, Charles Tahourdin.29 It is apparent, moreover, that family affairs were pressing upon him.\nJust before he sailed, it became necessary for him to make arrangements for the Hudson's Bay Company to advance \u00C2\u00A335 to\nhis brother-in-law should he fail to procure it from other sources\n\" to settle a liability incurred by him for a Relative.\"30\n(28) James Douglas to Roderick Finlayson, March 14, 1849, MS., H.B.C.\nArchives.\n(29) \" Mr. Staines is so sick that he cannot write and has requested me\nto write to his dictation as follows ...\" Staines to Secretary of the\nHudson's Bay Company, September, 1848, MS., H.B.C. Archives.\n(30) Charles Tahourdin to Archibald Barclay, September 29, 1848, MS.,\nH.B.C. Archives. Staines previously had written to the Secretary: \" I have\nan important a very important payment to be made on the 29th inst of \u00C2\u00A335.\nI had reserved the money for it, but was disappointed in its application,\nonly a day or two before I left. If my brother-in-law should be disappointed\nin receiving the money for me elsewhere it would be a very great favour\nindeed if the Company would advance the sum or any part of it that he may\nthen want to make it up. . . . I am sick & in a great hurry therefore\nexcuse my abruptness.\" Staines to Barclay, September 12, 1848, AfjS.,\nH.B.C. Archives. 196 G. Hollis Slater October\nLittle is known about the journey out to Vancouver Island.\nThere are several entries in the log of the Columbia to the effect\nthat Staines performed divine service on board on Sundays. The\nColumbia lay over at the Sandwich Islands for ten days, providing, no doubt, a pleasant respite to the travel-weary passengers.\nStaines eventually wrote a long letter to his friend, Rev. Edward.\nCridge, describing his experiences on the voyage and first impressions on Vancouver Island. Unfortunately, only a portion\nof it has survived.31 In so far as the Sandwich Islands are concerned, Staines recounted:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nI think I must be content, with respect to the Sandwich Islands, with what\nI have already said. I was much delighted with my ten days' sojourn there,\n& left them with much regret; many persons professed to regret that we\nwere not going to stay amongst them; but whether that was real or complimentary I cannot tell. ... I preached at the Islands; & the British\nConsul, Genl. Miller lent me a large Prayer Book for the service, . . .\nIt was when we were approaching the Harbour of Honolulu, that we first\nheard of the extraordinary discovery of gold in California, which is only\nthree weeks' sail from there. The sensation it had caused throughout the\nPacific is almost inconceivable. 3 2\nRoderick Finlayson provides a more humorous account of one\naspect of Staines' sojourn in the Islands, and at the same time\nan impression of the man.\nHe was a man full of frills, as we say, & liked displays, kept a servant &c.\nHe called at the Sandwich Islands on the way out, sent a note to the King\nstating he wished to call on His Majesty. The King returned word he would\nbe glad to see Mr Staines on the next day. He dressed as a clergyman and\ndressed up his servant in livery, very showy of course. He had silver lace\n&c &c they went to call on \" the King of the Cannibal of Islands \"! The\nKing came out to see his reverend visitor, rushed past him to shake hands\nwith the servant in livery whom he took from the gorgeous dress, to be Mr.\nStaines. The latter was awfully disgruntled, but matters were explained &\nevery thing passed off all right once more. 3 3\nThe long journey came to its end on March 17, 1849, when it\nis recorded in the log of the Columbia that\" the Revd. Mr. Staines\n(31) All of this letter that has survived is reproduced as an appendix\nto this article.\n(32) Staines to Edward Cridge, this fragment is dated October 10, 1849,\nMS., Archives of B.C.\n(33) Roderick Finlayson, History of Vancouver Island on the Northwest\nCoast, MS., Bancroft Library of the University of California, of which\na transcript is in the Archives of B.C. 1950 Rev. Robert John Staines 197\nand Lady went on Shore to Reside at the Post.\"34 The following\nday the post journal of Fort Victoria recorded \" the Revd. Mr.\nStaines who came out by the Bque. as Chaplain for the Company\nis lodged on shore here & performed divine service.\"35 Staines\nhad reached his new station and already his labours had begun.\nThe financial arrangements made by the Company were, on\nthe whole, unusually generous. A salary of \u00C2\u00A3100 a year was provided from the fur-trade account for his services as chaplain.\nIn addition, the supporters of the school were to pay him \u00C2\u00A3340 a\nyear, of which \u00C2\u00A340 was an allowance for a servant. In addition,\nit was provided that his salary as chaplain and his servant allowance commenced as of September 1, 1848, and the remainder\nimmediately upon his arrival in the region.36 Notification that a\nschool-house was to be built was also sent to Fort Victoria. The\ninstructions issued to Finlayson by James Douglas in April, 1849,\nwere quite definite in this connection.\nIt is understood that Mr. Staines maintains himself and family at his sole\ncharges, you will therefore keep an Account of there [sic] table, and any\nother supplies they may require from you leaving the regulation of their\nmess entirely in their own hands and yet paying every attention to their\ndemands so far as your means permit. We must have a School house and\naccomodation [sic\ provided for the Teachers as soon as possible but that\nI will arrange when I visit you. I propose to build a house of 46 x 36 feet\ninsid[e] for that purpose, you may therefore get the sills and wall plates\nsquared with the four corner posts 19 ft. long of the usual size 12 inches\nsquare, the rest of the wood will be cut with the saws, do not make the hewn\ntimber too heavy, as I am convinced there is no advantage in it. 37\nAll this remained for future accomplishment, and in the\nmeantime the Staines menage had to be accommodated in the\nfort. We do not know what their first impressions of Vancouver\nIsland were, but it is not to be wondered if they were not disappointed and at times vocal in their criticism. Roderick Finlayson, then in charge of the fort, has left this account of their\narrival.\nAt this time there were no streets, the traffic cut up the thoroughfares so\nthat every one had to wear sea boots to wade through the mud & mire. It\n(34) Log of the Columbia, March 17, 1849, MS., H.B.C. Archives.\n(35) Fort Victoria post journal, March 18, 1849, MS., H.B.C. Archives.\n(36) Douglas to Finlayson, April 11, 1849, MS., H.B.C. Archives.\n(37) Ibid. 198 G. Hollis Slater October\nwas my duty to receive the clergyman, which I did, but felt ashamed to see\nthe lady come ashore. We had to lay planks through the mud in order to get\nthem safely to the fort. They looked around wonderingly at the bare walls\nof the buildings & expressed deep surprise, stating that the Co. in England\nhad told them this & that and had promised such & such. Anyway their\nrooms were fitted as best could be done. 3 8\nThat efforts were promptly taken to improve the accommodation\nis borne out by numerous entries in the Fort Victoria post journal39 and by January 23, 1850, it was recorded that the separate\nquarters were ready for occupancy by the children, although\nboard was still provided in the fort. J. S. Helmcken has left the\nfollowing amusing description of the temporary arrangements\nmade within the fort.\nThe school and residence of the parson and Mrs. Staines was a very large\nportion of Bachelors Hall building\u00E2\u0080\u0094the ladies slept upstairs over our heads,\nand the little mischiefs used to play pranks, occasionally pouring water\nupon us through cracks or holes in the flooring, for our ceiling was not\nceiled. By the same token our proceedings may have amazed them too for\noccasionally Bachelors Hall was pretty noisy. 40\nUndoubtedly the best description of this pioneer school and\nits teachers is to be found in the reminiscences of one of its first\npupils, James Robert Anderson, a son of Chief Factor A. C.\nAnderson, from which the following extensive extracts are\ntaken:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\n(38) Roderick Finlayson, op. cit. This is corroborated by J. S. Helmcken\nin his Reminiscences, vol. ii, p. 87, MS., Archives of B.C.\n(39) May 5, 1849 \" 1 Desk made for the Revd. Mr. Staines.\"\nMay 10, 1849 \" The two Carpenters are still employed for Mr.\nStaines.\"\nMay 16, 1849 \"... the few men whom we have got employed\nhere are occupied fitting up the room for Mr. Staines.\"\nJuly 20, 1849 \" Squaring sills for Mr. Staines Kitchen.\"\nDecember 20, 1849 \" erecting an Outside building to Mr. Staines.\"\nDecember 23, 1849 \"Alterations & improvements effected in Mr.\nStaines house for the Scholars.\"\nJanuary 12,1850 \" This weeks work only exhibits some alterations\nmade in Mr. Staines.\"\nJanuary 23, 1850 \" The Children removed to day into Mr. Staines\nbut still board here.\"\nJanuary 28, 1850 \" The Blacksmiths employed making funnels for\nMr. Staines Stoves &c.\"\nEntries from Fort Victoria post journal, MS., H.B.C. Archives.\n(40) J. S. Helmcken, Reminiscences, vol. iii, p. 43, MS., Archives of B.C. 1950 Rev. Robert John Staines 199\nThe school was presided over by the Reverend R. J. Staines and Mrs. Staines\nwho had with them their nephew Horace Foster Tahourdin. The school was\nattended by the following boys and girls, two Andersons, four Rosses, three\nMcNeills, one Pambrum, one Kitson, two Dodds, one Tod, one Forrest, two\nFrasers, two Yales and three Kennedys. Mr. Staines, of rather uncertain\ntemper, and disposed at times to be unduly severe in administering corporal\npunishment, was nevertheless a good student and teacher in Natural History and, personally, I can conscientiously say I was never cruelly or even\nseverely chastised, as in all truthfulness, I must admit some of the boys\nwere. I can even at this distant day recall the many lessons imparted to me\nin the field and which have influenced my after life. Commenting further on\nhis character, I now realize that whilst he was of uncertain temper, he was\nendowed with qualities calculated to win the respect and even love of those\nwho were en rapport with him. In analysing the long locked up echoes in\nmy memory, I realize the beneficial results of the conversations we had during our excursions in the country; to his farm at Mount Tolmie and to\nMetchosin. . . . Mrs. Staines was a much more energetic person, she it\nwas who really kept the school going and in spite of many undoubtedly adverse circumstances managed comparatively most creditably. I can see her\nnow in my mind's eye, with a row of curls down each side of her angular\nface; by no means unprepossessing however, spare figure, clad in black, a\nlady undoubtedly, and when walking and holding out her skirts on each side\nand ordering the girls to follow her example. . . . Sunday at the Staines\nschool is to this day a day of terror to me. After morning prayers we had\nbreakfast such as it was, bread and treacle and tea without milk. Church\nat 11 in the mess hall to which we were summoned by the ringing of the Fort\nbell, then dinner, potatoes and meat, sometimes fish, then a dreary afternoon\nlearning the Collects; how I hated them. Frequently in spite of the hard\nwooden benches, I used to fall asleep and woe betide me if I were caught;\none could not help it on a hot drowsy afternoon or perhaps lying at full\nlength thinking of the beautiful country my hands hanging listlessly down\nand my fingers beating the devil's tatoo, I would suddenly be brought to time\nby an imperious order \" Jimmy, stop that devil's drum.\" Then afternoon\nservice, then tea, a duplicate of breakfast. The only redeeming feature of\nSunday was the evening spent by invitation in the Staines' private apartment when we would be regaled with one sweet each after prayer and then\nafter singing \" Lord, dismiss us \" we were dismissed to bed. And what beds.\nThe hard boards, an Indian mat, a Hudson's Bay blanket and over ourselves\nanother blanket. We were hardy young beggars and did not mind it. The\ngarret we occupied was not lined, simply the bare logs; the interstices,\nwhere the roof joined the wall, was a veritable runway for the numerous\nrats which infected the building and through which the fresh air had unimpeded access even in the coldest weather; perhaps it was better for us, but\nthe trouble was that in cold weather our scanty supply of water would freeze\nand then we did not trouble to wash and there being no one to superintend,\nwe simply continued so until the weather abated. . . . The sole means of\nheating the school was a box stove in the room where we had our meals and 200 G. Hollis Slater October\nlessons and devilish cold it was for those, who on account of their youth,\nwere jostled to one side by the bigger ones. One of our greatest joys was\nfeasting our eyes on the sumptuous suppers enjoyed by the bachelors who\nhad quarters immediately under our dormitory. By dint of raising up a\nboard in the flooring and which formed the ceiling of the room below, we\nwere enabled to view the mild orgies of the bachelors; oysters, sherry, port\nand brandy in abundance. . . . The school building like those of the\nothers within the Fort yard was constructed of squared logs not very carefully put together, as previously noted, as regards the exclusion of winter\ncold and of the rats which overran the school; these disgusting rodents not\ncontent with making use of our dormitory as a place of meeting and generally disputing our rights in the boldest manner; actually attempted to share\nour meals. One bold marauder got into my bed and was purloining a crust\nof bread which I had secreted when I discovered his presence and with a\nquick movement I pinned him to the side of the bed with my blanket covered\narm. A bounty of a shilling a dozen was offered by Mr. Staines but with our\ninadequate means of catching rats, having to manufacture our own traps,\nwe did not earn many shillings. We were allowed one tallow dip at night\nwhich we economized by placing salt around the wick; this expedient was\nthe means of economizing the tallow at the expense of the light. The\nestablishment consisted as nearly as I can remember, of an English servant\nnamed Field and his wife and a native boy called Peter, between them the\nmeals were somehow cooked in a way and served. Water was obtained from\nwells, and brought to the school in a barrel set on wheels. 41\nThese impressions are pretty well substantiated by the evidence of other residents at the fort. Mrs. Staines was almost\nuniversally held in high esteem for her services. J. S. Helmcken,\nyears later, noted:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nShe [Mrs. Douglas] and Mrs. Staines did not chum at all\u00E2\u0080\u0094there being too\nmuch uppishness about the latter, she being the great woman\u00E2\u0080\u0094the great\ncomplaining\u00E2\u0080\u0094and the great school mistress and I may here state, that she\nreally was the best schoolmistress ever seen since in Victoria\u00E2\u0080\u0094she kept the\ngirls in order\u00E2\u0080\u0094took them out\u00E2\u0080\u0094saw they were properly and neatly dressed\u00E2\u0080\u0094\ncarried themselves properly and paid much attention to deportment and was\nreally good to the girls although the latter did not like the change and her\nstrictness.42\nDouglas himself was of like opinion. When writing privately to\nA. C. Anderson about the safe arrival of his two children for\nadmission to the school in October, 1850, he noted:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\n(41) J. R. Anderson, Notes and Comments on Early Days and Events in\nBritish Columbia, Washington and Oregon, pp. 158-166 passim, Transcript,\nArchives of B.C.\n(42) J. S. Helmcken, op. cit., vol. iii, pp. 42-43, MS., Archives of B.C. 1950 Rev. Robert John Staines 201\nThe school is doing as well as can be expected in the circumstances. More\nassistance in the way of servants of respectable character is required than\nwe have at our command; so many children give a great deal of trouble and\nI often wonder how Mrs. Staines can stand the fag of looking after them.\nShe is invaluable and receives less assistance than she ought from her\nhusband, who is rather lazy at times.\n. The children have greatly improved in their personal appearance and\none thing I particularly love in Staines is the attention he bestows on their\nreligious training. Had I a selection to make he is not exactly the man\nI would choose; but it must be admitted we might find a man worse qualified\nfor the charge of the school. 4 3\nEven at a later date when other schools were in existence in\nVictoria and when Staines was beginning to fall into disrepute,\nJohn Work, while admitting that he was sending his eldest son\nhome to England to school, maintained \" he wont get a more\ncompetent teacher than Staines did he properly attend to it.44\nStaines' duties as chaplain could hardly be considered onerous.\nHe was naturally expected to perform divine service at the fort\non Sundays and carry out the rites of the church as the occasion\ndemanded. The various parish registers reveal that he celebrated\nseventy-three baptisms and eighteen marriages and performed\ntwelve burials during his incumbency. It is to be noted that\nmany of the prominent Company officials were married by him\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nJohn Work, Roderick Finlayson, W. F. Tolmie, J. S. Helmcken,\nHenry Peers, and William McNeill, to mention but a few. However, a closer examination of these registers shows that his\nservices were not confined to Fort Victoria and adjacent districts\nalone. For example, in July, 1851, he journeyed to Fort Langley,\nwhere he performed one marriage and six baptisms.45 The\nprevious July he had performed similar services at Steilacoom,\n(43) Douglas to A. C. Anderson, October 28,1850, private, MS., Archives\nof B.C.\n(44) John Work to E. Ermatinger, March 14, 1853, Transcript, Archives\nof B.C. Some time previously alterations had been made to the school\npremises according to a letter by John Work. \" I have at last prevailed on\nMr D[ouglas] to give the whole of Staines' house for the School, and am in\nhopes it may now go on better, I must have a tackle with Mrs S. tomorrow\nand see to bring her to a bearing in which I hope to succeed.\" Work to\nW. F. Tolmie, March 29, 1852, MS., Archives of B.C.\n(45) Registers of Burials, Baptisms and Marriages for Victoria District,\nkept in Staines' handwriting, Photostat, Archives of B.C. 202 G. Hollis Slater October\nnear Fort Nisqually. His sojourn at the fort is recorded in the\npost journal.\n[July 6] . . . Doctor Tolmie went to Steilacoom this morning and\nreturned accompanied by the Rev[eren]d. Staines of Ft. Victoria who\narrived by the \" Cadboro \" from Victoria and landed at Steilacoom. . . .\n[July 9th] ... In the evening Doctor Tolmie, Mr Staines & Myself\n(Captain Sangster not coming up to sign the bills of Lading) went down to\nthe Schooner and signed all papers, so that the Schooner will, if wind well\nalters, sail tomorrow. 4 6\nStaines was a visitor at Fort Nisqually again for over a week in\nApril, 1851, this time travelling down by canoe. The post\njournal, under date of April 20, noted \" divine service was performed this morning by the Rev. J. Staines.\"47 There is ample\nevidence of his activity in and around Victoria with visits to\nSooke and Metchosin.48 James Cooper, in this connection, noted:\n\" This gentleman had his peculiarities & was accustomed to make\nhis round of visits on horseback in a rig that would not have done\ndiscredit to Don Quixote himself.49\nThat there were differences between Staines and the Company\nofficials as early as 1850 is suggested in a letter written to Chief\nFactor Peter Skene Ogden by Douglas, in which he commented:\n\" do not be so severe with Mr. Staines, and be kind to him when\nhe calls upon you.\"50 No doubt the failure to provide a separate\nresidence was an annoyance. Considering the difficulties Douglas\nhad experienced in providing a residence for Governor Blanshard,\nno doubt his patience was severely tried, particularly when even\nCompany officials in London seemed so oblivious of conditions in\nthe colony. The Company had informed Governor Blanshard\nof their intentions in the following words:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\n(46) Victor J. Farrar (ed.), \"The Nisqually Journal,\" Washington\nHistorical Quarterly, XI (1920), pp. 294, 295.\n(47) Ibid., XIII (1922), pp. 63, 64.\n(48) \" [December 3, 1854] Mr. Staines came over from Mr Langfords\non horseback, went up to the Fort in the evening in Canoe.\" J. K. Nesbitt\n(ed.), \"The Diary of Martha Cheney Ella, 1853-1856,\" British Columbia\nHistorical Quarterly, XIII (1949), p. 108.\n(49) James Cooper, Maritime Matters on the Northwest Coast and\nAffairs of the Hudson's Bay Company in Early Times, p. 4, MS. written in\n1878 and preserved in the Bancroft Library of the University of California,\nPhotostat in Archives of B.C.\n(50) Douglas to P. S. Ogden, August 14, 1850, MS., H.B.C. Archives. 1950 Rev. Robert John Staines 203\n... a moderate house should be erected for Mr. Staines, who at present\nwill act as Chaplain and Schoolmaster,\u00E2\u0080\u0094and a room or house capable of\nserving in a temporary way the purpose of a Church on Sundays, and of\na school-room during the week. The site of these buildings should be near\nthe Fort Victoria for convenience and protection, and the materials should\nbe stone as preferable to wood to diminish the risk of fire.51\nDouglas himself made only perfunctory acknowledgment of the\nCompany's letter to him containing instructions about the\n\" House which was proposed to build for Mr. Staines.\"52\nThe matter of the church was, however, different. Staines\nhad received from the Bishop of London a packet \" containing\na Commission (with other necessary Documents) authorizing\nthe Chaplain at Fort Victoria to consecrate a Church & Burial\nGround at that place.\"53 No doubt almost immediately after\nreceipt Staines brought the matter to Douglas' attention and\nreceived' the following reply:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nI have this moment received your letter of today and hasten to inform you,\nthat I have no positive authority from the Committee of the Hudson's Bay\nCompany to build a church at this place. I am however persuaded it is their\nwish and intention to cause a place of worship to be erected here whenever\nthe present unhappy circunstances [sic] of the Colony, which render it\nimpossible to procure mechanical labour except at enormous expense, will\npermit the attempt to be made with a reasonable prospect of success. By\nreference to the Prospectus for the Colonization of Vancouvers Island you\nwill observe that the Company have set aside a portion of land equal to one\neighth of the quantity sold, for the ministers of religion. I have therefore\nno doubt that a Site for a Church and Burial Ground will be granted on due\napplication for the same. 5 4\n(51) Archibald Barclay to Governor Blanshard, January 1, 1851, H.B.C.-\nC.O. correspondence, vol. 725, p. 188, Transcript, Archives of B.C.\n(52) Douglas to Barclay, November 2, 1851, MS., Archives of B.C.\n(53) John Sheppard, Bishop of London's Registrar, to the Secretary of\nthe Hudson's Bay Company, December 17, 1849, AfjS., H.B.C. Archives.\nAt a meeting of the Committee on December 19, it was resolved to send\na copy of the letter by the \" next mail and the parcel by the next ship for\nFort Victoria.\" H.B.C. Archives.