
================================================================================
FILE: 1850-01-11_Hamilton_to_Merivale_Permanent_Under-Secretary_V505AD01.txt
================================================================================

With reference to your Letter of the 4th August last, respecting the conveyance of Mr Blanshard, appointed Governor of Vancouver's
Island, from Panama to that Island in one of Her Majesty's Ships; I am
commanded by my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to send you
herewith, for the information of Earl Grey, a copy of a Letter from Rear
Admiral Hornby, dated the 28th Octr, No 88, on the subject in question.



================================================================================
FILE: 1850-01-21_Barclay_to_Hawes_Parliamentary_Under-Secretary_V505HB01.txt
================================================================================

I am directed by the Governor and Committee of the Hudson's Bay
Company to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 18th Instant, and to request that you will convey to Earl Grey their thanks for his Lordship's communication.



================================================================================
FILE: 1850-03-04_Parker_to_Merivale_Permanent_Under-Secretary_V505AD02.txt
================================================================================

I am commanded by my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to
acquaint you, for the information of Earl Grey, that Rear Admiral Hornby in a Letter, dated the 12th Jany last, has
reported that Her Majesty's Steam Vessel Driver was to sail from
Callao, within a week from that time, for Vancouver's Island to convey there Mr Blanshard the newly appointed Governor.



================================================================================
FILE: 1850-03-09_Barclay_to_Merivale_Permanent_Under-Secretary_V505HB02.txt
================================================================================

I am directed by the Governor and Committee of the Hudson's Bay
Company to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 7th Instant,
stating that H.M.'s Steam Vessel Driver had been appointed to sail from Callao, in January last, for the purpose of conveying Governor Blanshard
to Vancouver's Island and I am to request that you will convey to Earl
Grey the thanks of the Governor and Committee for his Lordship's Communication.



================================================================================
FILE: 1850-04-08_Blanshard_to_Earl_Grey_V50002.txt
================================================================================

I beg to inform you of my arrival at Victoria, the settlement of
the Hudson bay company in Vancouvers Island, on the 10th March ult. in H.M.S.S. Driver, on the 11th I landed and read my commission in presence of Commander Johnson of H.M.S Driver and the Officers and
servants of the Hudson Bay Company; No lodging being ready for me I have
been compelled to remain on board the Driver during her stay in the
colony, and took the opportunity of visiting Fort Rupert, a new
settlement which has been formed at Beaver Harbour for the purpose of
working the coals with which the North Eastern part of the Island is
said to abound; About six months ago the Hudson Bay company sent a party
of Scotch miners to Beaver Harbour, but they have not yet been able to
discover coal in any quantity; at the depth of seventy feet the largest
seam they had struck was only eight inches in depth, and the surface
coal which former reports describe as being three feet in depth and of
excellent quality, nowhere as I am assured by the miners exceeds ten
inches of which one half is slag. Should they persevere there is no
doubt that a supply of coal may eventually be obtained which will
greatly increase the value of this colony but the miners are unprovided
with proper implements, discontented with their employers, and can
scarcely be induced to work.
An application was made to me by Captain Hill commandant of the
U.S. military post at Chelakom to allow a force to proceed to Vancouvers
Island to apprehend two men, military deserters from the United States
Army who had he stated been taken from Chelakom by a schooner belonging
to the Hudson Bay company, incurring thereby a heavy penalty under the
local laws of the state of Oregon. This I declined to allow, as I conceive that no reciprocal arrangement exists between Great Britain and
the United States for the arrest of deserters for purely military offences.
The quantity of arable land, or land that can be made arable is so
far as I can ascertain exceedingly limited throughout the Island, which
consists almost entirely of broken ranges of rocky hills, intersected by
ravines and vallies so narrow as to render them useless for cultivation _
A Mr MacNeil, Agent of the Hudson Bay company at Beaver Harbour, who is considered to be better acquainted with the Indian population
than any other person, estimates their number at the very largest at ten
thousand, and these he considers to be steadily decreasing, although the
sale of spirituous liquors has been for a considerable time prohibited
and the prohibition appears to be strictly enforced. As no settlers
have at present arrived, I have considered that it is unnecessary as yet
to nominate a council as my instructions direct, for a council chosen at
present must be composed entirely of the officers of the Hudson Bay
Company few if any of whom possess the qualification of landed property
which is required to vote for members of assembly, and they would
moreover be completely under the controul of their superior officers,
but as no immediate arrival of settlers is likely to take place, and my
instructions direct me to form a council on my arrival I should wish for
a farther direction on this point, before I proceed to its formation.



