Berens to Newcastle

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a letter from Mr
Under Secretary Merivale of the 7th instant in reference to the land
claimed by this Company in Vancouver's Island, irrespective of what
they acquired by purchase under the Grant made to them by the Crown
of that Island.

I am surprised to learn from that communication that the claim which
this Company make to the land acquired by them at a period antecedent
to the Grant should be considered by your Grace as new, inasmuch as
it has been the subject of frequent communications between this
Company and Her Majesty's Government, and their title to it has been
expressly recognized.

Indeed, as your Grace will not fail to observe the letter of the 7th
September 1846 from the then Governor of this Company to Earl Grey
referred to in Mr Merivale's letter distinctly brought under the
notice of Her Majesty's Government that this Company did then already
possess an Establishment on the Southern point of Vancouver's Island.
Not only is that fact distinctly stated, but it is further mentioned
that they were annually enlarging that Establishment and their
enquiry want merely to know whether they would be confirmed in the
possession of such lands as they might find it expedient
to add to those already possessed, it never having been supposed
for a moment that any doubt existed as to their right to hold what
they were then in possession of.

Indeed they could not at that time have entertained any such doubts,
as it was only a few months before that Her Majesty's Government had
expressly protected them in the enjoyment of similar rights in that
part of the Oregon Territory which was found to belong to the United
States.

*

The answer received from Mr Under Secretary Hawes merely raised the
question whether this Company could in point of law hold in their
Corporate capacity any lands within the Dominions of the British
Crown Westward of the Rocky Mountains, the Under Secretary stating
that the answer to that enquiry might perhaps relieve his Lordship
from the difficulty which he then felt in returning a definitive
answer to the application made to him.

The opinion of the law Officers of the Crown was subsequently taken
upon that point, and terminated, as your Grace is no doubt aware in a
distinct opinion that the Company could legally hold such
possessions, and the Grant of the Island of Vancouver was the
consequence.
**

The subject of the lands claimed by this Company was again brought
under the attention of the Colonial Office in a communication from
the Governor of Vancouver's Island to Earl Grey bearing date the
28th April 1851 and which was communicated to this Company by Mr
Under Secretary Merivale in a letter dated the 3rd September
1851. Governor Blanshard then called the attention of Her Majesty's
Government to what he termed "the large tract of land called their
Reserves of about 30 Square Miles in extent."

Under date the 10th September 1851 the then Governor of this Company
in answer to this communication stated that at the period referred to
by Governor Blanshard it was thought that the Fur Trade branch of the
Company would require a considerable quantity of land in addition to
that which they possessed before the conclusion of the Boundary
Treaty in 1846 and he went on to state that when it was found that
the land occupied by the Fur Trade at Fort Victoria before 1846 was
considered by Mr Douglas to be sufficient for the Company's purposes
the Company had reduced the sum which it had been proposed to advance
for expenditure on Public Buildings to £2,000 instead of £4,000.

In a subsequent letter from the Governor of this Company to Earl Grey
dated the 7th November 1851 in reference to a communication
received by the Colonial Office from Rear Admiral Moresby on the
subject of the Hudson's Bay Company's Reserves of Land round Fort
Victoria he refers to the previous letter of the 10th September as
shewing that the quantity of Land reserved for the purposes of the Fur
Trade instead of being 20 Square Miles was not likely to exceed 6,
and that this land was in the Company's possession before the
division of the Country by the Boundary Treaty with the United
States, and he adds that should any addition to the quantity be
required the Company would pay for it as other Settlers did.

The receipt of this letter was acknowledged by Mr Under Secretary
Peel under date the 20th December 1851 and, as from the terms of
this letter Lord Grey did not appear to have adverted to the
distinction between Lands which the Company might acquire after the
grant to them of the Island and those which they claimed to have been
previously possessed of, Sir John Pelly the Governor in replying to
it, under date the 14th January 1852 stated as follows

With respect to the Reserves of Land concerning which your Lordship
wishes for more particular information I have to state that by the
last Mail Mr Pemberton the Colonial Surveyor has sent home surveys
of the land which the Fur Trade of the Hudson's Bay Company propose
to take, but has omitted to distinguish that which they possessed
previously to the Boundary Treaty from the whole quantity. The
former will be made over to them without purchase, and for any
addition thereto they will have to pay 20/- per acre, as all other
Setters do.

On this subject it is hardly necessary to do more than refer your
Grace to a letter addressed by the Secretary of this Company to the
Secretary of the Government Emigration Board under date the 21st
January 1859 which goes in detail into the whole matter and as the
title of the Company to these lands is in the result clearly
recognized I have the honor to send herewith a copy of that
communication which I trust will remove the doubts your Grace has
expressed as to the right of the Company to retain this land.

Your Grace will I think be satisfied that not only is the claim now
under discussion not a new one but that attention was called to it so
long ago as in the year 1846 and that after a very full discussion
and examination of the subject—the title of this Company has been
fully recognized. Indeed attention was also called to it when under
date the 24th February 1858 the then Governor of this Company
furnished to Mr Labouchere the then Colonial Secretary a statement
of the sums for which they claimed repayment as expended upon
Vancouver's Island and as the value of their Establishments property
and effects thereon. In that statement an item of land (3084 acres)
for the Reserves in question was introduced and attention was
specifically called to it by a note at the bottom to the following
effect—

The Land comprising 3084 Acres having been possessed by the Hudson's
Bay Company as Fur Trade Reserves previous to the Grant of the Island
in 1849 it will have to be considered whether the price to be paid
shall not be the Current Value of the Land instead of the fixed price
of £1 per acre.

***

Under these circumstances I entertain a very confident hope your
Grace will be of opinion that no attempt should be now made to
disturb this Company in the possession of property which they have so
long enjoyed with the full knowledge and sanction of the Government
for the time being.