\n(54) Douglas to Staines, August 27, 1850, MS., H.B.C. Archives. That\nDouglas may not have been very sympathetic to the proposal might be\nassumed by his former statement: \"It was however no part of my plan\nthat the company should be put to the charge of providing churches and\nschool-houses, I would recommend leaving such matters to the inhabitants\nthemselves the company merely furnishing the sites and such pecuniary\nassistance as they may deem necessary; but by no means to act as\nprincipals.\" Douglas to Barclay, May 16, 1850, MS., Archives of B.C. 204 G. Hollis Slater October\nWhile Staines did not live to see the completion of the first\nAnglican church to be erected in Victoria, nevertheless to him\njustly belongs the credit for having made its erection a certainty.\nOne can well imagine the mixed feelings with which he witnessed\nthe slow progress of construction. By October, 1853, Douglas\ncould report:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nThe foundation of the Victoria Church, laid in stone was finished some time\nago, and the timber for the frame work, is hewn, and drawn from the woods,\nbut there is [sic] no Mechanics in the Colony who will undertake the\nconstruction of the whole building, we must therefore do it by degrees with\nhired workmen. 5 5\nIt was not until August 31,1855, that the Victoria District Church\nwas consecrated and then in an incompleted state.\nThe first indication of any serious difference of opinion\nbetween Douglas and Staines is in connection with the latter's\nduties as chaplain, and ironically enough the same subject that\nhad caused so much difficulty with his predecessor, Rev. Herbert\nBeaver, on the Columbia River. This involved the publication\nby Staines of the banns of marriage between James Cathie and\nMaria Field. Staines had at first withheld publication until he\nhad received evidence to the effect that Maria Field had declared\nherself not to be the wife of Thomas Field and that Field himself\nhad acknowledged this to be so. Having received what he considered to be testimony from creditable witnesses, he published\nthe banns on November 23,1851, but Thomas Field, being present,\nforbade the banns, alleging as just cause that he was the husband\nof Maria Field. Staines then appealed to the Governor for an\nopinion, which Douglas promptly afforded him. Whether or not\nThomas Field was married according to the forms prescribed by\nlaw could not be determined except by the direct evidence of the\nparties concerned, whom Douglas suspected of a desire to conceal\nthe truth. He summarized the evidence pointing to a lawful\nmarriage\u00E2\u0080\u0094they had been entered as husband and wife on the\npassenger list of the Norman Morison, they had declared themselves to be husband and wife before Douglas shortly after their\narrival, subsequently Mrs. Field had applied for a divorce,\n(55) Douglas to Barclay, October 21, 1853, MS., Archives of B.C. 1950 Rev. Robert John Staines 205\nimplying the consciousness of a lawful contract\u00E2\u0080\u0094and then\nconcluded:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\n... I therefore consider that the act of publishing the banns of marriage\nbetween James Cathie and Mrs. Field, all the parties being known to you,\nshould not have been allowed without further inquiry and investigation, and\nwithout some conclusive proof as to the fact alleged, by the two witnesses\nproduced by James Cathie, that William and Maria Field were not lawfully\nmarried; according to the rules observed by other clergymen of the Church\nof England officiating in this Country, in cases where impediments were\nsupposed to exist.\nA departure from that safe and prudent course involves consequences\ndangerous to society, as it is not difficult to perceive how by the collusion\nof the parties concerned, a marriage may be set aside, and other marriages\nbe contracted by the same parties, sanctioned by the Minister of the Church,\nwhich would be virtually establishing him a court in this country with\npowers of Divorce, in violation of the law. ... I will further add that\nI conceive you are fully authorized and justified in refusing to marry James\nCathie and Maria Field until some conclusive proof is given that she is not\nthe lawful wife of her reputed husband William [sic] Field, and I advise\nyou to make known that decision to the said James Cathie and Maria Field,\nwhich is, I believe, all that the law requires to be done on your part. 5 6\nEvidently Staines followed this advice; although it is interesting\nto speculate that more positive evidence must have been procured,\nfor on September 8,1852, James Cathie and Maria Johnson {sic]\nwere united in marriage by Staines.57\nShortly after his arrival in the colony, Staines became interested in acquiring land. By outright purchase he secured a farm\nof over 46 acres58 in the vicinity of Mount Tolmie, and subsequently he occupied a much larger farm of nearly 400 acres59\nin the Metchosin district, for which, however, payment was not\nmade. On his farming activities, James Cooper remarked:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nMr. Staines had devoted some attention to farming & prided himself upon\npossessing a fine breed of pigs & encouraged every Master of ships trading\n(56) Douglas to Staines, November 26, 1851, AfjS., Archives of B.C.\n(57) Register of Marriages for Fort Vancouver and Victoria, Photostat,\nArchives of B.C.\n(58) Douglas to Barclay, May 18, 1853, MS., Archives of B.C., definitely\nrecords the payment of \u00C2\u00A346.10.0 for 46% acres.\n(59) Return of all Lands in Vancouver's Island sold to any Individuals\nor Company . . . , London, 1858, [P.P., H. of C. 524 of 1858], pp. 2, 3. 206 G. Hollis Slater October\nto this country to import for him breeding stock & in the course of 2 or 3\nyears had for Vancouver Island a very good show of fine bred pigs. 6 0\nThese pigs, as will appear later, were to involve Staines in serious\ndifficulty with the Governor. The extent to which Staines had\ndeveloped his farms is best indicated in the figures provided by\nthe first census of Vancouver Island. Although compiled after\nStaines' death, as of December 31, 1854, the details indicate that\nfairly extensive operations were involved. The farm was valued\nat \u00C2\u00A31,000, including 50 acres improved and 396 acres unimproved;\nthere was \u00C2\u00A320 worth of implements and machinery. The stock\nincluded 2 horses, 2 oxen, 1 steer, 30 swine, and 12 poultry, and\nthe produce was rated at 288 bushels of wheat, 112 bushels of\noats, and 40 bushels of barley. There were four people (children\nincluded) in his employ, and by way of improvements there were\ntwo dwelling-houses and one storehouse.61\nFrom an examination of the correspondence available, it\nbecomes obvious that no serious differences of opinion had arisen\nbetween Staines and the Hudson's Bay Company officers in Vancouver Island prior to 1853, and that when they did develop, they\nwere attributable in the main to the chaplain's political activity.\nIn all probability Douglas would not look with favour on Staines\ncommunicating to the British consular agent at San Francisco\ninformation about the discovery of gold at Queen Charlotte\nIslands in 1852.62 This may account for the veiled criticism of\n(60) Cooper, op. cit, pp. 8, 9, Photostat, Archives of B.C. The Fort\nNisqually post journal, under date of January 28, 1852, notes: \"Captn.\nCooper whilst shipping a pair of oxen (Mr. Staines property) on board his\nlittle vessel, met with an accident, by which one of them were killed.\"\nFarrar, op. cit, loc. cit, XIV (1923), p. 233.\n(61) W. Kaye Lamb (ed.), \"The Census of Vancouver Island, 1855,\"\nBritish Columbia Historical Quarterly, IV (1940), pp. 54-58 passim. The\noriginal MS. is in the Archives of B.C.\n(62) George Aikin, British Consulate, San Francisco, to Rear-Admiral\nFairfax Moresby, March 1, 1852. \" I have the honour to communicate\nintelligence respecting the discovery of large quantities of gold, and of gold\nbearing quartz, at Queen Charlotte's Island. From a letter received from\nMr. Staines, chaplain to the Hudson's Bay Company in Vancouver's Island,\nand the statements of two English sailors who have just returned, I have\nbeen enabled to gather the following information: ...\" Return to an\nAddress of the Honourable the House of Commons, dated 16 June 1853 for\nCopies or Extracts of Correspondence relative to the Discovery of Gold at\nQueen Charlotte's Island, London, 1853 [P.P., H. of C. 788 of 1853], p. 7. 1950 Rev. Robert John Staines 207\nhis chaplain implied in his report to the Colonial Secretary that\nthere was \" no want more severely felt at present than the\nservices of an earnest and zealous clergy.\"63 But by the very\nnature of the arrangements whereby the Hudson's Bay Company\nassumed responsibility for the colonization of Vancouver Island,\nthe incipient causes of political discontent were present. As long\nas a Governor, independent of the Company, was present, political agitation was relatively slight, but the knowledge that\nGovernor Blanshard was about to leave the colony and that\npresumably his departure would leave it entirely at the mercy of\nthe Company brought matters to a head.64 There can be little\ndoubt but that the malcontents were aided and abetted by the\nGovernor himself, whose grievances, real and alleged, against the\nCompany were widely known. Consequently, late in August,\n1851, just prior to his departure from the colony, Blanshard\nreceived a petition signed by fourteen persons\u00E2\u0080\u0094\" the whole body\nof the independent settlers \"\u00E2\u0080\u0094urging the appointment of a council. The fact that it was known that Douglas was to assume, at\nleast temporarily, control of the government was the motive\nbehind the petition, which very specifically indicated the conflict\nbetween the Company as a fur-trade organization and as a\ncolonizing agency.\nThe Hudson's Bay Company, being, as it is, a great trading body, must\nnecessarily have interests clashing with those of independent colonists.\nMost matters of a political nature will cause a contest between the agents\nof the company and the colonists. Many matters of a judicial nature also,\nwill, undoubtedly, arise in which the colonists and the company (or its\nservants) will be contending parties, or the upper servants and the lower\nservants of the company will be arranged against each other. We beg to\nexpress in the most emphatical and plainest manner, our assurance that\nimpartial decisions cannot be expected from a Governor, who is not only\na member of the Company, sharing its profits\u00E2\u0080\u0094his share of such profits\nrising and falling as they rise and fall\u00E2\u0080\u0094but is also charged as their chief\nagent with the sole representation of their trading interests in this island\nand the adjacent coasts.65\n(63) Douglas to Pakington, November 11, 1852, MS., Archives of B.C.\n(64) jSee W. Kaye Lamb, \" The Governorship of Richard Blanshard,\"\nBritish Columbia Historical Quarterly, XIV (1950), pp. 32-35.\n(65) Reprinted in House of Commons, Report from the Select Committee\non the Hudson's Bay Company, 1857, London, 1857, p. 293. 208 G. Hollis Slater October\nStaines was a signatory of this petition and, moreover, signed as\n\" Chaplain to the Honourable Hudson's Bay Company.\" His\nname thus became linked with the anti-Company faction in the\ncolony. Whatever may have been Douglas' private opinion as\nto his disloyalty to the Company of which he was a paid employee,\nofficially he chose to ignore it.\nDuring 1853, however, Staines became involved in a series of\nincidents which placed him in a most unfavourable light with the\nCompany and contributed directly to his downfall. Late in 1852\nthe Colonial Office in London received an anonymous letter complaining of oppressive conditions in Vancouver Island, for which\nthe Hudson's Bay Company was held responsible. Since the\nletter was anonymous, the Colonial Office did not bring it to\nDouglas' attention officially as governor, but a copy was sent to\nthe Hudson's Bay Company, and in due course the Governor and\nCommittee transmitted it to Douglas as their agent.\nIn his reply Douglas did not hesitate to name Staines as the\nauthor of the attack.\nI have perused with much interest the correspondence with the Colonial\nOffice transmitted in your letter of the 14th of January, and was not\nsurprised at the tenor or aninous [sic] displayed in the letter written by\na gentleman of Vancouvers Island, as complaints of the same nature are of\ndaily occurrence here, and I was long ago informed that the Revd. Mr.\nStaines, had taken up the pen in defence of the Colonists of Vancouver's\nIsland, though he is the last person who should do so or attempt to detract\nfrom the merits, and depreciate the efforts, made in behalf of this Colony\nby a Company, which has loaded him with benefits. There is no doubt of\nMr. Staines being the author of the letter in question the style and spirit of\nthe production as well as common report mark it as one of his effusions.\nHe entertains a most unaccountable and unreasonable dislike to the\nCompany, and has done so ever since his arrival in this country; and he\nmoreover endeavours to fill the minds of every stranger who arrives here,\nwith the rancorous feelings of his own breast.\nHad he met with illtreatment at the hands of the Company or their\nagents in this country, or if the Company could in fairness be charged with\ninjustice or misgovernment in any shape, one could readily pardon the\nexertions of an honorable man in defence of the oppressed; but to assail his\nbest friends, and to do this covertly and maliciously, without any sort of\ncause whatever, shews an unexcusable want of right principle, and correct\nfeeling. 6 6\n(66) Douglas to Barclay, May 27, 1853, MS., Archives of B.C. 1950 Rev. Robert John Staines 209\nDouglas then undertook a point-by-point refutation of the allegations made in the letter. He admitted the Legislative Council of\nVancouver Island was composed almost exclusively of Company\nservants, but countered that by virtue of their experience and\nstake in the colony they were the most competent to govern. He\ndenied that in matters of trade the Company exercised any\nmonopoly in the Island, but admitted that because of the high\nquality of their merchandise they did command nearly all of the\nbusiness. On the matter of the lack of a church building, Douglas\nwrote:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nThat there is no church as yet built in the Colony is a fact which I admit,\nand sincerely regret, as the want is felt by the public at large; although\nthere is no building devoted exclusively to religious purposes, divine service\nis regularly performed every Sunday in the Fort hall, which is sufficiently\nlarge to accommodate the congregation, which commonly meets there.\nI much regret that it has been out of my power to build a church, as no\nmechanic in the Colony will undertake the work at a reasonable price, and\nI was of opinion that it was advisable to delay the erection of such costly\nbuildings until the Colony is better provided with mechanical labour, and the\npublic money can be laid out to more advantage.\nI will endeavour to procure an estimate of the cost of a small church,\nequal to the present wants of the Colony, which I will send home as soon as\npossible for the consideration of the Governor & Committee. 6 7\nThe most serious complaint raised had to do with the lack of free\nland grants, which the complainant argued resulted in it being\nimpossible to secure labour at moderate prices. On this point\nDouglas was adamant: \" Free grants of land would in my opinion\ninevitably enhance the value of labour \"\u00E2\u0080\u0094and as proof he cited\nthe experience in Oregon Territory. In addition, he pointed out\nStaines' personal interest in the matter.\nAn opinion is entertained by some persons in this Colony, that Her\nMajesty's Government will revoke the grant of Vancouver's Island, made to\nthe Hudson's Bay Company, at the close of the first term of five years from\nthe date of the charter, and that grants of land will afterwards be made\nfree of charge, or at a greatly reduced price, and on the strength of that\nbelief, several persons among whom I may number the Revd. Mr. Staines,\nhave declined paying for the land they were allowed to occupy and improve\nby the Colonial Surveyor, and is that party who are now clamorous for\na reduction in the price of land, and for a change in the government, trusting by that means to gain their object. I need hardly remark that a reduction in the price of land, at present, would be a source of discontent to all\n(67) Ibid. 210 G. Hollis Slater October\nparties, who have paid the actual purchase price now levied, and submitted\nwithout a murmur to the rules and regulations established for the good\ngovernment of the colony.6 8\nSix weeks later, on July 9, 1853, Douglas again wrote to the\nSecretary of the Company in London calling his attention to some\narticles that had recently been published by the settlers of Vancouver Island in Oregon newspapers.69 In these articles complaints were made of the monopoly of trade exercised by the\nCompany on the Island and the suggestion repeated that a system\nof free land grants be instituted and the Crown grant of 1849\nrevoked. Douglas reported that it had not been possible to\ndiscover the author of the articles, but suggested that they could\nbe attributed to \" some member of a little clique consisting of\nthat person, the Revd. Mr. Staines \" and certain others \" who do\neverything in their power to slander the Hudson's Bay Company\nand to produce impressions unfavourable to their character\nand government.\" In Douglas' opinion \" with the exception of\nthat clique \" everyone in the colony appeared to be happy and\ncontented.70\nAn indication of the seriousness with which Douglas viewed\nthe situation is the fact that he presented his opinions on the\nmatter to the Colonial Secretary, despite the fact that the\nexistence of the letter had never officially been drawn to his\nattention. In a dispatch to the Duke of Newcastle on July 28,\n1853, he wrote:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nThe Colonists generally speaking appear prosperous, and contented with\nthe exception of a very small party; who have arrayed themselves against\nthe Government on the strength of grievances, which I have no power to\nrelieve. . . . The aim of that party is to induce Her Majesty's Government\nto revoke the grant of Vancouver's Island made to the Hudson's Bay Company, by the Crown, and to take the direction of the Colony into their own\nhands, trusting by that means to see the accomplishment of their ultimate\nobject of procuring free grants of land, which in that event they expect to\ngain. . . .\nThe leaders of that party, the most active of whom is the Revd. Mr.\nStaines, Chaplain to the Hudson's Bay Company, have under various\npretexts, hitherto declined paying for the land, which the Colonial Surveyor\n(68) Ibid.\n(69) One such letter appeared in the Olympia Columbian, January 1,\n1853, but whether this is one that Douglas may have seen cannot be proved.\n(70) Douglas to Barclay, July 9, 1853, MS., H.B.C. Archives. 1950 Rev. Robert John Staines 211\npermitted them to occupy, under an impression it is presumed that it will\nultimately become their property, free of cost. 71\nMoreover, Douglas was at this time perfectly aware of a more\nserious turn of events. He had secured a copy of a petition from\n\" the Colonists of Vancouver's Island \" to the House of Commons\nasking for the revocation of the grant of the Island to the Company. This he forwarded to London along with a copy of his\nrecent dispatch to the Colonial Secretary in which, as he said, he\nhad \" slightly touched on the grievances complained of by the\ncolonists of Vancouver's Island.\" In this report to the Company,\nDouglas did not link Staines with the petition, but pointed out\nthat it had the signatures of two of the Company's officers \" who\nshould have had more sense and good feeling for the service.\"72\nLater, when asked for a further report on the petition, Douglas\nwrote:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nWith regard to the Petition from the Colonists to the House of Commons,\nit was by mere accident that I heard of it, and procured a copy, before the\nsignatures were attached. I have since seen it and observe that it was\nsigned by three of the Company's commissioned officers. They did so before\nI was informed of their intention and would then have recalled the act, of\nwhich they are now heartily ashamed, had they not been restrained by the\nfear of ridicule. 7 3\nI wish I could bear the same testimony of the Revd. Mr. Staines, who\nthough not in that instance the originator of the Petition, was afterwards\nthe principal mover in the affair, and made no scruple of using the influence\n(71) Douglas to Newcastle, July 23, 1853, MS., Archives of B.C. A subsequent paragraph in this dispatch read: \" I trust your Grace will pardon\nme, for touching upon a somewhat personal matter, as I consider it a duty,\nto give these explanations in order to contradict certain false and dishonest\nstatements in regard to the state of public affairs in this Colony, which have\nfound their way anonymously into the public papers.\"\n(72) Douglas to Barclay, August 16, 1853, MS., Archives of B.C.\n(73) A copy of a petition to the House of Commons was printed in the\nOlympia Columbian, October 29, 1853. Whether or not it is the one to which\nDouglas referred is open to question, although this particular one included\nthe signatures of John Tod, William Fraser Tolmie, Roderick Finlayson, as\nwell as those of James Cooper, Staines, and eighty-five other colonists.\nIt complained of the high price of land and the mode of administration of the\nGovernment and, amongst other things, asked for an independent Governor,\nreliable Courts of Justice, separation of the Executive and Legislative\nCouncils, opening the majority of the seats in the Legislative Council to\nelection, and the establishment of a House of Assembly to be elected on\na wide franchise. 212 G. Hollis Slater October\nacquired through his position in the Company's service to gain signatures\nfor the petition which was generally popular from its holding out the\ntempting prospect of a free grant of land to the poor labourer. 7 4\nBy this time, too, the Company had become worried about\nStaines' financial affairs. For one thing, the Company had had\nto pay certain bills incurred by Staines in respect of the outfit\nacquired before he left England. Before doing so, however, they\nrequired that his life insurance policy be deposited with the\nCompany as security.75 Then in May, 1853, Douglas reported\nto them:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nHis [Mr. Staines'] expenditure in this country for the last year has been\nenormous, for a person of his income, and is larger than should have been\nallowed, as well as the Fur Trade Bill on London, which was drawn in my\nabsence from Victoria. Heavy payments . . . were made in Outfit 1852,\non his account in London of which we were only lately advised. To keep\nhim from running irretrievably into debt, I would recommend that no further\nadvances be made on his account in England until it is in a more satisfactory\nstate. 7 6\nThat further trouble was in the offing for Staines is to be\nfound in another paragraph of this letter of May 2, 1853, in\nwhich Douglas intimated for the first time that dissatisfaction\nexisted among the parents of the children at the Company's\nschool7 7 over which Staines presided.