================================================================================
FILE: 1850-06-15_Blanshard_to_Earl_Grey_V50003.txt
================================================================================

I beg to enclose you a copy of my last letter, April 8. 1850, since
which time no opportunity has occurred of dispatching letters with any
degree of certainty. Nothing of importance has since occurred in the
colony, no settlers or immigrants have arrived nor have any land sales
been effected. Coal has not yet been discovered, though the miners have
not yet, I am happy to say, abandoned all hope.
An American Company have commenced running a line of Mail steam
packets between San Francisco and Oregon, they have not yet decided what
port in Oregon will be their terminus, Could coal have been supplied
from Vancouvers Island they would have chosen Nisqually in Pugets Sound,
which would have greatly facilitated the communication between
Vancouvers Island and England, but as it cannot be obtained, they will
probably select Portland on the Columbia river. The Hudsons Bay Company
have commenced a survey of the land reserved to themselves, which is
bounded by a line drawn nearly due North from the head of Victoria
harbour to a hill marked on the charts as Cedar Hill, or Mount Douglas,
and thence running due East to the Canal de Arro. The extent is
estimated at about ten miles (square). A tract adjoining, of similar
extent is reserved for the Puget Sound Agricultural Association, the
Hudson Bay company under another name, for the Association has no real
existence, this last contains the harbour of Esquimalt, the only harbour
in the southern part of the Island worthy of notice, as it is of large extent, has good anchorage, is easy of access at all times and in all
weather, is well watered and in many places the water is of sufficient
depth to allow ships anchoring along shore. Victoria Harbour where the
Hudson's Bay Companys settlement is established, is very small the
entrance is narrow, tortuous, and shallow, no vessels can enter except
at high tide with favourable wind and weather, and there is no water
near, the water required for the servants of the Hudson's Bay Company is
brought from a distance of two miles, and during summer and autumn they
are kept on allowance as at sea.
I have received news from Oregon, of the discovery of very rich
gold mines on the Spokan River the whole population of that territory
are flocking to the spot; should the favourable accounts of these mines
prove correct, I fear that it will draw away all the Hudson's Bay
Company's servants from Vancouvers Island, and at present they form the
entire population.



================================================================================
FILE: 1850-06-15_Le_Marchant_to_Merivale_Permanent_Under-Secretary_V505TA01.txt
================================================================================

I am directed by the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council for
Trade, to request that you will inform Earl Grey that an application has
been made to this Board for Their Lordship's sanction to the
introduction of the Bill into Parliament for the Incorporation of a
Company entitled the "Vancouvers Island Sawing Mill & Agricultural
Company," which among other privileges will confer on the Shareholders
that of limited liability. —
Copies of the Application and accompanying Statement of the object
of the Company are enclosed for the consideration  of Lord Grey.
It will be perceived from this Statement that the Capital with
which the Company is to commence does not exceed £ 10,000 and this
circumstance, not less than the vagueness of the description of design
of the Company induces this Board to think that no case has been
substantiated for the grant of Exclusive privileges; but before they
determine to return an unfavorable reply to the Application, My Lords
wish to know whether Lord Grey has any observations to offer on the
subject.