\nI have . . . had a great deal of trouble in consequence of Mr. Staines'\ndisagreeable manner, and unyielding temper, in keeping the school afloat, the\nsubscribers being generally dissatisfied with his management, and had it not\nbeen for the interest expressed by the Governor and Committee in the\nsuccess of the institution, I would have followed their example and closed\nmy connection with it. As it is, Mr. Staines is an unsuccessful teacher, and\nthe boys, who attend his school make so little progress, though Mrs. Staines\nis on the contrary more successful with the girls, that there nevertheless\n(74) Douglas to Barclay, March 15, 1854, MS., Archives of B.C.\n(75) Barclay to Charles Tahourdin, October 11, 1849, MS., H.B.C.\nArchives.\n(76) Douglas to Barclay, May 2, 1853, MS., H.B.C. Archives.\n(77) It was always understood that Staines' school was a company and\nnot a colonial concern. When writing to Barclay in 1851 urging the establishment of one or two elementary schools, Douglas made the position clear:\n\"... these schools being intended for the children of the labouring and\npoorer classes, and children of promising talents, or whom their Parents\nmay wish to educate further, may pursue their studies and acquire the other\nbranches of knowledge at the Company's School conducted by the Revd. Mr.\nStaines.\" Douglas to Barclay, October 8,1851, MS., Archives of B.C. 1950 Rev. Robert John Staines 213\nexists the utmost dissatisfaction, among the subscribers, with their general\nmanagement; the school cannot therefore be much longer continued, as the\nnumber of pupils is constantly decreasing and the few remaining subscribers\nwill be unable to raise the sum of \u00C2\u00A3340 per annum required for its support,\nand I do not wish to be held responsible for the amount of private subscription, beyond the current year, and I therefore beg to be informed by return\nof Post, if the notice required to be given by his agreement, that his services\nas Schoolmaster may be dispensed with, should come from the subscribers\nalone, or, if it is to be given also by the Governor and Committee, and in the\nlatter case if their Honors will authorize me to issue such notice on their\nbehalf, when necessary; as it will be proper to give such notice at least\ntwelve months in advance. 7 8\nThere can be no mistaking the fact that there was dissatisfaction,\nfor the following day Douglas wrote again to Barclay suggesting\nthat the Victoria school should be placed on the same footing as\nthe one at the Red River Settlement. To this proposal he was\ncertain Staines would object:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\n... on the grounds of its being less advantageous than the one, under\nwhich he is now employed, and he will endeavour to hold the Company\nresponsible for his salary, as Teacher, though in point of equity he has no\njust claims upon them, yet he is a person who will not yield, what he may\nconsider a point of right, without a hard struggle. The subscribers to the\nSchool, who are now present Le. Chief Factor Work and Chief Trader\nKennedy are dissatisfied with Mr. Staines general management of the\nschool, and propose to give him notice, that his services will be no longer\nrequired after the 1st. day of June, 1854, and their example will be followed\nby the whole body of subscribers, as there is a common feeling of discontent\namong them on the subject of the School, in which I fully participate.\nIn proposing to Mr. Staines any new arrangement on the part of the\nCompany, I would advise that such proposals be confined to the allowances\nin the way of salary and otherwise which the Company may feel disposed\nto give, and that they should enter into no guarantee for any support to be\ngiven to him as Teacher by the company's Servants in this country. He will\nwork with more energy, if instead of being assured of a good salary at the\nclose of the year, he is left without support, to stand or fall, by his own\nmerits. 7 9\nA postscript to this letter intimated that upon reconsideration\nWork had decided to withhold the notice to Staines, presumably\nuntil word had been received from London as to their wishes in\nthe matter.\n(78) Douglas to Barclay, May 2, 1853, MS., H.B.C. Archives.\n(79) Douglas to Barclay, May 3, 1853, MS., H.B.C. Archives. 214 G. Hollis Slater October\nWhen this information reached London in August the\nGovernor and Committee pondered carefully the action they\nwould take. A draft reply to Douglas was considered at a Board\nmeeting on August 15, at which time it was decided that all the\npertinent information should be forwarded to the Governor,\nAndrew Colvile, who was then absent in Scotland. The official\nreply sent to Douglas under date of August 26 stated: \" The\nCommittee regret to find that the School is declining through the\ninefficiency and unpopularity of Mr. Staines, and it is for the\nsupporters of it to apply such a remedy as may appear to them\nto be proper.\"80 However, the Company's attitude to the wider\nimplications of Staines' conduct was made perfectly clear in\na private letter written to Douglas two days earlier by the Deputy\nGovernor, John Shepherd.\nWe observe with regret that Mr. Staines in his capacity of Schoolmaster\nno longer enjoys the confidence of the gentlemen by whose annual subscription the salary of that office is maintained. Under such circumstances we\ncannot expect or desire that they should continue to retain his services in\nthat capacity, and therefore you and they are at liberty to give him the\nnecessary notice previously dispensing with his services as Schoolmaster.\nIt is probable that on this measure being adopted, Mr. Staines will resign\nthe Company's service altogether, and we shall be rather pleased than\notherwise if he takes this course. With reference however to the possibility\nof his declining to resign his Office of Chaplain, we should not consider it\nexpedient to insist upon his removal unless on the ground of immoral\nconduct, unsound doctrine or neglect of duty.\nWe are aware that you have little doubt that he was the writer of the\nletters which were forwarded to the Colonial Office, and which evinced very\nhostile feelings towards the Hudson's Bay Company.\nHighly discreditable as we consider such conduct on the part of Mr.\nStaines, we should consider it derogatory to the reputation of that Company\nto visit Mr. Staines with dismissal from the office of Chaplain on grounds\nwhich might be considered to savour of a personal or interested character.\nWe are anxious therefore that you shall exercise due discretion in dealing\nwith him\u00E2\u0080\u0094Should he desire to retain the office of Chaplain, and no ground\nexist, such as we have adverted to, to render the compliance with his wishes\nunadmissible, we shall give our sanction to his retention of the office. In\nsuch a case he may probably apply for some increased allowance in the shape\nof House rent, and you can very properly refer such an application for\n(80) Barclay to Douglas, August 26, 1853, MS., H.B.C. Archives. 1950 Rev. Robert John Staines 215\nconsideration to the Governor and Committee in London, accompanied by\nsuch remarks as you may consider appropriate. 81\nThis decision Douglas found completely satisfactory from his\npoint of view, and he so informed the Deputy Governor in a letter\ndated November 22.\nThe Governor and Committee have come to a fair and wise decision respecting Mr. Staines and the Victoria School; he may resign or retain the\nchaplaincy as may suit his interest; while the supporters of the School will\nbe at full liberty to retain or dispense with his services as Teacher, as may\nappear to them advisable, while neither party will have any just cause to\ncomplain of the Company:\u00E2\u0080\u0094the whole arrangement is admirable.82\nEvents now began to move more rapidly toward a climax,\nparticularly as to Douglas it became increasingly apparent that\nStaines was a leading malcontent in the colony. In January,\n1854, Staines was involved in difficulty as a result of his championing the cause of Robert S. Swanston, an agent for a San\nFrancisco mercantile house, who had urged upon the Governor\nan investigation into the loss of the brig William. In compliance\nwith Swanston's request, Douglas ordered an inquiry before\na Court of Vice-Admiralty but, peculiarly enough, Swanston\nrefused to appear to give testimony. For this he was arrested,\njailed, and on January 30 fined \u00C2\u00A350 with costs for contempt of\nCourt. Later, when reporting these proceedings to the home\nauthorities, Douglas noted:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nI was sorry to observe that the Revd. Mr. Staines, Chaplain to the Honble.\nHudson's Bay Company, openly took part with Mr. Swanston, and appeared\nto act as his legal adviser, but the young man was so clearly in fault that\nvery little could be said in his defence. 8 3\nThis would appear to confirm the opinion of James Cooper, who,\nas master of the Columbia, in which ship Staines had come\n(81) John Shepherd to Douglas, August 24, 1853, MS., H.B.C. Archives.\nThis opinion was confirmed by the Governor, who wrote to Douglas later in\nNovember. \" In my absence Mr. Shepherd, the Dep. Chairman wrote to you\nrespecting Mr. Staines, and I hope the subscribers to the school arrangements may have given him notice of its termination and that he will leave\nthe Island. I presume he was one of the persons in the Coy. employment\nthat signed the petition to the House of Commons, and it would be right to\ngive us their names.\" Andrew Colvile to Douglas, November 18, 1853, MS.,\nArchives of B.C.\n(82) Douglas to Shepherd, November 22, 1853, MS., H.B.C. Archives.\n(83) Douglas to Newcastle, March 13, 1854, MS., Archives of B.C. 216 G. Hollis Slater October\npassenger to Vancouver Island, had ample opportunity during\nthe long journey to observe his character: \" This gentleman had\nprobably mistaken his vocation inasmuch as he would have made\na very good Parish Lawyer instead of a parish priest.\" 8 4 Douglas'\nreport to the Company officials in London was much more precise\nin its castigation of the role played by Staines:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\n... I am now preparing a report on this case for H. M. Government. The\nRevd. Mr. Staines is a fomenter of mischief and I believe a preacher of\nsedition. If the affair went off quietly we have not to thank him. 8 5\nTwo days later, on February 1, a letter written by Chief\nFactor James Douglas and Chief Factor John Work, constituting\nthe Board of Management of the Western Department, was\naddressed to Staines in his capacity as \" Chaplain to the Hudson's\nBay Company and Teacher of the Victoria School.\" It was short\nand to the point.\nWe beg to inform you being duly authorized to that effect by the H.B. Co.\nand also by the Parties servants of the H.B. Co. who have annually raised\nat their expense, and paid to you the Salary of \u00C2\u00A3340, that it is their intention\nto dispense with your services as Schoolmaster from and after the 1st day of\nJune 1854, when your said salary of \u00C2\u00A3340 will cease and terminate. 8 6\nActually the Board of Management had ample grounds for giving\nnotice, as a fortnight earlier they had received a petition signed\nby most of the Victoria supporters of the school, Which left no\ndoubt but that Staines had completely forfeited their confidence.\nThe pertinent portions of the petition read as follows:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\n2. Having now had sufficient experience of the Revd. R. J. Staines, in his\ncapacities of Schoolmaster and Chaplain, we feel that his teaching and his\nministry have not been or are likely, to become profitable amongst us, and\ntherefore feeling it our painful duty to do so respectfully solicit you to\nreplace him.\n3. At June next, there will be left scarcely a single subscriber, and nearly\nall the children will be withdrawn.\n4. His labours have been confined to a single Service on Sundays,\nperformed with occasional regularity; that personal allusions upon those\noccasions and illtimed acrimonious remarks have prevented many from\nattending, and that at the present time, we are not aware of his having\na single communicant.\n(84) James Cooper, op. cit, pp. 7, 8.\n(85) Douglas to Barclay, January 30, 1854, MS., H.B.C. Archives.\n(86) James Douglas and John Work to Staines, February 1, 1854, MS.,\nH.B.C. Archives. 1950 Rev. Robert John Staines 217\n5. That his time appears to be devoted to litigation and political Agitation\nand that instead of being a minister of peace he has been continually\npromoting ill will contention and strife.\n6. That in this capacity, the labouring classes are not Visited, but are\ntogether with the Indian population, left entirely out of sight, and as to\nSunday School Teaching we blame him for preventing it.\n7. Upon all occasions, we find him railing against the H.B. Co. and\nattributing unworthy motives to most of their Agents, more particularly\nto those in authority, which has the effect of rendering the labouring classes\ndissatisfied and suspicious; of occasioning dissension between the Colonists\nand the Company, of bringing law and order into disrepute, and of checking\nthat hearty co-operation and good feeling among the different classes here,\nwhich in a young Colony it is so very desirable to promote.\n8. Feeling deeply the moral responsibility which we incur in preferring\na charge against any Gentleman, we would not have done so in this instance,\nif we did not conscientiously believe, that the Interests of the Society, of\nwhich we are members, require the step we recommend. 8 7\nStaines made no immediate reply to the Board's letter.\nSubsequently, on February 21, he informed them that he would\nbe leaving Victoria and that he had \" imperative reasons \" for\nadopting this course of action.\nYou are not ignorant of what has been passing in the Island within the last\nthree months, particularly in the Courts and Council Chamber of the Colony,\nand the office and the Hall of the Honorable Hudson's Bay Co. Had\nI received my appointment of Chaplain from you, I should certainly have\nresigned it into your hands long ago.\nWhether or not I shall resume my duties as Chaplain on my return . . .\nwill depend on the issue of events in England. Until this is determined you\nwill be pleased to consider the exercise of my duties suspended. 8 8\nThe events to which Staines made reference were, indeed,\nwell known to all. They centred about the appointment on\nDecember 2, 1853, of David Cameron to the position of Chief\nJustice of the Supreme Court of Civil Justice. The fact that\nCameron was the Governor's brother-in-law and that he had no\nlegal training was readily seized upon by the opponents of the\nHudson's Bay Company as a further indication of the oppressive\n(87) The signatories to this petition, dated January 15, 1854, included\nCharles Dodd, Roderick Finlayson, Wm. H. McNeill, J. D. Pemberton, George\nSimpson, Richard Golledge, W. J. McDonald, J. W. McKay, James Sangster,\nWilliam Leigh, B. W. Pearse, W. H. Newton, and John Tod, Sr. MS., H.B.C.\nArchives.\n(88) Staines to the Board of Management, January 7, 1854, MS., H.B.C.\nArchives. 218 G. Hollis Slater October\ntactics Of what has been aptly called the \" Family-Company-\nCompact.\" However, in all fairness it must be pointed out that\nDouglas, when informing the Colonial Office of his action,\nadmitted that Cameron was not a professional lawyer and that\nthe appointment was considered to be of a temporary nature\nuntil a law officer for the colony should be appointed by the\nCrown. Moreover, the decision to establish the new Court had\nbeen forced upon Douglas through the inefficiency of the Justices'\nCourt.89 In April, 1853, Douglas had appointed E. E. Langford,\nKenneth McKenzie, Thomas Blinkhorn, and T. J. Skinner as\nMagistrates.90 None of these appointees had legal training.\nIn September, 1853, Skinner awarded an American, Webster,\ndamages in the amount of $2,213.00 from the Muir family at\nSooke. The manifest injustice of the decision prompted Douglas\nto limit the jurisdiction of the Justices' Court in civil cases and\nto provide for a senior Court. The problem was discussed by the\nLegislative Council on September 20 and 23 and finalized on\nDecember 2.91 Almost immediately Cameron took up his duties\nas Chief Justice.\nOpposition to this appointment came to a head early in February,92 when a decision was reached to make a formal protest\ndirectly to the Home Government.\n[February 4, 1854] Public Meeting held on the state of the Colony. Subscriptions set agoing in purpose to send Mr. Staines home, to lay the proceedings before the house of Parliament. God .speed. 9 3\n(89) Douglas to Newcastle, January 7, 1854, MS., Archives of B.C.\nSee also Douglas to Barclay, November 4, 1853, MS., Archives of B.C.\n(90) Douglas to Newcastle, July 28, 1853, MS., Archives of B.C.\n(91) E. O. S. Scholefield (ed), Minutes of the Council of Vancouver\nIsland . . . , Archives of B.C., Memoir No. II, Victoria, 1918, pp. 20-23\npassim.\n(92) It is interesting to note that a petition protesting Cameron's\nappointment, signed by ninety settlers, was published in the Olympia\nPioneer & Democrat as early as February 11, 1864.\n(93) W. Kaye Lamb (ed.), \" The Diary of Robert Melrose,\" British\nColumbia Historical Quarterly, VII (1943), p. 201. Many months later\nthere appeared in a near-by American newspaper a letter in which was\ngiven a record of this meeting. It was stated that $400 had been raised on\nthe spot to pay Staines' expenses to England. Olympia Pioneer & Democrat,\nAugust 5, 1854. 1950 Rev. Robert John Staines 219\nThe agitation was led by James Cooper, a member of the Legislative Council, ably assisted by Staines. In the end two impressive documents bearing date March 1, 1854, were signed by\nCooper and sixty-nine other colonists. The one addressed to Her\nMajesty the Queen humbly requested \" a strict inquiry to be\nimmediately instituted into the circumstances of the recent creation of a court, entitled ' The Supreme Court of Civil Justice'\n. . . and the appointment of Mr. David Cameron.\"94 The\nother, addressed to the Colonial Secretary, the Duke of Newcastle, was more specific in its allegations. The fact that David\nCameron was the brother-in-law of the Governor, that he was\nnot a lawyer by profession, and that he held a position with the\nHudson's Bay Company were cited as evidence of his unfitness\nfor the position. In addition, the claim was advanced that he had\n\" laboured strenuously to defeat the ends of justice, convict the\ninnocent, and screen the guilty.\" The petition stated further:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\n. . . That your memorialists, not being able to give up in this way their\njust rights, not being ready to sacrifice their dearest interests to the overbearing and reckless assertion of a lawless and arbitrary power, wielded, as\nthey think, not solely with a view to, and certainly not, they are assured,\nwith an operation for, the benefit and credit of the colony, and being convinced that Her Majesty's Government needed only to be informed, with\naccuracy, of their real grievances, in order to redress them, in public meeting determined to appoint a representative to convey to your Grace personally, on their behalf, the statement of the wrongs inflicted upon them, and\nof the grievances under which they are deeply suffering, that they accordingly have appointed the Rev. R. J. Staines to this office, whom they have\ncommissioned to express to your Grace how deeply they feel that this application to your Grace's sense of justice will be of the most decisive effect, for\nthe weal or woe of this colony, for its hopeful progress or its desperate\nretardation, this being, as they conceive, the critical point and period of its\nhistory. \u00C2\u00B0 5\nThus it was that Staines prepared to return to England, the\nofficial representative of a group of discontented colonists. The\nwisdom of the choice of Staines is open to question, in that there\n(94) Return to an address of the Honourable the House of Commons,\ndated IS July, 1863: for . . . Correspondence with the Government of\nVancouver's Island, relative to the Appointment of Chief Justice Cameron,\nand the Remonstrances against such Appointment, London, 1863 [P.P., H.\nof C. 507 of 1863], pp. 43, 44.\n(95) Ibid., p. 45. 220 G. Hollis Slater October\nwere personal grounds for his antagonism toward Cameron. By\nan odd coincidence, one of the first cases to be brought before\nChief Justice Cameron after his appointment was a complaint\nby Manuel Douillet against Staines involving the forcible seizure\nof some pigs. The complaint was heard on December 5, and the\nfollowing day a summons was issued against Staines and others\nto appear on December 8.96 At that time Cameron came to the\nconclusion that there was \" sufficient evidence to support a charge\nof illegal trespass and forcibly taking and carrying away defendants property.\" Bail in the amount of \u00C2\u00A320 each was set and the\ntrial fixed for the regular sessions early in January.97 Unfortunately, the proceedings of the trial do not appear to have survived, but in the end not only was Staines exonerated, but Douillet was fined and imprisoned.98 Many months later, when asked\nby the Company to comment on the allegations against Cameron\nraised by the petition, Douglas gave the following straightforward account of the whole incident:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nThe allusions in the 4th paragraph, reflecting on the conduct of Mr.\nCameron appear to refer to a case which was tried last winter before the\n(96) One of the few original Staines' letters in the Archives of B.C.\ndeals with this incident. Writing to Kenneth McKenzie on December 7,\n1853, Staines stated: \" Yesterday I received a summons from Mr. Cameron\nciting me to appear before him to-morrow at 10 o'clock A.M. on a charge\nof ' felony'! I instantly took steps for summoning witnesses, when I was\ninformed by Mr. Barr, that I could not have them without paying 3$\n(dollars) each. I trust under these circumstances you will not require\na legal summons to induce you to come forward and assist in forwarding\nthe ends of justice. The points upon which I require your testimony and\nthat of Mr. Skinner, are, the statements and admissions of Douillette [sic],\nLow & Ferrand, which they made before you, and which will be of the\nutmost importance in the case. I think Mr. Skinner has Low's & Ferrand's\nstatements in writing in his possession yet. Would you be kind enough to\nask him to bring them with him? I believe Mr. Cameron will not allow the\npapers to be brought forward which were left here; hence the urgent\nnecessity for your presence in person.\" Staines to McKenzie, December 7,\n1853, MS., Archives of B.C.\n(97) Vancouver Island, Supreme Court of Civil Justice, Notes of Proceedings, MS., Archives of B.C., in Cameron's handwriting under dates\nDecember 5, 6, and 8, 1853.\n(98) W. Kaye Lamb (ed.), \"The Diary of Robert Melrose,\" loc. cit,\np. 200, under date February 2, 1854: \" Mr. Staines gained a law plea over\nDuet [sic].\" 1950 Rev. Robert John Staines 221\nJustice's court; the litigants being the Revd. Mr. Staines, on the one side,\nand Emanuel Douillet menaging [sic] Bailiff of a large Farm, in this District, on the other. My reason for supposing that case to have given rise to\nthe rather vague allusions in the Memorial, is the well known fact that Mr,\nCamerons fearless and upright conduct, on that occasion, gave offense to\nMr: Staines, and also to the other Magistrates on the Bench.\nMy own attention was particularly attracted to the subject, by a direct\nappeal from Emanuel Douilet [sic], who waited upon me, in a state of great\ndistress, to claim the protection of a British subject, as he alleged that his\npremises had been forcibly entered without any previous notice, and his\nproperty carried off, by a party of Mr. Staines servants, headed by a constable, avowedly acting under a warrant from Mr. Justice Skinner. On\nenquiring into the matter, I discovered that Mr. Skinner, acting upon the\ninformation of Mr. Staines, had issued a simple order, for the removal of\ncertain pigs, which Mr. Staines alleged had been stolen from his farm by\nDouilet; and that this had been done without summoning the party, charged\nwith the offense to appear before him, or taking any other steps to ascertain\nthe truths. This most arbitrary proceeding excited a general feeling of\nindignation, and I was not a little vexed, that Mr. Skinner should have so\ninconsiderately, violated in that instance, the forms prescribed by the Law,\nwithout any evident necessity, as Douilet, whether guilty or otherwise was\nentitled to a hearing, in his own defence.\nDouilet at my suggestion, carried his complaint, charging Mr. Staines\nand the other parties concerned with the forcible seizure of his property,\nbefore Mr. Justice Cameron, who as in duty bound proceeded to act upon his\ninformation, by summoning the parties before him, and the pigs were\nordered into the custody of the court.\nMuch litigation between the same parties followed, and the pigs were\nfinally adjudged to be Mr. Staines property, and Douilet was justly punished\nby fine and imprisonment.\nIn the whole of those proceedings Mr. Cameron made no attempt, as\nstated in the Memorial, \" to convict the innocent and to screen the guilty.\"\nThe case was tried, in open court, and justice impartially administered.\nMr. Staines was highly indignant because Mr. Cameron received and\nacted upon the complaint of Douilet as before stated and did every thing in\nhis power to create an impression, that in so doing, Mr. Cameron was animated solely by motives of personal hostility; while it must be evident to\nevery one who weighs the matter impartially, that every Magistrate is, in\nduty bound to hear and enquire into all complaints, brought before him,\nwhoever may be the parties concerned. 9 9\n(99) Douglas to Barclay, November 3, 1854, MS., Archives of B.C.\nCooper in his Maritime Matters gives a considerably different version of the\nincident. \" Several of these pigs had strayed to neighbour's farms, & in the\ncourse of the worthy pastor's peregrinations thro' the country he discovered\nsome of his own pigs in his neighbours styes. He felt ' wrathy' & applied\nfor what was termed in those days a ' lettre de cachet' or in other words 222 G. Hollis Slater October\nIt might naturally be expected that Douglas would rise to the\ndefence of Chief Justice Cameron. In support of his arguments\nhe was able to submit to the Colonial Office a petition, dated\nJanuary 11, 1854, and signed by fifty-four persons \" representing nearly all the landed proprietors in the Colony,\" protesting\nagainst the petition Douglas had received asking him to annul\nCameron's appointment and wishing Douglas \" health and\nstrength to govern with your usual forbearance and moderation,\nand with firmness and vigour when you are of opinion that the\ninterest of the Colony require it.\"100\nNevertheless, there was a feeling of discontent in the colony,\nparticularly amongst those unconnected with the Hudson's Bay\nCompany. Their point of view is quite aptly expressed in the\nfollowing extract from a letter written by Annie Deans, the wife\nof a former Company employee now residing in the colony as an\nindependent settler:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\na warrant to enable him to recover his property which was disputed by the\nholder thereof. This gave rise to a serious case of litigation & Mr. Staines\nbeing indicted for felony was actually arrested on such charges. He was\nafterwards admitted to bail & narrowly escaped being tried for the presumed\noffence, but upon the Grand Jury being empanelled the bill was ignored.\"\nPhotostat, Archives of B.C., p. 9. While the story has certain comic aspects,\nnevertheless it was relatively costly to the colony considering the following\nstatement of account:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\n\" For Cash paid expenses in the trial of the matter\nof Staines agst Douillet vizt.\nFor maintenance of Sundry pigs $137.34\nFor Constables fees in summoning\nwitnesses, jurors, &c &c 75.00\n$212.34 \u00C2\u00A344 9 10\nVi lb Tobacco paid for Ferringer 6\nFor apprehending an Indian paid to Constable $1 4 2\nFor cartage of Pigs in the matter of Douillet $3.50 14 7\n\u00C2\u00A345 4 10\"\nHudson's Bay Company Accounts with Government Departments, 1852-1859,\nMS., Archives of B.C.\n(100) Enclosure in Douglas to Sir George Grey, December 11, 1854, in\nP.P., H. of C. 507 of 1863, p. 41. 1950 Rev. Robert John Staines 223\nVictoria\nFebruary 29\u00E2\u0080\u00941854 [sic]\nMy Dear Brother and Sister\nI embrace another opportunity of writing you a few lines hopeing [sic]\nthis will find you all well as this leaves us all well at present\u00E2\u0080\u0094This is another opportunity to get our letters home through one Mr R Staines who\nhas been Chaplain to the Hudson Bay Company here for rather more that\n[sic] five year's and who is now going home for the (old Country is always\ncalled home here)\u00E2\u0080\u0094He Mr Staines is sent home by the Colonist for to lay\nthe state of Affairs before the house of Commons and Colonial Office in\nLondon.\nFor the Governor of Vanc[o]uvers Island has been in the Company out\nhere ever since he was a Boy about 15 year[s] of age and now he is a Man\nupwards of 60 now\u00E2\u0080\u0094so you may say he has been all his life among the North\nAmerican indians and has got one of them for a wife so how can it be\nexpected that he can know anything at all about Governing one of Englands\nlast Colony's in North America, Mr Douglas Govornor [sic] has appointed\na Brother in law of his to be superime [sic] Judge who is in no way qualified for the office.\nTherefore the Colonistes [sic] drew up a Petition stating these Facts\nand others desireing [sic] him to disanul [sic] his Appointment of Mr Can-\neron [sic] but he would not listin [sic] to it and Mr Staines who has been\ndoing every thing that lay in his power least so far as his Judgement for the\nwelfare of the Colony.\nMr Stains [sic] has taken has taken [sic] notice and spoken up Against\nevery act of Unjustices [sic] done by the Company against the Colonists and\nthe Companys servants So the Companys Officers who are or at least the\nmost of them been out here since the[y] were boys and the[y] are thinking\nthat as Mr Staines has been engaged to the Company he ought to aid and\nAbade [sic] them in all there [sic] Acts of injustices but as he wont do that\nthe Governor and others has taken a spite to him and the[y] tryed [sic] to\nget him put out of his Church and get him sent home So the Colonists has\ntaken his case in hand and is going to send him home to lay the state of\nAffairs before the house of Commons. Religion is at a very low ebb here\nMr Staines is the only Minister and when he is gone there will be none at\nall he is just awaiting a ship from the Coal Mines to take him to California\nthence on his way home. . . .10l\nIt cannot definitely be established when Staines left the colony, but evidently some delays ensued because of the difficulty in\n(101) Annie Deans to her brother and sister, February 29, 1854, MS.,\nArchives of B.C. 224 G. Hollis Slater October\nfinding a sailing.102 His letter to the Board of Management announcing his intention to leave was dated February 21, but it was\nnot delivered to Chief Factor John Work until some hours after\nhis departure from Victoria on the morning of February 23 in a\nboat for Sooke, where he was to join a ship bound for San Francisco. The letter of Annie Deans is obviously misdated, but suggests that he may have been detained for some days at Sooke.\nIt has now been established that he sailed in the barque Duchess\nof San Lorenzo, which had cleared from Victoria on February 22\nand presumably proceeded to Sooke to take on a cargo of lumber.\nThe details of the disaster that befell her are lacking, but can be\nsurmised from the meagre reports published in the shipping\nmemoranda of the San Francisco Alta California. The barque\nGeorge Emery, seven days from Steilacoom on Puget Sound,\nreached San Francisco on March 26 and reported:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\n. . . March 19, Cape Flattery bore S.W. distance 20 miles, boarded a bark\ndismasted and abandoned, with her foremast gone about six feet below the\nhead, the anchors on the bow, and full of water. She had apparently been\nin that situation some time. She had painted ports with green bulwarks\ninside. 103\nFour days later the barque Senator arrived, twelve days from\nVancouver Island, and confirmed this story, adding that it was\n\" supposed to be the bque Duchess de Lorenzo.\"104 News of the\ndisaster did not reach Victoria for several weeks after the departure of Staines, and it was not until April that Douglas reported\nit to the Company in London.\nIt is reported that the vessel in which the Revd. Mr. Staines sailed from\nSoke [sic] for San Francisco, foundered at sea off Classet, having a heavy\ndeck load of Timber, and that every one of the unfortunate persons on board\nperished with her, except one man, who was picked up at sea some days\nafterwards clinging to a part of the rigging, which remained above water.\n(102) His departure was evidently not rushed, for on February 16\nMartha Cheney noted in her diary: \"Uncle came home with Mr. Staines\nthe latter come to see us before starting for England.\" The following day\nhe returned to Victoria. James K. Nesbitt (ed.), \"The Diary of Martha\nCheney Ella,\" British Columbia Historical Quarterly, XIII (1949), p. 110.\nRobert Melrose noted in his diary, under date of February 22, 1854: \" Mr.\nStaines left for England on his important mission.\" W. Kaye Lamb (ed.),\n\" The Diary of Robert Melrose,\" loc. cit, p. 201.\n(103) San Francisco Alta California, March 27, 1854.\n(104) Ibid., March 31,1854. 1950 Rev. Robert John Staines 225\nHis sufferings must have been fearful and he did not long survive his\ndeliverance. 10 5\nCaptain Cooper's account of the disaster supplies a few additional details.\nProcrastination was however one of the characteristics of Mr Staines &\nunfortunately instead of being prepared to take his passage in a vessel\nbound for San Francisco at a certain time he being too late the vessel had\nsailed from Sooke. Another vessel lying there was to leave a few days after\n& on her he took passage. This vessel being lumber laden & meeting with\nheavy weather outside Cape Flattery became waterlogged & was drifting\nabout on her broadside for some time when one of the survivors was picked\nup from the wreck. Mr Staines had cut his way thro' the ship's side from\nhis cabin & when one of the crew was rescued by a passing vessel the survivor reported that Dr. Staines (as he called him) had died only a day or\ntwo previously. This survivor only lived sufficiently long to make these\nstatements & it was my unfortunate lot to bring this sad intelligence to\nVictoria I having been up Puget Sound at the time the vessel arrived carrying the survivor who died before I could see him.l\u00C2\u00B06\nUnder these tragic circumstances the career of Staines came\nto an end. His death did not, however, put an end to the agitation of which he was to have been the official mouthpiece. On\nApril 20, 1854, copies of the two petitions were forwarded to\nLondon with a covering letter signed by a \" Committee elected\nby the Colonists \" which read:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nA catastrophe of the most melancholy kind has rendered it imperative\non us, as a committee elected to act in the matters on which we have the\nhonour of addressing you, by our fellow colonists, to wait upon your Grace\nwith the prayers of the independent residents of this island for protection\nfrom the arbitrary and unconstitutional enactments of the present Governor.\nSituated as we are at so great a distance from the Imperial Government,\nand feeling that the most certain and speedy way of laying a clear statement\nof our grievances before your Grace would be by securing the presence in\nEngland of some member of our community to whom we might entrust our\ncause, the colonists, at a meeting held on the 4th February ultimo, for the\n(105) Douglas to Barclay, April 6, 1854, MS., H.B.C. Archives.\n(106) Cooper, Maritime Matters, pp. 10, 11. This information is confirmed by a further letter of Annie Deans, dated September 10, 1854. \" The\nlast letter I sent to you was in the care of the Revened [sic] Mr. Staines who\nwas going home to England to represent the State of this Colony before\nthe house of Commons but the ship that he left here in was lost about 100\nmiles from here and all on Board perished except one who was saved to tell\nthe tale and then he died raveing [sic] Mad in the Month of Febuary [sic]\nlast but his letters got safe to California in another ship.\" MS., Archives\nof B.C. 226 G. Hollis Slater October\npurpose of arranging the preliminaries of the proposed step, unanimously\nselected the Rev. R. J. Staines, Chaplain to the Hudson's Bay for this island,\nas the most proper person to proceed to England for the purpose of waiting\non your Grace.\nThis gentleman, at the earnest request of the colonists, undertook the\ncommission and sailed hence for San Francisco, en route to England, on the\n1st March (ultimo), but never, as it has pleased the Almighty, to reach his\ndestination, the vessel having been discovered some short time since by a\npassing ship, in a water-logged state, and but one of the crew surviving to\ntell the sad state of his fellows.\nDeeply regretting, as we do, the untimely end of one who had the interests of our infant community so much at heart, and than whom, nonce could\nmore efficiently have depicted the crushing effect of the incubus under which\nour energies are paralyzed, we, at the same time, are so well assured of your\nGrace's earnest wish, as ever shown for the protection of the true interests\nof this Colony, that in laying before you the documents with which our delegate would have been charged, we do so with a perfect confidence that they\nwill meet from your Grace every consideration and attention their importance entitles them to.i\u00C2\u00B07\nIn due course a copy of the petition to the Queen and the memorial to the Duke of Newcastle was returned to Governor Douglas\nfor his comment. Once again he rose to the defence of Chief\nJustice Cameron and explained fully the circumstances that had\nmade necessary his appointment. The people of the colony were\n\" happy and contented \" and \" since the departure of the Rev.\nMr. Staines and his coadjutor Mr. Swanston \" the Governor had\nreceived no complaints except in regard to the sale price of land,\na grievance that Douglas was powerless to redress. In concluding this report, Douglas was most caustic in his denunciation of\nStaines\u00E2\u0080\u0094perhaps unnecessarily so, since Staines had now been\ndead for nearly nine months.\nMr. Staines, unfortunately for himself, was a violent party man, and\nwas prudent neither in his conduct nor associations; the affidavit of William\nConolly, herewith transmitted, does not give an exalted opinion of his loyalty\nor attachment to his country, seeing he was using his influence to encourage\nHer Majesty's subjects to take lands on the Arro Islands, under the United\n(107) James Cooper, Edward E. Langford, Thomas James Skinner,\nWm. Banfield, James Yates to the Duke of Newcastle, April 20, 1854, P.P.,\nH. of C. 507 of 1863, p. 43. 1950 Rev. Robert John Staines 227\nStates, thereby aiding and abetting the contemplated encroachments of that\nGovernment on Her Majesty's territories. 10 8\nThere can be little doubt but that Douglas had become more\nand more exasperated with Staines' conduct and that consenting\nto act as the colonists' representative was the final act that\nbrought down the Governor's wrath upon the unfortunate\ncleric.109 It will be recalled that Work received Staines' announcement of his departure subsequent to the event. It is possible that Work's reply, which was dated February 23, may have\nbeen delivered to Staines prior to his departure from Sooke.\n(108) Douglas to Sir George Grey, December 11, 1854, MS., Archives of\nB.C. This dispatch was also printed in P.P., H. of C, 507 of 1863, pp. 38-40.\nThe affidavit to which reference is made read as follows: \" William Conolly\ndeposeth, that on or about the 1st day of February 1854, that the Rev. R. J.\nStaines told him that he had no further need of his services, and asked him\nhow he intended to employ himself, and that he told Mr. Staines he did\nnot know.\n\" He then inquired of Mr. Staines if he knew if San Juan Island was\ngoing to be given up to the United States Government. Mr. Staines replied\nhe did not know how that would be, but that Colonel Ebey, the Collector of\nCustoms in Washington territory, would be on San juan Island in the\nfollowing week, to take possession of it in the name of the Government of\nthe United States.\n\" He then consulted with Mr. Staines, and asked him if it would not be\nwell for him if he went to San Juan Island, and took possession of some land\nbefore Colonel Ebey arrived, in order to secure the pre-emption right. Mr.\nStaines said it would be a good speculation, and seemed to wish him to go,\nsaying that he would supply him with provisions, &c, enough for a month,\nto enable him to do so. Upon the 4th of February, Mr. Staines sent for him\ninto his room, and in the presence of Mr. Swanston gave him an order upon\nthe person in charge of the Hudson's Bay Company's provision store, for\none bag flour, 2 lbs. of tea, 12 lbs. sugar, and 20 dried salmon, to proceed to\nSan Juan Island with, and take possession of land.\" Ibid., p. 41.\n(109) Some indication of the state of feeling between the two men is to\nbe gathered from the following letter which Governor Douglas caused his\nsecretary to write to Staines: \" I am directed by the Governor to return you\nthe enclosed letters, and to inform that as Her Majesty's Governor of Vancouver Islands, he can neither entertain nor reply to such communications.\n\" I am also directed to inform you that communications connected with\nthe affairs of the H.B. Compy. should be addressed to John Work, Esqre.,\nwho will give them due and proper consideration.\" Richard Golledge to\nStaines, February 17, 1854, AfjS., Archives of B.C. No clue is given as to\nthe content of the letters, but it conceivably may have been similar to that\nStaines subseqently did write to Work. 228 G. Hollis Slater October\nThis letter made it clear that since Staines had left the colony\nwithout giving the requisite notice or obtaining leave of absence,\nhe had thereby vacated his situation as chaplain, and that the\nBoard of Management, considering the appointment vacant, had\ndetermined that his pay and emoluments would cease from the\ndate of writing. Moreover, the Board of Management immediately applied to the Governor and Committee in London to appoint a successor.110\nDouglas' report to the Hudson's Bay Company contained a\nmore detailed explanation of the events of the previous few days\nin so far as Staines was concerned. His departure from Victoria\nwithout permission was described as a \" singular and unauthorized proceeding \" and in \" keeping with Mr. Staines' usual conduct.\" Douglas freely admitted that Staines was going home as\na delegate to represent the grievances of certain parties in the\ncolony who had chosen him \" on account of his avowed and unaccountable hostility to the Hudson's Bay Company.\" He maintained further that Staines had been \" acting as a political\nleader,\" and that he had not scrupled to use the influence of his\nposition in the Company's service \" to spread disaffection among\nthe Company's servants, and to fill their minds with suspicion\nand distrust of their employers.\" Moreover, Douglas claimed\nthat many of H.M. naval officers \" and other respectable persons \" having heard him \" railing against the Company in the\nharshest terms \" were not a little surprised that he should be\nkept in their employ. It was pointed out that his services as\nschoolmaster, having proved unsatisfactory, were being dispensed with by request of the subscribers, and in so far as his\nchaplaincy was concerned, it was suggested that his ministry\nwould \" never be useful here.\" Douglas asked that another\nclergyman be sent out\u00E2\u0080\u0094\" a person of real piety and Christian\nexperience, a lover of peace and one who eschews politics, and\nmaintains the true dignity of the Christian character \"\u00E2\u0080\u0094and\nparticularly urged that Staines should not be reinstated as chaplain \" seeing that he has forfeited by his conduct, all claims to\nour respect and esteem, and can never hope to enjoy our confidence or exercise his ministry with advantage to the community.\"\n(110) Work to Staines, February 23, 1854, MS., H.B.C. Archives. 1950 Rev. Robert John Staines 229\nOf his ministry, Douglas had little favourable to report. It had\nbeen \" singularly unprofitable, few or none of his political friends\nhave ever attended Divine Service; his only hearers were the\nGentlemen and children of the Company's Establishment and\noccasionally a few of the labouring Servants, but of late service\nhas been almost entirely deserted.\"111\nUnder the circumstances it is not surprising that Douglas\nwould be harsh in his judgment of Staines, but that it was, on\nthe whole, a just evaluation is supported by the opinion expressed\nby J. D. Pemberton, the Company's civil engineer and surveyor\non the Island. Writing to Barclay on March 3, 1854, Pemberton\nreported:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nCaptain Grant has just arrived from San Francisco in the 'Honolulu' of\nwhich he is Mate and part owner, he fell in with the Revd. Mr. Staines at\nSoke [sic],\u00E2\u0080\u0094fearfully seasick\u00E2\u0080\u0094having got so far upon his quixotic expedition\nto London. . . . seriously, I feel but little sympathy for him, because whatever may be Mr. Douglas' failings want of good nature or of kindness of\ndisposition are not among the number, and in rev. Staines V The H. B. Co.\n& every body connected with them, the waspishness I might almost say\nmalignity was all on the side of the former\u00E2\u0080\u0094on the whole I feel that the\nAuthorities made no attempt to catch the runaway horse by the head, until\nthey saw they would be run over if they did not 112\nThe Hudson's Bay Company in London supported the position taken by Douglas. Before word of the drowning of Staines\nhad reached London, their decision was on its way to Douglas.\nAs Mr. Staines has thought fit to leave his station without asking or obtaining leave, the Governor and Committee consider that the Office of Chaplain\nto the Company at Victoria is vacant, and are taking steps to procure a\nsuccessor to Mr. Staines. They trust that their selection may prove more\nfortunate, as it appears from the accounts received from Vancouver's Island,\nthat whether as Schoolmaster, Clergyman, or Citizen, Mr. Staines conduct\nhas been uniformly unsatisfactory. It is to be regretted that any of the\nOfficers connected with the Hudson's Bay Company should have been induced\nto put their names to petition, apparently got up by Mr. Staines, but the\nGovernor and Committee are quite prepared to meet any charge brought by\nhim or others against the Company in respect of their management of Vancouver's Island.H3\nSir George Simpson, Governor of the Company's territories in\nNorth America, held similar views. Writing to the Board of\n(111) Douglas to Barclay, February 24, 1854, MS., H.B.C. Archives.