================================================================================
FILE: 1850-06-29_Earl_Grey_to_Blanshard_V507003.txt
================================================================================

I have the honor to transmit to you herewith the Public Seal of the
Island of Vancouver and its Dependencies. I also transmit to you a
Warrant under Her Majesty's Sign Manual, authorising and directing you to
use this Seal in the sealing of all Public Instruments which shall be
issued in Her Majesty's name within that Island and its Dependencies.



================================================================================
FILE: 1850-07-10_Blanshard_to_Earl_Grey_V50004.txt
================================================================================

I beg to enclose a copy of a letter I addressed to J.S. Helmcken
Esqre, Medical officer of the Hudsons Bay Company at Fort Rupert,
appointing him to act as magistrate provisionally; this is the only
appointment I have yet made in the colony, for as there are no
independent settlers, all cases that can occur requiring magisterial
interference are disputes between the representatives of the Hudson's
Bay company and their servants, to appoint the former, magistrates would
be to make them judges in their own causes, and to arm them with
additional power which few of them would exert discreetly. Mr Helmcken has only recently arrived in the colony, from England he is
therefore a stranger to the petty brawls that have occurred and the ill feelings they have occasioned between the Hudsons Bay Company and their
servants, from this and from my knowledge of his character I have great
confidence in his impartiality his situation too as surgeon renders him
more free from the influence which might be exercised over another
servant of that Company.
It is moreover highly desirable that there should be a resident
magistrate at Fort Rupert as the miners and labourers there have shewn a disposition to riot which if not checked may lead to serious
consequences. The Indian population being numerous savage and
treacherous, and the distance from Victoria and total want of means of communication between the two places, increases the inconvenience.
I would strongly recommend a duty to be imposed on the importation
and manufacture of ardent spirits as their introduction tends to
demoralize the Indians to a most dangerous degree, but I conceive I have
not the power to impose such duty, free trade having been declared here,
without further instructions which I would request on this point at your
Lordships earliest convenience.

I may here mention that the accounts which have been published in respecting the barbarous treatment of the Indian population by the
Hudsons bay company, are, both from my own personal observation and from
all I have been able to gather on the subject entirely without
foundation. They are always treated with the greatest consideration,
far greater than the white labourers and in many instances are allowed
liberties and impunities in the Hudson's bay company's establishments
that I regard as extremely unsafe. No liquor is given them by the
Company on any pretense but it is impossible to prevent their obtaining
it from the merchant vessels that visit the coast.



================================================================================
FILE: 1850-07-16_Earl_Grey_to_Blanshard_V507004.txt
================================================================================

I have to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch of the 8th
April, reporting your arrival at Fort Victoria on the 10th of March,
and the public perusal of your Commission as Governor and Commander in
Chief in and over Vancouver's Island and its Dependencies.
You have acted correctly in deferring, under the circumstances of
the case the nomination of your first Council as it is not incumbent on
you to make your first appointments to the Board until a sufficient
number of settlers shall have arrived to afford you the opportunity of
making a proper selection. At the same time it is expedient that no
unnecessary delay should take place in constructing your Council, and
establishing the prescribed institutions for the Government of the
Colony.



================================================================================
FILE: 1850-08-18_Blanshard_to_Earl_Grey_V50005.txt
================================================================================

I have to inform your Lordship of the massacre of three British
subjects by the Newitty Indians, near Fort Rupert. Want of force has
prevented me from making any attempt to secure the murderers indeed the
only safeguard of the colony consists in the occasional visits of the
cruizers of the Pacific squadron, which only occur at rare intervals and
for short calls. The massacre of these men has produced a great effect
on the white inhabitants, many of whom do not scruple to accuse the
officers of the Hudsons Bay company of having instigated the Indians to
the deed by offers of reward for the recovery of the men (sailors who
had absconded) dead or alive. I have not yet been able to enquire into
the truth of this report, but it is very widely spread and men say that
they ground their belief on what the Hudsons Bay company have done
before.
The establishment at Fort Rupert is in a very critical state, a
letter I have received from  Mr Helmcken the resident magistrate,
states, that the people are so excited by the massacre, which they
charge their employers with instigating, that they have in a body
refused all obedience both to their employers and to him as magistrate,
that he is utterly unable to maintain any authority as they universally
refuse to serve as constables and insist upon the settlement being
abandoned that to attempt such a step would lead to their entire
destruction as they are surrounded by the Quacolts one of the most
warlike tribes on the coast, three thousand in number and well armed.
Mr Helmcken has tendered his resignation as magistrate as without proper support the office merely exposes him to contempt and insult, and
he further states that being in the employment of the Hudsons bay
company, he cannot conscientiously decide the cases which occur, which
are almost invariably between that company and their servants. This is
the very objection I stated to your Lordship against employing persons
connected with that company, in any public capacity in the colony.
I am in expectation of the arrival of one of her Majesty's ships of
war, according to the promise of Admiral Hornby commander in chief in
the Pacific, when I shall be able to proceed to the north and restore
order, in the meantime I have prohibited any persons from leaving Fort
Rupert without special permission, as if the people attempt to abandon
the settlement and straggle about the coast they will infallibly be cut
off by the Indians who are daily becoming more inclined to outrage, and
are emboldened by impunity.
The miners have left the colony in a body, owing to a dispute with
their employers, the seam of coal is consequently undiscovered.
I have seen a very rich specimen of gold ore, said to have been
brought by the Indians of Queens Charlottes Island, but I have at
present no further account of it,



================================================================================
FILE: 1850-08-26_Demers_to_Hawes_Parliamentary_Under-Secretary_V506D01.txt
================================================================================

I have the honour to inform you that I am a British
subject, being born in Canada, and that on the seventeenth day of July
one thousand eight hundred and forty six I was nominated and since have
been consacrated Roman Catholic Bishop of Vancouver's Island.
I have the happiness to be one of the two first Missionaries sent out to Oregon where I have performed the sacred duties of the Ministry among the French Cana-diansCanadians and the Natives of that country for ten years.
Besides Vancouver's Island I am Administra-torAdministrator, pro tempore, of two
other Dioceses which are first: Queen Charlotte Island, including the
Sea Coast North to the Russian Settlements; second, New Caledonia.
No doubt but you know that a certain numbernumber of Canadians, after
leaving the Hudson's Bay Company'sCompany's service have been settling with their
families in the Wallamet Valley which now belongs to the United States.
On my leaving Oregon some of them were tellingtelling me they would willingly
go and settle on Vancouver's Island, would the Company allow them to do
so. I have great reason to believe that the establishment of a Catholic
Mission on the Island will cause many of them, as well as those that
will be let free, to settle on it: which they would not do if they had
no prospect of having Clergymen amongst them.
The state of things being so I will now take the liberty to expose
to you my present situation: in the whole territory committed to my
care their are about fifty thousands of Indians, of whom I may say four
thousands are already enrolled under the sacred banner of Christianity.
Having not a single Missionery to help me I saw the necessity of
coming over to Europe to find the means to bring a certain number of
Clergymen that would devote themselves and follow me; a passage for each
one of them will cost me seventy five pounds. Nothing is done yet, I
have got no house, no place of worship put up . . .

These informations may lead you to the object I have in view in
giving them: I am aware that several Roman Catholic Bishops in the
British possessions are allowed a yearly some of money by Her Gracious
Majesty's Government; a motive that encour-agesencourages me in asking for the same favour, and I am in hopes that it will be extended to the poor Mission
of Vancou-ver'sVancouver's Island, where nothing shall be spared of what can promote
the welfare, both spiritual and temporal of Her Majesty's subjects in
that remoted part of Her Domin-ionsDominions.
Please lay this letter before His Lordship the Minis-terMinister of the
Colonies.



================================================================================
FILE: 1850-09-06_Hamilton_to_Hawes_Parliamentary_Under-Secretary_V505AD03.txt
================================================================================

Her Majesty's Steam Ship Driver having afforded a Passage from
Callao to Vancouvers Island between the 17th Jany and 6th of April last to His Excellency Richard Blanshard, Governor of Vancouvers
Island, I am commanded by my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to request you will inform me if Earl Grey is of opinion that the expense
of this Passage should be paid by the public.