\n(112) J. D. Pemberton to Barclay, March 3, 1854, MS., H.B.C. Archives.\n(113) William G. Smith to Douglas, June 5, 1854, MS., H.B.C. Archives. 230 G. Hollis Slater October\nManagement of the Western Department and with the knowledge\nthat Staines had been drowned, Simpson was his usual forthright\nself:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nThe desertion of the Rev. J. R. Staines [sic] late Chaplain and Schoolmaster\nat Fort Victoria I have no doubt will be generally considered a very satisfactory mode of getting rid of that troublesome person. By newspaper\nreport I have since learnt that the unfortunate man perished in the wreck\nof the vessel by which he had taken his passage from Vancouver's Island.\nI may state that if there be any desire to re-establish the school or to have\nanother chaplain at Fort Victoria, the Northern Council will not feel disposed to renew the arrangements which existed during Mr. Staines incumbency. 114\nThe Company adamantly stood by its decision that Staines\nhad vacated his appointments by his action in leaving Victoria.\nIn the latter part of June, 1854, Staines' father, John Collins\nStaines, visited Hudson's Bay House and later in August wrote\ntwice seeking further information regarding the circumstances\nof his son's death. In a letter on August 10 he indicated that as a\nresult of a long and severe illness which had affected his eyesight,\nhe had had to give up his business and had been in receipt of\npecuniary assistance from his son almost from the time of the\nlatter's departure for Vancouver Island. The elder Staines told\na sad story\u00E2\u0080\u0094his wife had died in November, 1853; he was now\nin great distress, his rent was overdue, and two of the younger\nchildren whom their brother had placed at school were now at\nhome with no provision for their support.115 His appeal for\nassistance was, however, turned down by the Company, for at a\nmeeting of the Board on August 28 the following resolution was\npassed:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nOrdered him to be informed that his son having left the Company's service\nwithout notice or permission, and the Governor and Committee having no\nfunds in their hands, his request cannot be complied with. 116\nThe following day a letter to this effect was sent to him, at which\ntime it was also pointed out that no further information had been\nreceived concerning his son's death, but that Mr. John Miles,\n(114) Simpson to Board of Management of the Western Department,\nJune 28, 1854, MS., H.B.C. Archives.\n(115) J. C. Staines to Secretary, Hudson's Bay Company, August 10,\n1854, MS., H.B.C. Archives.\n(116) MS., H.B.C. Archives. 1950 Rev. Robert John Staines 231\nwho had forwarded the particulars thus far received, was expected in England shortly and might then provide further details.117\nIt might appear that the Company, in this connection, was\nbeing unduly severe, but it was strictly correct in the position\nit had assumed. In its dealings with Mrs. Staines, however, it\nappears in a much more favourable light. In November, 1854,\nher brother, Charles Tahourdin, visited Hudson's Bay House and\nsubsequently made a written request that she be provided with\n\" a free passage home to England.\" The original agreement in\n1848 had promised passages to and from Vancouver Island not\nonly for Rev. and Mrs. Staines, but also for their adopted son and\ntheir servants, a married couple. There were now several children in this family, and free passages for them were also asked\nas a favour to Mrs. Staines\u00E2\u0080\u0094\n... as the dreadful shock she has sustained by the death of her husband\nhas so prostrated her spirits as to make it essential for her to have the\nasistance of a female servant on board\u00E2\u0080\u0094and their children would probably\nbe no greater charge to the Company than the passage of Mr. Staines himself would have occasioned them. 118\nThe Board took prompt action, and on November 13 ordered that\nthe \" requests in reference to Mrs. Staines be complied with.\"119\nTwo days later Tahourdin was informed that the Company was\n\" desirous of meeting Mrs. Staines convenience,\" and that instructions for a free passage home would be granted to \" her\nadopted son, and her two servants with their family.\"120 Instructions to this effect were not issued to the Board of Management at Victoria until January 29, 1855, when it was requested\nthat should Mrs. Staines not already have sailed from the colony\n\" accommodation be granted to her, her nephew and servant, by\nthe first opportunity offering,\" and that, if she required it, a\ncash advance be made to her before departure, the repayment of\n(117) William G. Smith to William Collins Staines [sic], August 29,\n1854, MS., H.B.C. Archives.\n(118) Charles Tahourdin to William G. Smith, November 11, 1854, MS.,\nH.B.C. Archives.\n(119) MS., H.B.C. Archives.\n(120) William G. Smith to Tahourdin, November 15, 1854, MS., H.B.C.\nArchives. 232 G. Hollis Slater October\nwhich had been guaranteed by Tahourdin.121 By this time Mrs.\nStaines had already left the colony, but Governor Douglas had\nanticipated the wishes of the Company. In August he had written : \" She will probably apply for a passage to England by the\n' Princess Royal,' and I shall not fail to meet her wishes in that\nrespect.\"122\nOnly the barest of details are available concerning Mrs.\nStaines' sojourn in the colony after her husband's death. According to the diary of Robert Melrose \" the Late Mr. Staines'\nFarm Stock \" was sold \" by Public Auction \" on July 8, 1854.123\nIn August, Douglas informed the Company that Mrs. Staines had\nsold all her property124 and was \" now boarding with an English\nfamily, who have rented Captain Cooper's Farm at Metchosin\nabout 8 miles from this place, to which she retired from\nchoice.\"125 This was the home of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Blinkhorn, and the diary of their niece, Martha Cheney, gives the following information about their friend:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\n[January 7, 1855] Doctor Helmkin [sic] came down walking to see Aunt,\nstayed all night Mrs. Staines was taken very poorly, obliged to go to bed.\nThe Doctor went back in the morning. . . . Mr. Ella came down with a\nBoat to fetch Mrs. Staines, and Horace, up to the Fort who are going to\nEngland in the H.B. Coy Ship Princess Royal. Mrs. Staines leaves here to\nmorrow morning.\n9th, Uncle and I went down to the Beach to see Mrs. Staines off A fine\ncalm morning. . . .\n16, . . . Princess Royal sailed to day for England, a beautiful day and\na fine fair wind. 126\n(121) William G. Smith to Board of Management, Victoria, January 29,\n1855, MS., H.B.C. Archives.\n(122) Douglas to William G. Smith, August 24, 1854, MS., H.B.C.\nArchives.\n(123) W. Kaye Lamb (ed.), \"The Diary of Robert Melrose,\" loc. cit,\np. 203.\n(124) It will be recalled that some of Staines' farm lands had not been\npurchased outright, and it is probable that this land reverted to the Company. However, the farm in the vicinity of Mount Tolmie had been purchased. This farm has been located as Lot VIIIa and was situated a block\nnorth of Haultain street, about 400 feet on either side of the road extending\nback as far as the University School.\n(125) Douglas to William G. Smith, August 24, 1854, MS., H.B.C.\nArchives.\n(126) J. K. Nesbitt (ed.), \"The Diary of Martha Cheney Ella, 1853-\n1856,\" loc. cit., pp. 257, 258. 1950 Rev. Robert John Staines 233\nIn the course of a letter to the Secretary of the Company in London, Douglas reported \" The cabin passages by the ' Princess\nRoyal' are Mrs. Staines, and nephew,\"127 and the log of the\nPrincess Royal, under date of January 13, contains an entry to\nthe effect that Mrs. Staines had embarked as a passenger.128\nStill later, after he had received from London the instructions\nconcerning the considerations to be given to Mrs. Staines, Douglas\nreported that she had already sailed \" provided with every requisite for the voyage.\"129 That voyage came to an end on May 25,\n1855, when the Princess Royal arrived in London docks.130\nLittle more can be added about Mrs. Staines, other than that\nprovided in a letter to her friend, Martha Cheney, written some\nthree months after her return to England.\nTell your Aunt that almost all my money matters are settled now and that\nmy brother has been extremely kind & not delayed anything that he could\nget on with. I know it will please her to hear this. I have not yet heard\nfrom Mr. Cridge which is very disappointing. If you have an opportunity\nI wish you would tell him what I say\u00E2\u0080\u0094I find the Company have taken him\nin completely. I fear he will not find enough to live upon according to the\nplan they have arranged with him. I wish I could have seen him before he\nleft England.131\nThe foregoing detailed outline of the career of Rev. Robert\nJohn Staines serves to illustrate, if nothing else, how difficult it\nis to make an assessment of his character. His was a most complex personality, capable of arousing a wide range of sentiments\nin the minds and hearts of his contemporaries. To Roderick\nFinlayson he might appear insufferably conceited and full of\nfrills; to Dr. J. S. Helmcken, as \" an excitable politician and a\nvery dissatisfied man.\"132 To Governor Douglas, no doubt he\n(127) Douglas to Barclay, January 11, 1855, MS., H.B.C. Archives.\n(128) Log of the Princess Royal, January 13,1855, AfjS., H.B.C. Archives.\n(129) Douglas to Barclay, April 18, 1855, MS., H.B.C. Archives.\n(130) Log of the Princess Royal, May 25, 1855, MS., H.B.C. Archives.\n(131) Emma Frances Staines to Martha Cheney, August 30, 1855, MS.,\nArchives of B.C.\n(132) J. S. Helmcken, op. cit, vol. iii, p. 96, MS., Archives of B.C.\nHelmcken also recalled the following incident, which throws some light on\nStaines' character. \" Staines was fond of giving suppers\u00E2\u0080\u0094salads\u00E2\u0080\u0094the lettuces grew outside the fort pickets. He discovered that some one stole his\nvegetables, so he kept watch on the gallery and early one morning he was\nrepaid by finding a french Canadian named Minnie stealing the coveted 234 G. Hollis Slater October\nwas a political malcontent, a disloyal employee, and a dangerous\ninfluence. Yet withal there were evidently other more admirable\ntraits, for Dr. Helmcken himself recalled that when the news of\nStaines' drowning reached Victoria \" there was a general pity\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nhe was praised or blamed\u00E2\u0080\u0094a martyr or a fool as the case may be,\nbut all nevertheless regretted his end.\"133 That he was a pioneer\npriest, pedagogue, and political agitator cannot be gainsaid, and\nit is his misfortune that his activity in the latter role, misguided\nas it may have been, had tended to obscure his more lasting contributions to the life of the Colony of Vancouver Island.134\nG. Hollis Slater.\nSidney, B.C.\nfood. He coughed\u00E2\u0080\u0094Minnie lookfed] up\u00E2\u0080\u0094Good morning Minnie\u00E2\u0080\u0094You had\nbetter take the whole whilst you are about it! Minnie politely raised his hat\nand said Thank you Sir I will and went on filling his bag! Staines\nwanted to prosecute\u00E2\u0080\u0094but the question arose\u00E2\u0080\u0094Did not Staines give him\nliberty to take them.\" Ibid., vol. iii, pp. 98, 99.\n(133) Ibid., p. 97.\n(134) The name Staines has been perpetuated in two places by the Geographical Board of Canada. Staines Point, on the south end of Trial Island\nnear Victoria, is named after Rev. R. J. Staines, and a small islet off the\nnorth-east shore of Cadboro Bay called Ellen Staines is intended to commem-\nmorate his wife's association with the colony. This is an unfortunate misnomer, for there can be no question that her correct name was Emma\nFrances Staines. 1950 Rev. Robert John Staines 235\nAPPENDIX\nFragment op a Letter by Rev. R. J. Staines to\n. Rev. Edward Cridge1\n... of Public Instruction, & spends much time in drawing up elaborate reports of the wonderful things that have been effected & the\nprogress being made in the education. He is I believe an Anabaptist.\nThere were several courtiers present, amongst whom was John Young2\nthe son son of an English sailor, who was of immense value to the present dynasty in its budding days, & received the hand of one of the chief\nprincesses in marriage. This Young Man, who is about 26 or 27 years\nof age, is extremely handsome, & of so noble a mien & elegant a carriage that he would shed a grace on any court in Europe. That is to\nsay he could act the courtier as Louis XIV is said to have \" acted royalty;\" for with regard to his intellectual or moral attainments I could\nget no positive information, though I was told that they were very\nslight & shallow. Still as John Young is of English extraction the\ninformation may have a slight tinge of Yankee prejudice infused.\nWed. Oct. 10.\nAfter a few days' intermission I try again to get thro' this long\nTransAndean epistle for you. You see we moderns take longer flight\nthan our forefathers. Trans Alpine used to be the word, but in these'\ndays of steamers, railways & electric telegraphs, that is nothing accounted of. I don't know however whether they do not as perhaps in\nthis very present instance of my speaking of them, oftener lead us\naway from our business than to it, so that there may be more of temptation than of usefulness in them. I must really try to despatch this\nletter, which is the only one pretending to description, that I can attempt to write, as soon as possible. I think I must be content, with\nrespect to the Sandwich Islands, with what I have already said. I was\nmuch delighted with my ten days' sojourn there, & left them with much\nregret: many persons professed to regret that we were not going to\nstay amongst them; but whether that was real or complimentary I\ncannot tell. There is certainly no Episcopalian Clergyman there, which.\n(1) This fragment is one of the few original Staines' letters in the\nArchives of B.C. From its contents it may be assumed that it was the first\nletter written to Cridge after Staines' arrival in the colony, and that the\nmissing portion\u00E2\u0080\u0094two folded sheets\u00E2\u0080\u0094may have described the trip out, as well\nas first impressions of Fort Victoria. It begins, however, with references\nto the time spent at Honolulu.\n(2) This man's father, John Young, was a member of the crew of the\nAmerican ship Eleamora, Captain Simon Metcalfe, which visited the Hawaiian Islands in. 1790, along with the Fair American, commanded by Metcalfe's\nson, Thomas. Young was seized by the Hawaiians, and after several\nattempts at escape he became reconciled to life on the islands and rose to\nconsiderable prominence, becoming practically a confidential adviser to\nKamehameha. Ralph S. Kuykendall, The Hawaiian Kingdom, 1778-1854,\nHonolulu, 1938, pp. 24, 25, 42-44. 236 Appendix October\nis a very great pity, & much regretted by the British residents. One\ncurious thing happened. The last service I attended in England was\nthe very Evg. before I embarked, & it was at Mr Mortimer's Chapel,\nin Gray's Inn Lane. I preached at the Islands: & the British Consul,\nGenl. Millers lent me a large Prayer Book for the service, & whose\nname should it have in it here in the midst of the Pacific, towards the\nAntipodes, but Mr Mortimer's! It was presented by him to Mr\nPritchard formerly British Consul at the Society Islands, as appeared\nfrom the Inscription. It was when we were approaching the Harbour\nof Honolulu, that we first heard of the extraordinary discovery of gold\nin California, which is only three weeks' sail from there. The sensation it had caused throughout the Pacific is almost inconceivable.\nHonolulu was stated to be at the time comparatively deserted, & the\nfew who remained were preparing to leave as soon as the Californian\nwinter was well over. Many persons who were then at Honolulu had\nmade an excursion to the gold-region the previous autumn & realized\nvery considerable sums of money. One Amern. tradesman showed me\na large quantity of the gold, & told me he had made 210,000 dollars\nexactly \u00C2\u00A343,750. A lady named Hooper, (the only American lady we\nsaw) with whom we drank tea, also showed us some of the gold, both\ndust & flakes or scales. Her husband, a Merchant was at the time in\nSan Francisco, & he & his partner, were by the last advices realizing a\nprofit of \u00C2\u00A3500 a day. The following case will give you an idea of the\nextraordinary prices given for things. An English Merchant, named\nJanion4 residing at Honolulu, bought a large quantity of common beads\nof the Russians at Sitka, (a place on this Coast to the N.W.) at 1%\ndol: per lb. He sold them at San Francisco to a Merchant, whose name\nI was told but now forget, at 6 dol: per lb. He took them up the country to the gold region, & sold them at prices varying from 60 to 80 dol:\nper lb. This I had from the very best authority, a Sailor was one day\naccosted by an Indian at San Francisco who saw him using a common\nclasp-knife, worth /18d/ in England, & desired him to let him have the\nknife\u00E2\u0080\u0094The sailor asked him what he would give him; whereupon the\nIndian put his hands in his pockets & pulled out with great unconcern,\n(3) General William Miller, born December 2, 1795, became Consul-\nGeneral for the Sandwich Islands in 1843, arriving there in February, 1844.\nHe had had a varied military career, having served in the campaigns in\nChile and Peru when their independence was being won. He died in the\nharbour of Callao, Peru, October 31, 1861, having returned thence in 1859.\nRalph Kuykendall, op. cit, p. 221; and Sidney Lee (ed.), Dictionary of\nNational Biography, London, 1894, xxxvii, 426, 427.\n(4) Presumably Robert Cheshyre Janion, who eventually came to reside\nin Victoria in 1859. Subsequently, he entered into business with Henry\nRhodes. This partnership, Janion Rhodes & Company, \" fourth oldest house\nin British Columbia, whose name is almost as familiar in this Province and\nOregon as that of the Hudson's Bay Company,\" was dissolved in October,\n1874, and Janion thereafter operated only in Portland. [Victoria Colonist,\nOctober 9, 1874.] Janion died in England in his sixty-sixth year on August\n11, 1881. [Ibid., September 10, 1881.] 1950 Rev. Robert John Staines 237\na double handful of gold & gave him. This last case I had from Capt.\nShepherd5 of the; Inconstant Frigate (36) which was here for 3 weeks in\nMay. Had this Island only been colonized a few years sooner the\ngreater part of this wealth would have found its way into Vancouver's\nIsland, as its proprietors might have supplied the Californian market\nwith all the staple necessaries of life, for which this gold must be &\nindeed has been & is being exchanged. The Oregon Country, which\nalone could attempt to compete with this in the Californian market, has\nbeen almost deserted, nay entirely deserted. The people rushed down\nto Cala at the first tidings of gold, leaving their crops to rot in the\nground, & their cattle to take care of themselves; as if gold could\ncreate provisions. When they returned at the approach of winter, their\nfarms they found in a ruinous condition, & this summer they are all\ngone again. The H. B. Company's establishments on that side are\nutterly forsaken. All the working men & some of the Clerks have\ndeserted. When the vessel in which we came went round into the\nColumbia river after leaving here, one of the mates & 9 of the Crew\ndeserted. Since that, 11 men deserted from this very place, performing\na hazardous passage of 90 miles in a Canoe & having upwards of 100\nmore to travel before they could find employment. The Common rate\nof Seamen's wages is \u00C2\u00A32 per month; but here on the Californian Coast\nthey can get from 100 to 150 dol: or from \u00C2\u00A321 to \u00C2\u00A331 per month, so that\nit is no wonder that they desert. This year, at Fort Vancouver, The\nH. B. Coy. had to get in their harvest by means of Sandwich Islanders\n& Indians; all the whites had fled. Here, fortunately the straits of\nJuan de Fuca are interposed, or we should have been left to defend\nourselves against the Indians, if necessary, as best we might. Our\nsituation would really have been very critical, as this is only the 6th\nyear since the formation of this establishment on the Island: & indeed\nof the first, with the exception of one which existed about 50 years\nago, for the space of 2 or 3 years. This summer another has been\nformed at the coal region about 200 miles from this place,6 among\na tribe called the Qualcoalt-ths.7 It has received no name at present.\nThat will be fixed in Fenchurch St. The mainsprings of the commercial\nworld life in London, the Tyre of modern times. We are on very good\nterms with the Indians here, & the proprietors of this part of the\nIsland, the Songass, are a weak tribe, (once powerful, but of late years\nmuch thinned by disease) & they are glad of the protection afforded\nthem against their stronger neighbours by the presence of the white\nman. The tribe numbers from 150 to 200 men & perhaps 500 or 600\nin all. Their village is just opposite to the Fort, across an arm of the\n(5) Captain John Shepherd was a veteran naval officer, having obtained\nhis lieutenancy in 1813 and his captaincy on October 26, 1840. In 1849 he\nwas in command of H.M.S. Inconstant, 1,422 tons, 36 guns, which visited\nVancouver Island that year. This vessel had been built at Plymouth in 1836.\n(6) Fort Rupert, near the northern end of Vancouver Island, was built\nunder the supervision of Captain W. H. McNeill in 1849.\n(7) A reference to the Kwakiutl Indians. '238 Appendix October\nHarbour. On the other side of the Fort within 150 or 200 yards is\na village containing a part of a tribe called the Clallums; the great\nbody of whom dwell on the opposite or south side of the straits to which\nthey all belong. They have settled here apparently for the convenience\nof trading & are very peaceable. A great many of the Indians are\noccasionally employed hy the Company. I have had one of them, a son\nof one of the Clallum Chiefs, by name of Yoletan who is a great friend\nof mine, in my service, but he does not like steady work. He is a boy\nof about 15, & a few days ago, I found that his father had gone away,\n& previously to leaving had bought his son a wife. He now, I suppose,\nconsiders him as settled in the world. They all marry very early, & the\nwomen become quite old & haggard by five-&-twenty. The men have\na plurality of wives according to their wealth chiefly. There is one of\nthe Clallums in this village, who, I am told, has eleven. Their property\nchiefly consists in slaves, blankets & canoes. Every man has his gun,\nor two, or three, his canoe, sometimes two or three of them of different\nsizes for different purposes. The chieftainship is hereditary, but may\nalso be acquired, & in rather a curious way. It is not by permanent\npossession of wealth, though possession is previously necessary. If a\nman can destroy seven or eight blankets of his own, he is reckoned\na chief: & the more he can destroy, the greater chief he is deemed.\nMen already chiefs do this to gain superiority among chiefs. One man\non this island to the Northward, was seen absolutely to destroy with\ngreat formality & very deliberately one hundred good blankets in this\nway. They mount on these occasions on the roof of their huts, & tear\nthe blankets into strips of 1% or 2 inches in width, & distribute them\namongst those who are assembled around. Lads who have been\nredeemed from slavery by the Company, & allowed to work out their\nransom, have often worked on till they have gained 7 or 8 blankets, &\nthen gone & made Tai-yees' of themselves in this manner. Sometimes\nthey proceed to a more shocking & barbarous mode of displaying their\ngreatness, & that is by putting slaves to death. They will shoot them\nwith the most unfeeling savageness. This being the case it is quite\nan act of humanity to ransom the slaves when it can be properly done,\nthat is, so as not to encourage kidnapping for the sake of the ransom.\nTwo murders have taken place close to us since we have been here; but\nthe Colony is in such an infantine state at present that nothing can be\ndone to vindicate the laws. The first was committed by the Songass\nupon a lad, a nephew of a Chief of another tribe living about 30 miles\nfrom here on the East side of the Island, called the Cow-witch'-uns;\n& that particular family of them are designated Quaw'cutch-uns. This\nwas to avenge.a murder previously committed by the lad's Uncle upon\na Songass. This fellow, the Quaw-cutch-un Cow'-with-un by name\nTschellum, is a determined bandit, who has some 10 or 12 followers,\n& commits depredations upon all around, but chiefly upon those who\nmay be at variance with his tribe, tho' they themselves are said not to\nacknowledge him, & to term him an outcast or outlaw from their tribe. 1950 Rev. Robert John Staines 239\nHe committed the second murder upon a lad of the Clallum tribe at the\nCompany's dairy, about 4 or'5 miles from here, where he was assisting\nthe dairymen; he was pierced by 5 balls, as he was standing over the\nfire. There is a wood within a few yards of the spot. The men, who\nwere close at hand, rushed into the wood, but could see nobody. Men\nwent out in pursuit on horseback, but could find nobody. One man they,\nsaw, who escaped in the woods. However it was by some means known\nto be this man, & accordingly an expedition of 140 men was formed\nagainst him in 2 days, assembled from different parts by messengers.\nThey proceeded to the fellow's dwelling which is a stockaded fort, built\nupon an isolated rock, surrounded by water. They approached in their\ncanoes & some of them landed; He & his men fired upon them &\nwounded three: all but one of the wounded re-embarked, & he was\nunable. He entreated his comrades to fetch him off, but they dared\nnot: so the besieged made a sally & cut off his head & the assailants\ncame away, having effected nothing. The headless body was brought\nhere two days after by some women to whom it had been committed.\nThe man who was killed was of another tribe called the Soaks or Sokes.\nWe have not heard of this fellow for some 3 months now. Immediately\nupon this occurrence the trading of ammunition was put a stop to, in\norder to bring them to their senses, & if the Americans do not supply\nthem, it will have the desired effect. All this happened about the 12th\nor 14th May, whilst the Inconstant was here, lying within 5 or 6 miles\nof the spot where the murder was committed. When the Canoes of\nwarriors arrived from the other side of the straits to avenge the cause\nof their relative, they drew up close to the shore, & the Old Man, the\nfather of the deceased lad, sat upon the top of an overhanging rock,\nsurrounded by his fellow-villagers & made them an harangue, which\nwas replied to by those in the canoes. Afterwards they landed & rested\nfor the night bringing their own provisions with them. Early the next\nmorng. they set out on their expedn., but in 2 or 3 days returned, as\nI have before described.\nFor several weeks previous to this we were kept in a state of\ncontinual alarms, not fearing attacks upon ourselves but upon these\nIndians close to us, to avenge the first murder, which was perpetrated\nby the Songass. We were awakened almost every night by fire-arms\nall round us & at all distances within the sphere of hearing. Several\ntimes we heard the screams of people in the Songass village, as if caused\nby an irruption of their enemies. You can have no conception of what\nkind of a state this was to live in, every morning expecting to hear how\nmany were killed last night. They kept firing to show their enemies,\nif they were near, that they were on the alert, but it was so rapid\n& continual & sometimes in volleys with answers, that it seemed to\narise from actual encounters. However, since May, we have been very\nquiet; they have not quite so much powder to throw away now. 240 Appendix\nOct. 26.1849.\nI must now bring this letter to a conclusion in good earnest. For\nI expect the Columbia will sail in a day or two.\nOct. 29.1849.\nThe Columbia is expected to sail to-morrow. The time is therefore\narrived when I must say farewell to all my friends in Old England for\nthe present. Hoping that we may still live to see her shores again,\n& that you may live to meet us there,\nI remain\nMy Dear Cridge\nEver yours most affectly\nR. J. Staines.\n[Addressed:] The Rev. Edward Cridge\nGrammar School\nNorth Walsham\nNorfolk. NOTES ON THE PRE-HISTORY OF THE\nSOUTHERN NORTH-WEST COAST\nAlthough earlier investigators who excavated in the Pacific\nNorthwest have bequeathed us large collections of skeletal remains and implements of the ancient inhabitants of this region,\nthey left few data that could assist us in tracing the history and\nthe cultural development of the early Coast dwellers. We cannot infer from their notes what items came first, which next,\nand so on. Moreover, extensive excavations have been made\nonly in the southern portion of the Coast. In consequence, therefore, as late as 1943 the vast coastal stretch between Northern\nCalifornia and South-western Alaska has been pointed out as\narchseologically the least-known area on the North American\nContinent.1\nThe objectives of archaeology have changed greatly since the\nearly part of the century. To-day they are no longer confined to\nthe mere recovery of skeletal remains and artifacts. The modern\narchaeologist digs in order to recover as complete a picture as\npossible of the life and culture of ancient peoples at the various\nperiods of their history. He tries to follow their migrations and\nattempts to determine the nature of their relationships with\nother groups. In order to realize these objectives, he employs,\nboth in the field and in the laboratory, techniques which are as\nprecise as those of other exact sciences.\nSystematic programmes of archaeological research were\nstarted in the Pacific Northwest shortly after the end of World\nWar II, when the University of Washington began excavations\nin the San Juan Islands2 and the University of British Columbia\nin the Fraser Delta region.3\n(1) Philip Drucker, Archeological Survey on the Northern Northwest\nCoast, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin No. 133 (1943); Anthropological Papers, No. 20, p. 115. Drucker mentions as possible exceptions to\nthis statement only the Mackenzie-Yukon and Northern Plateau hinterland.\n(2) Cf. Arden King, Cattle Point: a Stratified Site in the Southern\nNorthwest Coast Region. Society for American Archaeology, Memoir No. 7.\n(3) Cf. Charles E. Borden, \" Preliminary Report on Archaeological Investigations in the Fraser Delta Region,\" Anthropology in British Columbia,\nNo. 1, pp. 13-27 (Victoria, 1950).\nBritish Columbia Historical Quarterly, Vol. XIV. No. 4.\n241 242 Charles E. Borden October\nIn the summer of 1949, students from the two universities\njoined forces and began the excavation of a large site on the\nWhalen farm at Boundary Bay, in the south-west corner of the\nFraser Delta.4 Before the excavation proper began, the students\nwere busy with alidade, plane-table, and stadia rod, surveying;,\nfixing datum points and benchmarks, and preparing contour\nmaps of the site. Thereupon the area to be excavated was carefully staked out and its location recorded on the contour map.\nIn excavating, only small implements were used\u00E2\u0080\u0094pointed mason\ntrowels and dust-pans, and, for even finer work, grapefruit-\nknives, spoons, dentist's tools, whisk-brooms, and soft-hair\nbrushes. Shovels came into play only during clean-up operations.\nAll excavated material was screened and closely scrutinized.\nEvery find, upon discovery, immediately received an identification\nnumber and its location was measured three-dimensionally with\nreference to datum point and benchmark. One artifact record-\nsheet, the size of standard typewriter-paper, was devoted to each\nfind for the recording of these and other data. Associated material, such as food remains, detritus of manufacture, charcoal,\nsamples of ash and of other midden material from the various\nstrata, was collected in special bags and its origin recorded.\nAfter the excavation of every 4-foot level was completed, scale\ndrawings of the stratification as it appeared on the trench-faces\nwere made on graph paper. In addition to copious field-notes,\nnearly 350 photographs were taken of the work in progress, of\nspecial features, such as rock-filled fire-pits, burials, and so forth.\nIn this fashion a trench 80 feet long, 5 feet wide, and 12 feet deep\nwas excavated during the nine weeks of the field-trip.\nThe reward for all this care in the field came later in the\nlaboratory when, after the original position of each find had been\nprecisely plotted on the profile drawings, the artifacts were laid\nout on a large table in their proper association and sequence.\nAlthough not one of the artifacts was very spectacular by itself,\nas the finds lay spread out in this fashion they began to tell the\nstory of two interesting chapters in the pre-history of this area.\n(4) The field-trip was sponsored by the Department of Anthropology of\nthe University of Washington and financed by a grant from the Agnes\nAnderson Research Fund. 1950 PRE-HISTORY OF THE SOUTHERN NORTH-WEST COAST 243\nThe collection contained two distinct assemblages of artifacts;\nthat is, it represented a sequence of two different Indian cultures.\nAlthough there are certain similarities, the differences between\nthe two are more numerous, and some of these are very striking.\nThe transition from one to the other is quite abrupt, with a\ndistinct dividing line between the two groups. A comparison of\na few elements of the two cultures will be of interest.\nAs just stated, there are certain cultural traits which the two\nIndian groups had in common. Both relied chiefly on the \u00C2\u00ABea\nfor their food-supply. They gathered shell-fish) caught salmon,\nhunted birds and a few land and sea mammals. But they exploited the natural resources of their environment by different\nmeans, and there is at least one interesting difference in their diet.\nThe earlier group used in the manufacture of most of its\nimplements raw materials which were obtainable locally, or at\nleast not far away. Chief among the preserved materials were\nbone, slate, and the shell of the giant mussel (Mytilus calif orni-\nanus). The later group did not use any slate and hardly any\nmussel-shell. Instead, some of its most important raw materials\n\u00E2\u0080\u00A2came from afar, from the plateau of the Interior. Among these\nmaterials are nephrite, serpentine, obsidian, and other stones.\nThere are significant differences in the types of stone\nprojectile-points used by the two groups. The earlier Indians\nused points of ground slate almost exclusively. Most of these are\ntoo large and heavy for arrows. They must have tipped spears\nor lances. The very few chipped or flaked points of these Indians\nhad a simple leaf shape. In the remains of the later group,\nground slate points are lacking completely. These Indians used\nonly small chipped points of types and shapes such as have been\nfound at archaeological sites in the Interior of Washington. The\nsmall size of these points indicates that they were all arrow-heads.\nNo stone points were found of a size large enough for spears.\nAnother marked difference is apparent in the cutting-tools of\nthe two groups. The earlier group employed knives of ground\nslate or giant-mussel shell. The later Indians used small razor-\nsharp obsidian blades, which seem to have been hafted by lashing\nthem into an open groove of a handle made of antler. 244 Charles E. Borden October\nAgain, the earlier group used only few celts, and these were\nfashioned chiefly of the shell of the giant mussel or of argillite.\nNeither of these materials is very hard and durable. The later\nIndians used numerous large and small celts of nephrite and\nserpentine\u00E2\u0080\u0094stones which are hard and tough.\nNephrite and serpentine celts were used as blades for adzes.\nSuch stone adzes were important wood-working tools of all\nNorth-west Coast Indians in pre- and proto-historic times before\nthe introduction of metals. It should be mentioned in this connection that evidence of the presence of two other important\nwood-working tools was found only among the remains of the\nlater Indians. These tools are antler wedges and heavy pestle-\nshaped pounding-hammers of stone to drive these wedges. From\nethnographic sources we know that such tools were used for\nsplitting off planks from large cedar logs. The presence of this\nconfiguration of wood-working tools in the upper horizon suggests, therefore, that the later occupants of the Whalen site had\na well-developed wood-working industry, and that they probably\nlived in large plank houses of the historic Coast Salish type.\nConversely, the absence in the lower horizon of all three of these\nheavy-duty tools may indicate that wood-working was not highly\ndeveloped among the earlier occupants, and that they lived in\nhouses of a different type.\nIn addition to these cultural differences suggested by the\nimplements used, there are others. Both groups practised midden burial, with the body laid on its side in a semi-flexed position.\nBut there is one difference which may be significant: the earlier\nIndians buried their dead facing west, and the later group buried\ntheir dead facing east.\nAs stated earlier, the food remains indicated at least one\nstriking difference in the diet of the two groups. The earlier\noccupants of the site had a marked preference for bay mussels\n(Mytilus edulis), which they ate the year around, supplemented\nby occasional meals of basket cockles (Cardium corbis). The\nlater inhabitants ate great quantities of large shell-fish, such as\nhorse-clams (Schizothserus nuttallii) and Washington butter-\nclams (Saxidomus nuttallii), and comparatively few mussels. 1950 PRE-HISTORY OF THE SOUTHERN NORTH-WEST COAST 245\nWhile the evidence which was gathered last summer at this\nsite cannot as yet be regarded as conclusive, the data that were\nobtained strongly suggest that an early group of Indians who had\nlived at this site for a considerable time, and whose entire orientation was evidently coastal by long tradition, was eventually\noverwhelmed by intrusive Indians whose culture exhibits strong\nties with the Interior.\nWho were these invaders and where did they come from?\nThe science of comparative linguistics suggests a plausible\nanswer.5 It appears that at an early period extensive dislocations among the Indian groups of the North-west were caused by\nrepeated waves of migration of Athabaskan-speaking peoples\nsweeping from northern regions southward along the Coast and\nthrough the Interior. After the turmoil had ceased, many Indian\ngroups occupied territory quite different from what they had held\nbefore the invasions started. Some groups held more than they\npossessed previously; others were squeezed into areas far smaller\nthan they originally occupied.\nGreat unrest was caused among the Salish. It appears that\nSalish-speaking groups were jostled out of positions in the\nInterior of Washington and migrated toward the Coast, where\nthey adapted themselves to a new life. They did not necessarily\nsettle for long periods in one place after arrival on the Coast, but\noften may have been hustled along to more distant places by new\ngroups coming from the Interior. It must have been during this\ntime of unrest, which may have lasted for several centuries, that\nthe North-west Coast of Washington, the San Juan Islands, the\nEast Coast of Vancouver Island, and the opposite Mainland were\nsettled by the ancestors of the Salish groups inhabiting this area\nto-day. It must be the remains of these intrusive Salish and of\ntheir descendants which we find in the upper levels of many of\nthe middens along our Southern Coast.\nBut who were the Indians who ceded this territory to the\ninvading Salish? This question cannot, as yet, be answered with\nany degree of probability. Their culture seems to have been\n(5) Cf. Morris Swadesh, \" The Linguistic Approach to Salish Prehistory \" in Indians of the Urban Northwest (edited by Marian W. Smith),\nNew York, 1949, pp. 161-173. 246 Charles E. Borden\ncharacterized by an absence or paucity of Interior traits, by the\ngrinding of slate for knives, daggers, lance and arrow points, and\nby the presence of toggling harpoon-heads. These and other\ntraits suggest that this culture derived its main stimulus from\nthe Far North rather than from the East.\nThe age of the Douglas fir-trees on the enormous shell mound\non the Whalen farm indicates that the final events in the last\nchapter of this chronicle took place about two and a half centuries\nago. We have, as yet, no clue as to the time of the earliest events\nat this site.\nSystematic excavations have just begun. It will take much\ntime and effort before a clear understanding of pre-historic\nevents in this area can be gained. But by patient investigation\nand with the assistance of scientists in other fields, with the help\nof individuals and groups outside of the two co-operating universities, we shall gradually approach this goal.\nCharles E. Borden.\nUniversity of British Columbia,\nVancouver, B.C. NOTES AND COMMENTS\nBRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION\nVictoria Section\nThe annual summer field-day of the Victoria Section on Saturday afternoon, August 12, took the form of a basket picnic at the residence of Mrs.\nJ. E. Godman. A special bus was chartered and a tour of historic sites in\nthe area preceded the picnic. Mr. J. K. Nesbitt, popular newspaper columnist, provided a running commentary on such points of historic interest\nas Craigflower, Parson's Bridge, Esquimalt dry-dock and dockyard as they\nwere visited in turn. Later the officers of the Section and a number of the\nmembers proceeded to the Canadian Bank of Commerce on Government\nStreet to witness the unveiling of a plaque marking the site of the first\nschool in British Columbia.\nThe first meeting of the fall season was held in the Provincial Library on\nOctober 19, with the Chairman, Professor Sydney G. Pettit, presiding. The\nspeaker of the evening was Dr. G. Clifford Carl, Director of the Provincial\nMuseum, who chose as his subject Native Indian Music of British Columbia.\nDr. Carl explained how th\"e Indians, handicapped by the lack of a system of\nwriting music, perpetuated by rote their personal, family, or tribal songs.\nIn the process the words of many of these songs had become garbled and\nmeaningless, although the rhythm and melody were cherished. Since their\nmusic was usually an accompaniment for their dancing, rhythm was usually\nits most prominent feature, although there were subtleties of tune and\nharmony. Five categories of native music were described, and Dr. Carl\ndemonstrated a number of the musical instruments\u00E2\u0080\u0094drums, rattles, and\nwhistle. At the conclusion of his address, recordings were played of the\n\" power song\" of Chief Johnny George, of Duncan, and excerpts from Cowichan Indian dances. The appreciation of the meeting was tendered to Dr.\nCarl by Mr. H. C. Gilliland.\nVancouver Section\nThe inaugural meeting of the Vancouver Section for the fall session was\nheld in the Grosvenor Hotel on Tuesday evening, October 17, with Mr.\nGeorge Green in the chair. The speaker on this occasion was Mr. Willard E.\nIreland, Provincial Librarian and Archivist and Editor of The British Columbia Historical Quarterly, whose subject was Hands across the Continent.\nIn the speaker's opinion the time was urgent for every means possible being\nused to strengthen a sense of Canadian national unity as opposed to narrow\nprovincialism, and that one of the most cogent arguments in the case was the\nhistoric approach, wherein the essential unity of background of our Provinces coupled with a pride in common achievements should be stressed. Mr.\nIreland then illustrated this thesis by a number of striking parallels between\nthe history of British Columbia and other parts of the Dominion of Canada.\nBritish Columbia Historical Quarterly, Vol. XIV, No. 4.\n247 248 Notes and Comments October\nThe most significant of these lay within the period of colonial administration, when the great impelling factor in the formation of what is now British\nColumbia was fear of the United States of America. The four administrative units that were brought into being\u00E2\u0080\u0094Vancouver Island, Queen Charlotte\nIslands, British Columbia, and the Stikine Territory\u00E2\u0080\u0094were directly the\nresult of fear of American encroachment. Likewise, this same fear was also\nan integral factor in the movement toward confederation in British North\nAmerica that led to the establishment of the Dominion of Canada in 1867.\nThe Chairman expressed the thanks of the meeting to the speaker for his\naddress.\nUNVEILING OF THE PLAQUE TO MARK THE SITE OF THE\nFIRST SCHOOL IN BRITISH COLUMBIA\nAn interesting ceremony took place on Saturday evening, August 12,\nwhen the Honourable Nancy Hodges, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly,\nunveiled a memorial bronze plaque on the Canadian Bank of Commerce\nbuilding at the corner of Fort and Government Streets. The plaque, erected\nby the Department of Trade and Industry, bears the following inscription:\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nOn this site, Rev. R. J. Staines and wife opened the First\nBritish Columbia School in 1849. In the same building of Fort\nVictoria the First Legislative Assembly met August 12th, 1856.\nThe ceremony, arranged by the Victoria Section of the British Columbia\nHistorical Association, was presided over by Mr. H. C. Gilliland, Vice-\nChairman, who in the course of his remarks thanked Mr. J. C. Thow,\nmanager of the Victoria branch of the Canadian Bank of Commerce, for\npermission to erect the plaque; the Honourable Leslie Eyres, Minister of\nTrade and Industry, for providing the plaque; and Mr. B. A. McKelvie for\nhis work and enthusiasm in having this particular site marked. Mr. Gilliland also sketched briefly the history of the Staines school, which opened in\nthe summer of 1849 as a boarding-school for the children of the Hudson's\nBay Company's officers and occupied quarters in the Mess Hall of the old\nfort. Seven years later, on August 12, 1856, this same building within the\nfort was the scene of the introduction of representative government in the\nyoung colony of Vancouver Island, for on that day, ninety-four years ago,\nJames Douglas opened the first meeting of the first Legislative Assembly to\nbe convened in what is now Canadian territory west of the Great Lakes. It\nwas on this aspect of the history of this site that the Honourable Nancy\nHodges spoke briefly prior to performing the unveiling. Subsequently, when\nthe old fort had been demolished, the Bank of British Columbia built the\npremises on this site which to-day are occupied by the Canadian Bank of\nCommerce, into which organization the older Bank of British Columbia was\nmerged. The association of this site with banking history was reviewed\nby the Rev. T. H. Laundy, formerly an employee of the Bank of British\nColumbia. Few historic sites in Victoria have such varied and interesting\nassociations and are more worthy of commemoration. 1950 Notes and Comments 249\ncontributors to this issue\nG. Hollis Slater has long been interested in the early activities of the\nChurch of England and the Church Missionary Society in the Pacific Northwest, as well as in the history of the Masonic order in British Columbia.\nCharles E. Borden, Ph.D. (California), is Associate Professor of German\nand Lecturer in Archaeology at the University of British Columbia. He has\nconducted several archaeological investigations in the Pacific Northwest.\nA. F. Flucke is a special research assistant attached to the Provincial\nArchives in connection with work being undertaken for the Department of\nEducation.\nMadge Wolfenden, Assistant Editor of this Quarterly and Assistant Provincial Archivist, is a frequent contributor to this Quarterly. THE NORTHWEST BOOKSHELF\nThe Fraser. By Bruce Hutchison. Toronto: Clarke, Irwin & Co., Ltd., 1950.\nPp. 368. Map and ills. $4.50.\nThis is the forty-second volume in the Rivers of America series and the\nfourth to deal with a river of essentially Canadian interest. It is not surprising that Bruce Hutchison should have been selected to write the story of\nBritish Columbia's most important river\u00E2\u0080\u0094the Fraser\u00E2\u0080\u0094for long and intimate\nassociation with the Province and a varied experience as a writer made the\nchoice a natural one. Comparisons are, perhaps, not quite fair considering\nthe difference in scope of subject-matter, but The Fraser does not come up to\nthe standard of The Unknown Country, by which Mr. Hutchison's reputation\nas a great Canadian writer was so deservedly established. In this book there\nis not the same high level of consistent good writing. To be sure, there are\nchapters, like \"Carson's Kingdom\" and \" For Anglers Only,\" which are Mr.\nHutchison at his best. In fact, one is almost tempted to generalize and say\nthat when writing about the river from his own experience the author is\nmore eminently successful than when dependent upon research for his basic\ninformation.\nIt is presumably the intention that the volumes in the Rivers of America\nseries shall weave the history of the contiguous regions into the life-story of\nthe river under consideration. Naturally this demands episodic treatment;\nmany incidents and details will have to be omitted or at best referred to\nonly in passing. It is precisely in this matter of selection and emphasis that\nstudents of the history of British Columbia will probably disagree most\nfrequently with Mr. Hutchison. For instance, serious readers would be most\ninterested to have the evidence that leads the author to describe the Spanish\nnavigator Narvaez as \" that forgotten man who actually found the Fraser.\"\nSuch is certainly not the story best substantiated by the work of the foremost\nscholars in the field. Presumably the acceptance of Narvaez as the discoverer of the river from the sea accounts for the ommission of all references\nto the expedition of James McMillan in 1824. At that time McMillan became\nthe first person ever to descend the main channel of the river to the Gulf of\nGeorgia, for Simon Fraser in his famous descent of 1808 followed the north\nchannel and never did reach the gulf. It is unfortunate, too, that no reference is made to the arrival of the Hudson's Bay Company's schooner Cadboro\nwhich, in 1827, became the first ship to enter the river and to pioneer the\nroute through its numerous sand-heads. Surely one might hope to find some\nreference to the founding in 1827 of Fort Langley in such a book as this, for\nafter all this was the first post to be established anywhere in the coastal area\nof our Province and thus for the first time brought white residents to the\nlower reaches of the river. But no such reference is to be found. Moreover,\none wonders why George Simpson's epic journey down the river in 1828 is\nalso ignored, particularly when this was the first recorded descent of the\nBritish Columbia Historical Quarterly, Vol. XIV, No. 4.\n251 252 The Northwest Bookshelf October\nriver by canoe from Lytton, for Fraser by his own admission clambered\nthrough the canyon along the old Indian path.\nIn point of fact Mr. Hutchison seems to have missed not only pertinent\nfacts concerning the river's earlier history, but also much of the significance\nof the role it has played in our history. For a time it was hoped\u00E2\u0080\u0094hence the\nestablishment of Fort Hope and Fort Yale\u00E2\u0080\u0094that the river might provide a\npracticable route to the Interior lest the well-developed Columbia River route\nshould be lost to the Hudson's Bay Company in the impending settlement of\nthe boundary between British and American possessions west of the Rocky\nMountains. Simpson's journey in 1828 for ever dispelled the company's\nexpectations in this connection. Moreover, one looks in vain for references\nto the role of the river as a defensive boundary, yet such it was in the gold-\nrush era. Colonel R. C. Moody's rejection of Fort Langley as the site for\nthe capital of the new colony of British Columbia and his selection of New\nWestminster was based primarily on military grounds\u00E2\u0080\u0094the capital must be\non the north and not the south bank of the river.\nThe role of the Fraser as the highway to the goldfields of the Cariboo\nis a theme well known to most, and it suffers nothing in Mr. Hutchison's\nretelling. Familiar figures like James Douglas and Judge Matthew Baillie\nBegbie are brought to life, and incidents\u00E2\u0080\u0094thrilling, amusing, and occasionally ridiculous\u00E2\u0080\u0094are blended into a capsule-like history of the colony and\nearly Province of British Columbia. Incidentally the original Mainland\ncolony of British Columbia as established in 1858 did not include \" the whole\nmainland\" (p. 60), but extended only as far north as the Nass River.\nNaturally there are many stories about early steamboat days on the river\nand the pioneer river pilots merit every whit of praise that they receive, but\nit would seem to be an oversight not to mention the great steamers of the\nupper Fraser, like the B.X. and B.C. Express, in the last days of steamboating on the river. For that matter, surely the manoeuvring of a sternwheeler\nfrom Prince George to Tete Jaune Cache, almost at the headwaters of the\nriver, is an incident as worthy of recording as the ascent of Hell's Gate\nCanyon by the Skuzzy. For the sake of the record, it should also be pointed\nout that the famous trip of the Enterprise from Soda Creek to Takla Landing did not involve going \" through waters south of Soda Creek which were\nconsidered impassable and were avoided even by men like Fraser \" (p. 156),\nfor there is no record of anyone ever having taken a steamboat through the\nriver from Lytton to Soda Creek.\nA considerable portion of the book consists of a description of the various\nsections of the river and the adjacent country as it is to-day. There is a fine\nessay on Vancouver, although doubtless many of its citizens will object to\nsome of the statements made. Then the author passes on to discuss the lower\nvalley, the canyon route, the Lillooet country, and finally the upper reaches.\nA chapter is also devoted to the Fraser's principal tributary, the Thompson,\nand one wishes that the same treatment had been given to its less publicized\nnorthern tributary, the Nechako. These are fine descriptive passages and\nrelatively free from the errors in fact that unfortunately mar the earlier\nsections of the book. Surely Mr. Hutchison had forgotten that Kingsway is 1950 The Northwest Bookshelf 253\nstill the main arterial highway into Vancouver when he referred to the old\nDouglas Road and the Grandview Highway as \" the main routes out of Vancouver eastward \" (p. 197).\nThe story of the salmon\u00E2\u0080\u0094the river's first inhabitants\u00E2\u0080\u0094is an important\nfacet in the story of the Fraser, and Mr. Hutchison has told it in all its\nramifications in a most succinct manner. To many \" For Anglers Only,\"\nwith its stories of trout-fishing in the Fraser's tributaries, is a highlight of\nthe book, while doubtless the more practical minded will be amazed at the\nphenomenal figures produced when the potential hydro-electric capacities of\nthe river are discussed\u00E2\u0080\u0094potentialities to-day almost totally untouched.\nThere can be no doubt but that The Fraser will bring the history and\nfolk-lore, the fact and fiction of British Columbia's past to more people than\nany other book published in recent years. It is for that fact alone that this\nreviewer regrets that greater care had not been taken in eliminating a considerable number of needless errors\u00E2\u0080\u0094some typographic, others not. Surely\non page 13, when referring to the voyage of Sir Francis Drake, the Northwest Passage is meant and not the Northeast. Billy Ballou came north from\nCalifornia in 1858, not 1848 as stated on page 84, and Philip Hankin, not\nRankin, was the Colonial Secretary at the time of the confederation debate\n(p. 120). One is more than a little surprised to find the author of The\nUnknown Country referring to the Dominion of Canada as \" the union of five\neastern colonies under the British North America Act of 1867\" (p. 116).\nIn all fairness it should be pointed out that most of the early constables and\nJustices of the Peace were Irish and not \"poor Englishmen\" (p. 137), and\nfor that matter references to the little settlement at the head of Harrison\nLake should be to Port Douglas not Fort Douglas (p. 157). Other errors\ncould be pointed out, but there is no need to labour the point.\nTo this reviewer, at least, one of the most disappointing features of the\nbook is its illustrations. Black and white sketches have been done by Richard\nBennett, but for the most part they seem unusually uninspired and, indeed,\nthere frequently is little to associate them with the Fraser than with any\nother river on this continent. Some good photographic reproductions would\ncertainly have given the reader a much more vivid impression of the varied\nterrain through which the Fraser passes. Evidently these illustrations were\nmisplaced in the book, for that seems to be the only reasonable explanation\nfor the fact that the pagination given in the index does not fit the text.\nAfter having counted over 150 errors in the index, mainly in pagination, this\nreviewer gave up the task and regretfully came to the conclusion that no one\nwas expected to use the index. This is a standard of book-making completely\nunworthy of the Rivers of America series, to say nothing of the usually high\nreputation of the publishers. It is to be hoped that further reprintings of\nthis book will find these defects eradicated. That The Fraser will find a\nready market and that reprintings will be necessary is a foregone conclusion,\nfor it merits such a reception.\nWillard E. Ireland.\nVictoria, B.C. 254 The Northwest Bookshelf October\nThe Fourteenth Report of the Okanagan Historical Society. Kelowna: The\nKelowna Courier, 1950. Pp. 171. Map and ills. $2.50.\nThis report marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the\nOkanagan Historical Society. September 10, 1926, saw the first annual\nreport produced, and it is interesting to scan these thirty-five pages and to\ncompare them with more recent issues.\nFor some years after its inception the organization was known as the\nOkanagan Historical and Natural History Society. However, this name was\nfound to be misleading and was shortened to the more appropriate title. The\nfirst report contained twenty-five items, most of which were written by the\nlate Leonard Norris, founder and first President of the Society, and F. M.\nBuckland, Vice-President. Subsequent reports show a consistent increase in\nthe number of contributors. The 1935 report ran more than 300 pages and\ncontained contributions on a wide range of subjects. This, of course, was an\naccumulation of four years' material, no previous report having been issued\nsince 1931. Since 1946, reports have been issued each year. The first report\ndealt exclusively with Okanagan history, but this has not been the case with\nevery issue. Many articles have been concerned with subjects having wider\nhorizons than the local district afforded. Nevertheless, the main function of\nthe organization has been to foster interest in the regional history among the\nlocal residents.\nQuite often the activities and publications of local historical organizations\nare labelled parochial by those interested in the broader aspects of the field.\nBut such societies fill a definite and valued place, not only by stimulating and\nmaintaining the interest of local residents in the history of their home area,\nbut also by pointing up the fact that in large part the essential background\nto many issues of national and even international importance belongs collectively to the innumerable small, sometimes isolated, and too often overlooked\ncommunities of our national area. Large metropolitan centres can speak\nwith commendable pride on their startling developments from lowly beginnings to circumstances whereby they play a vital part in the economy of\nthe country and are given considered importance in the case of national\nundertakings. Individually, local and particularly rural districts do not profoundly affect the larger scheme of things, although they may be profoundly\naffected thereby. But, taken as a whole, the sum total of the endeavours of\ntheir inhabitants provides the backdrop for many of the more significant and\ncolourful scenes of history.\nThe Fourteenth Report presented this year contains twenty-nine items,\nall of which, like those of the original issue, deal exclusively with Okanagan\nhistory. Vera B. Cawston writes of the \" Romance of a Road,\" describing\nhow the recent opening of the Hope-Princeton Highway was the culmination\nof more than a century of effort to provide adequate transportation into the\nSouthern Interior of the Province. George G. Fraser has produced a vivid\nand heart-warming picture of \" Father Pat,\" the Anglican Irishman and\nheroic pastor of the mining and construction camps, and Rev. J. C. Goodfellow has given us a kindly biographical sketch of the almost legendary 1950 The Northwest Bookshelf 255\n\" Podunk \" Davis. F. M. Buckland has done an interesting bit of research on\nthe origin of the Peon family\u00E2\u0080\u0094a name associated with Okanagan history\nSince its earliest records. A sincere \" appreciation \" of Dr. R. B. White, one\nof Penticton's most cherished citizens, is given by a professional colleague,\nDr. F. W. Andrew. As befits a silver anniversary edition, the report includes\nbrief historical sketches of a number of Okanagan communities\u00E2\u0080\u0094Westwold\n(Grand Prairie), Salmon Arm, and South-east Kelowna. Other contributions include two on the Nez Perc6 Indians, several short biographical pieces\non early pioneers, and a description of the Okanagan soft-fruit industry.\nThe Report is well presented on gloss paper, with a number of interesting\nillustrations, fillers of homespun verse, and comments on recent publications\nmentioning the Okanagan.\nA. F. Flucke.\nVictoria, B.C.\nThe Story of Sauvies Island. By Omar C. Spencer. Portland, Oregon: Binfords & Mort, 1950. Pp. 134. 111. $3.\nPacific Graveyard; a narrative of the ships lost where the Columbia River\n\u00E2\u0096\u00A0meets the Pacific Ocean. By James A. Gibbs, Jr. Portland, Oregon:\nBinfords & Mort, 1950. Pp. 173. 111. $3.\nIslands have the power always to arouse man's interest wherever he may\nlive, and here is a book that will satisfy the curiosity and hold the attention\nof all those who are fortunate enough to come across it. On an autumn day\nin 1792 Lieutenant William R. Broughton of H.M.S. Chatham and his party\nfirst sighted the delta now known as Sauvies Island in the Columbia River,\nwhere they camped overnight, not realizing its insularity. Yet it was not\nuntil the year 1834 that Nathaniel Wyeth became the Island's first settler.\nThe story of the exploration and settlement of Sauvies Island from the\ntime- when only the Indians dwelt there, fished and dug wappato roots, to\nthe present, when, by reason of a bridge connecting it with the mainland, it\nhas virtually given up its island status, is told in this delightful book by\nOmar C. Spencer. A past president of the Oregon Historical Association\nand himself country born and bred, Mr. Spencer possesses the country man's\nfeeling for life lived in the great outdoors and close to Mother Nature.\nFor these reasons and also because Sauvies Island is his home, he has been\nable to tell the story of \" his island \" with more warmth than the average\nhistorian'or mere chronicler of events.\nFrom the long list of \" References \" at the end of the book, it is obvious\nthat Mr. Spencer has spent a great deal of time in research and that he has\nnot overlooked any authority which might give one or more interesting facts\nabout Sauvies, or, as the Indians once called it, Wappato, Island. The author\nhas approached his subject from the historian's point of view, and yet he\nhas used such good judgment in his selections of quotations and historical 256 The Northwest Bookshelf October.\nfact and has included so much of general interest that his book is in every\ntrue sense of the word \" readable,\" and withal intensely interesting.\nThis reviewer has only minor criticism for one or two typographical\nerrors and a regret that John Dunn's picturesque spelling of Wallamette,\nWappatoo, and potatoe were not followed in the quotation on page 119. The\nformat of The Story of Sauvies Island is of the general high standard of\nBinfords & Mort, the publishers; and the addition of a number of good\nillustrations add to the enjoyment of the reader and enhance the appearance\nof the volume. Aspiring local historians would do well to emulate Mr.\nSpencer's admirable achievement, and those who to-day live on the shores\nof the Willamette and Columbia Rivers should certainly read what Mr.\nSpencer has to say of this fertile island, its farming activities, and its onetime game preserves.\nIn contrast to The Story of Sauvies Island is Mr. Gibbs' unusual book of\nthe many\u00E2\u0080\u0094too many\u00E2\u0080\u0094wrecks which have occurred at the mouth of the\nColumbia River since the beginning of the nineteenth century until the year\n1948. Any story of a wreck is a grim one, and many of Mr. Gibbs' narratives are far from happy ones, and for this reason Pacific Graveyard is not\na very pleasant chronicle. In the interests of local history, however, it will\nbe a useful contribution to the history of the Columbia River in its varied\nphases.\nMr. Gibbs must have done a great deal of research in gathering material\nfor his book, and one regrets that he has not listed the authorities which he\nconsulted while preparing it. For this reason, one wonders if he used H. R.\nWagner's The Cartography of the Northwest Coast of America, for in that\ncomprehensive work Mr. Wagner makes the definite statement that the\nColumbia River was discovered by Bruno Heceta in the year 1775. Charles\nH. Carey, another reliable authority, in his General History of Oregon (Vol.\nI, p. 32) says that Heceta has given the \" first recognizable description to\nbe written of the mouth of the Columbia river and of the coast to the south.\"\nMr. Gibbs' brief and inaccurate reference to Heceta on page 3 gives the\nimpression of a skimming over of historic fact. On page 2 the reference to\na Dutch chart of 1570 is somewhat puzzling. Does Mr. Gibbs refer to the\nOrtelius Atlas of 1570, published in Antwerp? One cannot help feeling that\nin essaying to give the historic background of the discovery and exploration\nof the Columbia River that the author of Pacific Graveyard is sometimes\n\" skating on thin ice.\"\nNevertheless, in spite of these criticisms, Pacific Graveyard is an interesting book, illustrated with splendid reproductions by the \" offset\" process\non good paper and well printed. The book is another example of the fine\nworkmanship of Binfords & Mort, of Portland, and will be of particular\ninterest to inhabitants of Astoria, Cannon Beach, Seaside, and other adjacent\ncommunities, as well as to all those whose interest lies in ships, whether\nprofessional or as a hobby,\nMadge Wolfenden.\nVictoria, B.C. 1950 The Northwest Bookshelf 257\nPapers read before the Historical and Scientific Society of Manitoba. Series\nIII. No. 5. Edited by J. A. Jackson and W. L. Morton. Winnipeg:\nAdvocate Printers Ltd., 1950. Pp. 82. Map. $1.\nThis fifth number of the third series of publications by the Historical and\nScientific Society of Manitoba consists of four of five papers read before the\nsociety in the year 1948-49. They are diversified in interest and provide\nample evidence of the sound scholarship that has been enlisted within the\nsociety\u00E2\u0080\u0094one of the oldest local-history organizations in Western Canada.\nThe first paper on \" The Establishment of Manitoba's First Provincial\nGovernment\" was contributed by F. A. Milligan, a graduate of the University of Manitoba now engaged in doctoral studies at the University of\nLondon. It is an able account of the work of Manitoba's first Lieutenant-\nGovernor, Adams George Archibald, during the first year of his incumbency.\nUnlike the Eastern Provinces and, for that matter, British Columbia, which\nentered Confederation in full possession of the machinery of government,\nManitoba had been legally created by the Manitoba Act of 1870, but there\nwas no colonial administrative foundation upon which the superstructure\nof Provincial government could be built. Three local circumstances made\nArchibald's task all the more difficult: first the Province was geographically\nisolated and had, in consequence, to be self-sufficient politically; second,\nfactional bitterness, the heritage of the insurrection, necessitated adroit\naction if turmoil was to be prevented and suspicions allayed; and last, and\nmost serious, the Lieutenant-Governor was dealing with a community that\nwas politically inexperienced and leaderless. Mr. Milligan traces the steps\nin the gradual formation of a government which in due course found popular\nsupport in the election of December 30, 1870, and faced the first legislative\nsessions in March, 1871. Students of the evolution of political institutions\nlooking back upon the role played by Archibald, who in reality performed\nall the functions of a premier, cannot but be surprised at the metamorphosis\nof the status of a lieutenant-governor.\n\" Private Letters from the Fur Trade \" is a selection of about twenty\nletters addressed to William McMurray, of the Hudson's Bay Company,\nbetween 1845 and 1871. McMurray, son of a pioneer fur-trader, served\nchiefly in the Mackenzie River district and later in the Lake Winnipeg\nregion, where he rose to the rank of inspecting chief factor. These are the\nletters from his friends and associates in the fur-trade concern and in their\nway form a sequel to the Hargrave correspondence of the previous generation. Clifford Wilson has provided short biographical sketches of the writers\nof these letters. None of the correspondents cited resided west of the Rocky\nMountains, but of particular local interest is the reference to the arrival of\nthe Overlanders of '62 at Red River Settlement as reported by J. H.\nMcTavish in his letter of May 28, 1862. The letters generally are highly\ninformative and frequently amusing and pleasantly forthright.\nG. A. McMorran is the publisher and editor of the Souris Plaindealer,\nwith a more than usual interest in the early history of his district. His\npaper, \" Souris River Posts in the Hartney District,\" is primarily a careful 258 The Northwest Bookshelf\nanalysis of the records in an effort to locate the site of Ash House, established in 1795 by the North West Company on the Souris River. In this\ntask he has apparently succeeded and, in addition, gives considerable information on two other Souris country posts\u00E2\u0080\u0094Fort Desjarlais, built in 1836,\nand Fort Mr. Grant, established in 1824\u00E2\u0080\u0094as well as three lesser outposts\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nLena's House, Turtle Mountain House, and Garrioch's Post.\nThe last paper on \" Mining in Manitoba \" was prepared by George E.\nCole, Director of the Mines Branch of the Department of Mines and Natural\nResources of Manitoba from its inception in 1930 until his retirement in\n1945. The earliest mining activity in Manitoba is connected either with\nsalt-extraction or limestone-works, but the emergence of a mining industry\nas such is a much more recent development. Mr. Cole pays tribute to the\nwork of early geologists and also gives a careful analysis of the impact of\nthe Dominion Lands Act and regulations on the development of mineral\nresources. He has drawn together a considerable amount of information on\nearly efforts in prospecting and company promotion in the last quarter of\nthe nineteenth century. Metalliferous mining really dates from 1910, when\nthe great discoveries at Cobalt and Porcupine in Ontario stimulated interest\nall over the Great Shield. Details concerning many of the pioneer mines are\ngiven\u00E2\u0080\u0094San Antonio, Flin Flon, Mandy, Sherritt Gordon\u00E2\u0080\u0094to mention but\na few of the more significant operations. Nor does he forget the spurious\nones, for the story of the Bingo Gold Mines is always interesting reading.\nWillard E. Ireland.\nVictoria, B.C. THE\nBRITISH COLUMBIA\nHISTORICAL\nQUARTERLY\nVOLUME XIV\n1950\nVICTORIA, B.C.\nPublished by the Archives of British Columbia in co-operation with the\nBritish Columbia Historical Association EDITOR\nWillard E. Ireland,\nProvincial Archives, Victoria, B.C.\nASSOCIATE EDITOR\nMadge Wolfenden,\nProvincial Archives, Victoria, B.C.\nADVISORY BOARD\nJ. C. Goodfellow, Princeton, B.C. T. A. Rickard, Victoria, B.C.\nW. N. Sage, Vancouver, B.C.\nEditorial communications should be addressed to the Provincial Archives,\nParliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C. CONTENTS OF VOLUME XIV\nArticles : Page\nThe Governorship of Richard Blanshard.\nBy W. Kaye Lamb 1\nThe Gold-rush of '49.\nBy T. A. Rickard 41\nSome Irish Figures in Colonial Days.\nBy Margaret A. Ormsby 61\nThe Nickel Plate Mine, 1898-1932.\nBy Harry D. Barnes 125\nThe McInnes Incident in British Columbia.\nBy John T. Saywell 167\nRev. Robert John Staines: Pioneer Priest, Pedagogue, and Political\nAgitator.\nBy G. Hollis Slater 187\nNotes on the Pre-history of the Southern North-west Coast.\nBy Charles E. Borden _ 241\nDocuments:\nCoal-seekers on Peace River, 1903. Diary of My Journey to and\nStay in the Peace River District in the Year 1903, by John\nStrickland Leitch, C.E.\nEdited with an introduction by W. N. Sage 83\nLetters of Captain George Dixon in the Banks Collection.\nEdited with an introduction by Richard H. Dillon _ 167\nNotes and Comments _ 109, 173, 247\nThe Northwest Bookshelf:\nTales of Conflict.\nBy Madge Wolfenden 119\nThe Fraser Mines Vindicated.\nSawney's Letters.\nBy Willard E. Ireland.. 120\nFrom Copenhagen to Okanogan.\nBy A. F. Flucke 121\nThe Thirteenth Report of the Okanagan Historical Society.\nBy John Goodfellow 179\nNooksack Tales and Trails.\nThat Man Thomson.\nPrize-winning Essays Armitage Competition in Oregon Pioneer\nHistory, 1949.\nBy Willard E. Ireland _ - 181\nThe Maritime History of Russia, 1848 1948.\nBy John T. Saywell...... 184 The Northwest Bookshelf\u00E2\u0080\u0094Continued PA0K\nMilestones on the Mighty Fraser.\nBy Willard E. Ireland 186\nThe Fraser.\nBy Willard E. Ireland 251\nThe Fourteenth Report of the Okanagan Historical Society.\nBy A. F. Flucke 254\nThe Story of Sauvies Island.\nPacific Graveyard.\nBy Madge Wolfenden 256\nPapers Read before the Historical and Scientific Society of Manitoba, Series III, No. 5.\nBy Willard E. Ireland 257\nIndex 259\nERRATA\nPage 15, lines 20 and 34: For Daedalous read Daedalus. This same error\noccurs on page 23, line 32; page 29, line 38; and page 32, line 15.\nPage 86, line 24: For Waler read Walter.\nPage 119, line 31: For Quae read Quaw.\nPage 126, line 16: For Arundel read Arundell. This same error occurs\non page 129, line 32, and page 130, foot-note 14.\nPage 127, line 23: Delete thin.\nPage 140, line 8: For 65,000 read 650,000.\nPage 148, foot-note 17: For W. B. Bullen read W. F. Bullen.\nPage 173, line 30: For Hadley read Hedley.\nPage 182, line 23: For lay read lie. INDEX\nAberdeen, Lord, 76, 14S, 149\nAikin, George, 206\nAlexis, Indian, 98, 95, 97, 99, 101-108, 106-107\nAlison, Sir Archibald, 59\nAlston, E. G., 80\nAnderson, A. C, 20, 21, 198, 200\nAnderson, Frank, 91\nAnderson, James, Sawney's Letters, review\nof, 120, 121\nAnderson, James Robert, 198-200\nAngela College, Victoria, 68, 81\nArchselogical investigations, Fraser Delta,\n242-246\nArundell, Constantine H., 126, 129, 180\nAthabasca Landing, 88\nBaker, James, 151\nBancroft, H. H., 17, 89, 62\nBanfield, William, 226\nBanks, Sir Joseph, 168, 170\nBarclay, Archibald, 1-3, 18-20, 22, 26-29, 86\nBarkley, Capt. Charles William, 170, 171\nBarnes, Harry D., The Nickel Plate Mine,\n1898-1932, 125-140\nBarr, 220\nBear Flat Creek, 96\nBeardmore, 9, 12, 14-16\nBeaton, 95\nBeaven, Robert, 150\nBeaver, Rev. Herbert, 187, 204\nBeaver Harbour, 8, 80\nBedson, 94\nBeebe, George Washington, 166, 167\nBegbie, Matthew Baillie, 71\nBegg, Alexander, 39\nBengal Fur Society, 171\nBenson, Dr., 24, 25, 29\nBeresford, William, 167, 168\nBighorn Claim, 130\nBillingsley, Paul, 133, 140\nBlanshard, Richard, 1-7, 9, 11, 13-40, 63, 64,\n116, 117, 202, 207\nBlanshard, Mrs. Richard, 37-39\nBlanshard, The Governorship of Richard, 1-40\nBlenkinsop, George, 9\u00E2\u0080\u009413\nBlinkhorn, Thomas, 218\nBob, Indian, 87\nBorden, Charles E., Notes on the Pre-history\nof the Southern North-west Coast, 240-246\nBostock, H. S., 183\nBragg, Frank, 129\nBreakers, Point, 169\nBredin, Lieut.-Col., 91, 107\nBrennan, Samuel, 46\nBrew, Augusta, 66\nBrew, Chartres, 64-67, 69-71, 78\nBrick, All, 85, 92, 93, 107\nBritish Columbia Historical Association, 109-\n114, 173, 174, 247, 248\nBritish North America Act, 1867, 143, 144\nBrotchie, Capt., 7\nBrown, J. C, 155, 156\nBryden, John, 148\nBulldog Mineral Claim, 126, 129, 184\nBullen, W. F., 148\nCache Creek, 96\nCahill, George, 130, 176, 177\nCairn, Port Alberni, 176, 177\nCameron, David, 217-223, 226\nCamp Fairview, 131\nCamp McKinney, 131\nCampbell, Colin, 84, 85, 88-91, 95, 97-105\nCampbell, Francis, 81\nCampbell Creek, 102\nCamsell, Charles, 133\nCapital, B.C., 73-76\nCariboo Historical Society, 115\nCarter-Cotton, Francis, 150-152, 168\nCathie, James, 204, 205\nChalcedony, 96\nChirouse, Father, 77\nChurch, first in Victoria, 203, 204, 209, 216\nClear River, 96\nClimax Claim, 130\nCoal, Peace River, 83, 85, 98-104; Vancouver Island, 8\nCoal-seekers on Peace River, 1908, 83-108\nColdstream Ranch, 76, 78\nCollegiate School, Victoria, 81\nColvile, Andrew, 214\nComstock, Henry, 58\nComstock Lode, 57, 58\nConnolly, William, 61\nConolly, William, 226, 227\nCook, James, 169\nCook, Cape, 169\nCooney, Charles T., 81\nCooper, James, 26, 34, 202, 206, 206, 211, 216,\n219, 226, 226\nCopper Plate Claim, 129\nCopperfield Claim, 126, 129\nCornwall and Bredin, 85, 91\nCorry, W. E., 135\nCotter, 92, 107\nCourt, Vancouver Island, 217-223, 226\nCox, William George, 67-69, 71-75\nCrickmer, Rev. W. R., 81\nCridge, Edward, 233 ; letter to, 196, 285-240\nCunningham, Thomas, 81\nCurtis, Smith, 156\nCzar Claim, 130\nDaly, Marcus, 126, 129, 134\nDaly Reduction Company, 129, 185\nDavie, Theodore, 145, 146\nDavies, 83, 89-92, 96, 98-103, 107\nDawson, G. M., 83\nDeadman Island, 152\nDeans, Annie, 222 ; letter from, 223-225\nde Cosmos, Amor, 61\nDeCourcey, 81\nDekape River, 95\nDempsey, James, 55\n259 260\nIndex\nDeShenie, 24\nDewdney, Edgar, 142\nDickinson, George, 96, 98, 99, 101, 107\nDickson, 137\nDillon, Richard H., ed.. Letters of Captain\nGeorge Dixon in the Banks Collection,\n167-171\nDixon, George, 167, 168, 170, 171; letters\nfrom, 168-171\nDodd, Charles, 217\nDouglas, Sir James, 63-66, 69, 70, 76; and\nBlanshard, 1-5, 7, 9, 16-23, 26, 27, 29, 30,\n34, 36 ; and Staines, 197, 200-229, 233, 284;\nas Governor, 82, 88, 85-87\nDouillet, Manuel, 220, 221, 222\nDunsmuir, James, 148, 154, 156, 158\nDu Pont Trail, 101, 102\nEast India Company, 171\nEberts, D. M., 149\nEbey, Col., 227\nElections, B.C., 146-148, 151, 157, 158\nElla, Martha Cheney, 202, 224, 233\nEllen Staines, Islet, 234\nEllico, Edward, 17, 37\nElliott, Andrew Charles, 61-63, 69, 70, 75, 80\nEllis, Thomas, 78\nElwyn, Thomas, 64, 70, 74\nEstevan Point, 169\nExchange Fraction, 130\nExploration Syndicates, 130, 134\nFanshawe, Capt., 30, 32\nField, Maria, 204, 205\nField, Thomas, 200, 204, 205\nFinlayson, Roderick, 7, 52, 196, 197, 201, 211,\n217, 233\nFitzgerald, James Edward, 23\nFitzroy, Sir Charles, 50\nFlucke, A. F., The Fourteenth Report of the\nOkanagan Historical Society, review by,\n254, 255; From Copenhagen to Okanogan,\nreview by, 121-123\nForts and trading-posts, Dunvegan, 98, 94,\n107; Hudson's Hope, 96-99, 106, 107;\nLangley, 201 ; Nisqually, 2, 9, 24, 202;\nRupert, 2, 7-17, 20, 23, 29-32, 237; St.\nJohn, 94, 95, 106, 107; Simpson, 16, 20,\n21; Vancouver, 24, 29, 36, 187, 188, 191,\n193-195, 237; Victoria, 1, 2, 19, 24-26, 28,\n29, 51, 52, 188, 195, 197, 198, 203\nFranklyn, William Hales, 73-75\nFraser, Simon, 93, 96\nFraser, W. A., 88\nFraser, The, review of, 251-253\nFraser River Mines Vindicated, The, review\nof, 120, 121\nFried, U. E-, From Copenhagen to Okanogan,\nreview of, 121-128\nFrom Copenhagen to Okanogan, review \"of,\n121-123\nFur trade, maritime, 169-171\nGaggin, John Boles, 63, 69\nGarrett, Rev. A. C, 81\nGeological Survey, Peace River, 83\nGibbs, James A., Jr., Pacific Graveyard, review of, 265, 256\nGillespie, William, 7\nGold. 68-60\nGold mining, Australia, 48-61, 60; British\nColumbia, 63, 54; California, 20, 21, 41-49,\n51, 52, 60, 236, 237; Colorado, 55, 56;\nNevada, 57, 58; Queen Charlotte Islands,\n21, 53, 206\nGold-rush of '49, The, 41-60\nGolledge, Richard, 217, 227\nGoodfellow, John, The Thirteenth Report of\nthe Okanagan Historical Society, review by,\n179-181\nGoodfellow, S. J., 24\nGosnell, R. E., 110\nGossett, Capt. William D., 70\nGovernor's House, Fort Victoria, 1-3, 28\nGovernorship of Ricliard Blanshard, The, 1-40\nGrand Trunk Pacific Railway, 83, 85\nGrant, Capt. J. M., 67\nGrant, Capt. W. Colquhoun, 6, 17, 27, 38, 129\nGregory, John H., 56\nGrey, Lord, 18, 20, 24-26, 31, 32, 54\nGrouard, 85, 91\nGuise, Capt., 170\nHall, Rev. John, 81\nHall, Richard, 151\nHamilton, 92\nHamlen, 167\nHandcock, 81\nHanna, James, 170\nHarcus, Bill, 85, 87, 89, 92\nHargraves, Edward H., 48-50, 59\nHarvey, 91\nHaslam, Andrew, 81\nHaynes, John Carmichael, 67, 71, 78\nHedley, 125, 126, 131, 139\nHedley City Townsite Company, 131\nHedley Gold Mining Company, 130, 138, 135,\n139, 140\nHelmcken, H. D., 153\nHelmcken, John Sebastian, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10-17,\n25, 29, 39, 73-75, 198, 200, 201, 233, 234\nHess, 88\nHicks, Richard, 65, 67\nHiggins, D. W., 148\nHill, N. P., 56\nHinderwell, Capt., 7\nHislop, Jim, 87\nHistorical and Scientific Society of Manitoba,\nPapers Read before the, review of, 257,\n258\nHolbrook, E. A., 135\nHornby, Rear-Admiral, 29, 30\nHorsefly Claim, 126\nHoughton, Capt. Charles Frederick, 76-78\nHudson's Bay Company and Hev. Staines,\n188, 189, 192, 193, 197, 198, 202, 203, 206-\n208, 212-217, 223, 229, 230\nHudson's Bay Company and Vancouver\nIsland, 2, 4, 5, 11, 14, 16-28, 25-35, 61,\n210-218, 222\nHume, J. Fred, 160\nHunniford, John, 81\nHutchison, Bruce, The Fraser, review of, 251-\n258 Index\n261\nI.X.L. Claim, 130\nIndians, Fort Rupert, 12-17, 80-82; Fraser\nDelta, 241-246; Vancouver Island, 237-239\nInquest, First on Vancouver Island, 7\nIreland, W. E., The Fraser, review by, 251-\n253; The Fraser Mines Vindicated, review\nby, 120, 121; Milestones on the Mighty\nFraser, review by, 185, 186; Nooksack\nTales and Trails, review by, 181-184;\nPapers Read before the Historical and\nScientific Society of Manitoba, review by,\n257, 258; Prize Winning Essays Armitage\nCompetition in Oregon Pioneer History,\n191,9, review by, 181-184; Sawney's\nLetters, review by, 120, 121; That Man\nThomson, review by, 181-184\nIrish Figures in Colonial Days, Some, 61-82\nIrish in British Columbia, 61-82\nIron Duke Fraction, 129\n\" Jack-pots,\" 96\nJacobson, 131\nJanion, Robert Cheshyre, 236\nJeffcott, P. R-. Nooksack Tales and Trails,\nreview of, 181-184\nJohn W. Mercer Exploration Company, 140\nJohnson, Capt., 9\nJohnson, 130\nJohnson Creek, 98, 105\nJoly de Lotbiniere, Sir Henri, 161\nJones, Gomer P., 129, 135, 136\nJuan de Fuca, Strait of, 171\nKamloops Museum Association, 114, 115\nKeith, Arthur Berriedale, 161, 163\nKelowna Exploration Company, 140\nKennedy, 213\nKennedy, Arthur Edward, 62, 79, 80\nKerr, 74, 75\nKing George's Sound Company, 167\nKipling, Tom, 107, 108\nKnowles, B. W., 135\nLamb, R. B., 129, 133\nLamb, W. Kaye, The Governorship of Richard\nBlanshard, 1-40\nLand, Vancouver Island, 4, 5, 18-20, 26-29,\n40, 209, 210\nLangford, E. E., 29, 218, 226\nLaperouse, J. F. de G., 169, 171\nLaurie, Capt. Henry, 170\nLaurier, Sir Wilfrid, 159, 160, 165\nLegislative Council, B.C., 70-75\nLeigh. William, 217\nLeitch, John Strickland, 83-86\nLeitch, John Strickland, Diary of My Journey\nto and Stay in the Peace River District in\nthe Year 190S, 87 108\nLesser Slave :Lake, 107\nLetellier de St. Just, Luc, 141, 64, 165\nLetters of Captain George Dixon in the\nBanks Collection, 167-171\nLieutenant-Governor, 142-145, 148, 149, 159,\n160\nLumber Industry Cairn, Port Alberni, 176,\n177\nLyons, C. P., Milestones on the. Mighty\nFra&er, review of, 185, 186 >\nLytton, Sir Edward Bulwer, 63-65\nMcBride, Sir Richard, 157\nMcCleery, 81\nMcClure, Leonard, 62, 80, 81\nMcCreight, John Foster, 61, 82\nMcDiarmid, 96, 98\nMcDonald, D. R., 87\nMcDonald, J. J., 133\nMcDonald, Sir John A., 143\nMcDonald, Wijliam, 34\nMcDonald, William John, 217\nMcFarland, Andrew, 78\nMcFarland, Ellis, 78\nMcGowan, Ned, 65\nMcInnes, T. R., 141-143, 145, 147, 149, 150,\n152-166\nMcInnes Incident in British Columbia, The,\n141-166\nMcKay, J. W., 217\nMcKechnie, Dr. R., 150\nMackenzie, Sir Alexander, 86\nMcKenzie, Kenneth, 218\nMcLaughlin, Patrick, 57\nMcLean, 91\nMaclean, Donald, 54\nMcLennan, Roderick R., 84, 85, 87\nMcNeill, Capt W. H., 9, 12, 53, 201, 217, 237\nMcPhillips, A. E., 151\nMcRoberts, Hugh, 81\nMagistrates, B.C., 69-73\nMaritime History of Russia, 1848-1948, The,\nreview of, 184, 185\nMarshall, James W., 41-48, 50, 59\nMartin, J. M., 156\nMartin, Joseph, 147, 150-164\nMartinez, Estevan Jose, 170\nMartley, Capt. John, 76, 77\nMeares, John, 167, 171\nMerrill, I. L., 134, 135\nMetcalfe, Simon, 235\nMetcalfe, Thomas, 235\nMetchosin, 4\nMiles, John, 230\nMilestones on the Mighty Fraser, review of,\n185, 186\nMiller, Gen. William, 236\nMitchell, Mairin, The Maritime History of\nRussia, 1848-1948, review of, 184, 186\nMoberly Lake, 96\nMoody, R. C, 70\nMoose Creek, 89\nMoose Portage, 89\nMoresby, Rear-Admiral Fairfax, 80\nMorning Claim, 130\nMound and Copper Cleft Claims, 130\nMuir, Andrew, 8, 10, 11\nMuir, John, 8, 33\nMuir, Michael, 17\nMunson, 131\nNeill, J., 133\nNelson, Hugh, 82\nNewton, W. H., 217\nNickle Plate Mine, 125 140 262\nIndex\nNickle Plate Mine, 1898-1981, The, 126-140\nNickel Plate Mountain, 125, 127, 128, 133\nNooksack Tales and Trails, review of, 181,\n182\nNorth West Company, 94\nNotes on the Pro-history of tlie Southern\nNorth-west Coast, 241-246\nO'Brien, 81\nO'Byrne, Felix, 81\nOgden, Peter Skene, 21, 24, 86\nOgilvie, 25\nOkanagan Historical Society, 116, 174, 176\nOkanagan Historical Society, The Fourteenth\nReport of the, review of, 254, 255\nOkanagan Historical Society, The Thirteenth\nReport of the, review of, 179-181\nO'Reilly, Peter, 61-63, 69, 72-74, 78\nO'Riley, Peter, 57\nOrmsby, Margaret A., Some Irish Figures in\nColonial Days, 61-82\nPacific Graveyard, review of, 255, 256\nPacific Mail Steamship Company, 8\nPalliser, Rear-Admiral, 143\nPapers Read before the Historical and Scientific Society of Manitoba, review of, 257,\n258\nParkinson-Fortescue, Chichester Samuel, 64\nPeace River Crossing, 85, 91, 93\nPeace River, 1903, Coal-seekers on, 83-108\nPearce, Richard, 56\nPearse, B. W., 217\nPeers, Henry, 201\nPelly, Sir John H., 10, 11, 19, 25, 192, 193\nPemberton, Augustus F., 63, 66, 770\nPemberton, Joseph Despard, 62, 68, 67, 74,\n76, 79, 217, 229\nPemberton, Susan, 63\nPenticton-Keremeos Road, 127, 128\nPerez, Juan, 169\nPerrier, George, 65\nPeters, William, 171\nPickard, 180\nPlague to Mark the Site of the First School\nin British Columbia, Unveiling of the, 248\nPolice, B.C., 64-67, 69-72; Vancouver\nIsland, 68\nPolk, James K., 46\nPooley, Charles, 146, 148\nPort Alberni, Lumber Industry Cairn, 176,\n177\nPortlock, J. G., 62\nPortlock, Nathaniel, 167\nPre-history of the Southern North-west\nCoast, Notes on the, 241-246\nPrior, E. G., 159, 160\nPrize Winning Essays Armitage Competition\nin Oregon Pioneer History, 1949, review of,\n181-184\nProuse, William, 57\nPuget Sound Agricultural Company, 4, 5, 28,\n26, 28, 29, 85\nRailroads, B.C., 158\nRankin, 91\nRed Mountain Claim, 180\nRed River Settlement, 21\nReid, John, 81\nRev. Robert John Staines: Pioneer Priest,\nPedagogue, and Political Agitator, 187-240\nRevillon Freres, 92\nRhodes, Henry, 236\nRichards, G. H., 169\nRickard, T. A., The Gold-rush of '49, 41-60\nRoberts, Henry, 168\nRobson, John, 81\nRocky Mountain Portage, 96\nRodgers, M. K., 126, 127, 129-134\nRodgers, Wesley P., 129, 131\nRoebuck, 6, 37\nRoss, Donald, 20, 21, 24\nRoss, F. A., 133, 135\nRoyal Engineers, 64, 67\nRoyal Geographical Society, 88\nRoyce, Josiah, 47\nRussell, Dr. I. J., 56\nRyder, Cory S., 157\nSage, W. N., 145; Coal-seekers on Peace\nRiver, 1903, 83-108\nSampson, William, 136\nSan Juan Island, 227\nSandwich Island, 196, 285, 236\nSangster, Capt., 202\nSangster, James, 217\nSauvies Island, The Story of, review of, 256,\n256\nSawney's Letters, review of, 120, 121\nSaywell, J. T., The McInnes Incident in\nBritish Columbia, 141-166; The Maritime\nHistory of Russia, 1848-1948, review by,\n184, 185\nSchool, Fort Vancouver, 194; Fort Victoria,\n196, 197-201, 203, 212-216, 248\nSchool in British Columbia, Unveiling of the\nPlague to Mark the Site of the First, 248\nScott, R. W., 158, 154, 168\nSea-otter, 170, 171\nSelwyn, A. R. C, 83\nSemlin, Charles, 147, 160-155, 158, 159, 161,\n162, 164\nSeymour, Frederick, 62, 66, 68, 78-76\nShannon, William, 81\nShepherd, Capt. John, 287\nShinn, Charles H., 48\nShipley, 87\nShips, Albion, 7; Astrolabe, 169, 171; Austria,\n64 ; Beaver, 9 ; Boussole, 169, 171; Cadboro,\n34, 202; Captain Cook, 167, 170, 171;\nColumbia, 63, 193-196, 216, 240; Cortes,\n63; Cowlitz, 7, 8; D. A. Thomas, 105;\nH.M.S. Daedalous, 15, 23, 29-82; H.M.S.\nDaphne, 80, 82, 87; H.M.S. Discovery, 168 ;\nH.M.S. Driver, 2, 9, 25; Duchess of San\nLorenzo, 224-226 ; Eleanora. 236,\" England,\n12 ; Experiment, 167, 170, 171; Fair American, 235; Fly, 170, 171; George Emery,\n224; Harmon, 170; Honolulu, 229; Imperial Eagle, 171; H.M.S. Inconstant, 287,\n239; King George, 167, 169, 170; Lark,\n171; Loudoun, 111; Nootka, 167, 171;\nNorman Morison, 6, 12, 20, 21, 204; Otter,\n54; H.M.S. Portland, 29, 30; Princess Index\n263\nRoyal, 68, 238; Queen Charlotte, 167-170 ;\nH.M.S. Resolution, 167; Sea Otter, 167,\n170, 171; Senator, 224; Tory, 22, 23;\nWilliam, 216\nSilver-mining, Nevada, 55, 56\nSilver Plate Claim, 129\nSimilkameen, 125\nSimpson, Sir George, 2, 26, 29, 36, 36, 194,\n229, 230\nSimpson, George, 217\nSitka, 236\nSkinner, T. J., 218, 220, 221, 226\nSlater, G. Hollis, Rev. Robert John Staines:\nPioneer Priest, Pedagogue, and Political\nAgitator, 187-240\nSmith, Azariah, 43\nSmith, George, 45\nSmith, Robert, 84, 87-91, 93, 94, 97, 99-106,\n107\nSmythe, William, 146\nSome Irish Figures in Colonial Days, 61-82\nSouthgate, 75\nSpencer, Omar C, The Story of Sauvies\nIsland, review of, 265, 256\nSproat, Gilbert Malcolm, 64, 79\nStaines, Charles, 188\nStaines, Charles Henry, 188\nStaines, Mrs. Emma Frances, 191, 199-201,\n233, 234\nStaines, Harriet Charlotte, 188\nStaines, Jane Ann, 188\nStaines, John Collins, 188, 230\nStaines, Mrs. Mary, 188\nStaines, Mary Ann, 188\nStaines, Rev. Robert John, 29, 84, 187-240\nStaines, Rev. Robert John: Pioneer Priest,\nPedagogue, and Political Agitator, 187-240\nStaines, Thomas James, 188\nStaines, William Collins, 188\nStaines Point, 234\nStalin, Joseph, 59\nStamp, Edward, 76\nSteilacoom, 201, 202\nStemwinder mine, 181\nSterling Creek, 183\nStewart, Angus, 133\nStory of Sauvies Island, review of, 256, 266\nStrange, James, 167, 170\nSunnyside Claim, 126, 129, 131, 133, 134\nSutter, John August, 42, 43, 45\nSwanston, Robert S., 215, 226, 227\nTahourdin, Charles, 196\nTahourdin, Emma Frances, 191\nTahourdin, Horace Foster, 195, 199\nTales of Conflict, review of, 119, 120\nThat Man Thomson, review of, 181-184\nThirteenth Report of the Okanagan Historical Society, The, review of, 179-181\nThomson, R. H., That Man Thomson, review\nof, 181-184\nTillman, A. R., 133\nTipping, William, 167\nTisdall, C. E., 161\nTod, Emmeline, 63\nTod, John, 36, 211, 217\nTolmie, Dr. W. F., 24, 25, 201, 202, 211\nTolmie, Mrs. W. F., 25\nTrimble, Dr. James, 80, 81\nTronson, E. J., 78\nTrutch, J. W., 74, 146\nTurner, John H., 145-163, 156, 168, 169, 161,\n162\nUnveiling of the Plaque to Mark the Site of\nthe First School in British Columbia, 248\nVancouver, George, 168\nVancouver Amateur Dramatic Society, 143\nVancouver Island, government, 6, 6, 23, 38,\n34, 36, 37; settlers, 5, 17-23\nVenables, Capt. Cavendish, 76, 76\nVenables, T. Evelyn, 76\nVernon, Charles A., 78\nVernon, Forbes George, 78\nVictoria District Church, 208, 204\nVowell, Arthur W., 71, 72\nWaddington, Alfred, The Fraser Mines Vindicated, review of, 120, 121\nWalkem, George Anthony, 61, 74, 82\nWampum Point, 90\nWark, John McAdoo, 61\nWellesley, Capt. George Grenville, 16, 29, 32\nWestern Union Telegraph, 70\nWhalen Farm, 242\nWhannell, P. B., 66\nWheeler, Roscoe, 186\nWhitely, 88\nWilliams, 130\nWimmer, Jennie, 43\nWinchester Fraction, 130\nWindfall Claims, 130\nWittmer, Jacob, 45\nWolfenden, Madge, Pacific Graveyard, review\nby, 255, 256 ; The Story of Sauvies Island,\nreview by, 266, 266; Tales of Conflict,\nreview by, 119, 120\nWollaston, Francis H, 126, 129\nWoodland Claim, 130\nWoods, Rev. C. T., 81\nWoods, Duncan, 140\nWoody Point, 169\nWork, John, 8, 9, 14, 16, 20, 61, 201, 213,\n216, 224, 227\nWright, Jack, 91\nYale Mining Company, 129\nYates, Harry, 130\nYates, James, 34, 226\nYates, James Stuart, 156\nYoung, John, 235 VICTORIA, B.C.\nPrinted by Don McDiarmid, Printer to the King's Most Excellent Majesty\n1951\n650551-6682"@en . "Titled \"British Columbia Historical Association Report and Proceedings\" from 1923-1929; \"British Columbia Historical Quarterly\" from 1937-1957; \"BC Historical News\" from 1968-2004; and \"British Columbia History\" from 2005 onward."@en . "Periodicals"@en . "FC3801.B72 H44"@en . "FC3801_B72_H44_1950_vol014_no004"@en . "10.14288/1.0190582"@en . "English"@en . "Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library"@en . "Victoria : British Columbia Historical Association"@en . "Images provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy, or otherwise use these images must be obtained from the British Columbia Historical Association."@en . "Original Format: University of British Columbia. Archives."@en . "British Columbia--History"@en . "British Columbia Historical Quarterly"@en . "Text"@en .