================================================================================
FILE: 1850-09-18_Blanshard_to_Earl_Grey_V50006.txt
================================================================================

I have nothing of importance to communicate respecting this colony,
as all communication is stopped with the Northern part of the Island, and the want of force has prevented me from going there myself to
enquire into the late disturbances.
Some complaints of Indian outrages have reached me from Soke, about
thirty miles from Victoria where a gentleman of the name of Grant, late in Her Majesty's service has a small settlement. He complains of want
of protection, which owing to the distance at which he is located cannot
be afforded him; he informs me that he was anxious to settle near
Victoria, but was not allowed to do so by the Hudson's Bay Company who have appropriated all the available land in the neighbourhood.
Future settlers will labour under the same disadvantages viz.
being dispersed at considerable distances from each other and from the
establishment, as well as being exposed to the depredations of the
Indians, which no means are afforded me of checking.
I would beg to press on your Lordships consideration, the necessity
of protecting this colony by a garrison, of regular troops, in
preference to a body of pensioners, for as the principal service that
they would be called on to perform would be to repress and over-awe the
natives a moveable force would be necessary, and I think that Marines
would be better calculated for the duty than troops of the line. Two
companies would be sufficient of which a detachment would be stationed
at Fort Rupert, and the remainder near Victoria. A cantonment might
easily be formed on the plains near Esquimalt Harbour, and as timber is
abundant there, the troops if landed in the spring could easily complete
their own barracks before the rainy season which does not commence till
October. The expense of maintaining a garrison would be inconsiderable,
and there are ample funds for the purpose, as the Hudson's Bay Company
has still in their hands the price of the lands they have taken in their
own name and that of the Puget Sound Association. Should your Lordship
decide on placing such a garrison, I would recommend that an engineer
officer should be sent, beforehand to select such sites for barracks &c
as might be most convenient.



================================================================================
FILE: 1850-10-04_Pelly_to_Grey_V505HB03.txt
================================================================================

I have had the honour of receiving Mr Under Secretary Hawes's letter of the 21st Instant transmitting a Copy of a Despatch from the Governor of Vancouvers Island reporting on the progress and present state of that Settlement.
That the efforts of the Hudsons Bay Company towards the
colonization of the Island have not been attended with the success which
some at first expected is to the Company a subject of much regret;
allowance however ought to be made for the adverse circumstances with
which they have had to contend.  I allude more particularly to the ﹏﹏﹏
irresistible attraction which Calefornia at present possesses for
emigrants. That the vast crowds however, who are flocking to that
quarter will eventually be highly beneficial to Vancouvers Island in
creating a demand for its productions and consequently making it a
desirable field for Emigration, I cannot for a moment doubt.
The Governor, I perceive, has fallen into a mistake with regard to
the Puget Sound Agricultural Company. That Company, though its shares
are held by persons more or less connected with the Hudsons Bay Company,
is a distinct and seperate Association, having a Capital of its own, and
its possessory rights are recognized by the Treaty of 1846 between Great Britain and the United States.
With respect to the Coal, ﹏﹏﹏Everything has been done that could be
done. Experienced Miners have been sent out and are now employed in the
operations necessary for reaching a workable seam of Coal, the surface
coal having been exhausted; and by the latest accounts they were
sanguine as to the result of their labours. The Company are now sending
out a Steam Engine for the Mine.



================================================================================
FILE: 1850-10-09_Trevelyan_to_Merivale_Permanent_Under-Secretary_V505TE01.txt
================================================================================

I have it in command to acquaint you, for the information of Earl
Grey, that a Claim has been made upon the Lords Commissioners of Her
Majesty's Treasury for the Payment of the Sum of 135,,5,,_ to Commander
C.R. Johnson of Her Majesty's Steam Sloop "Driver" for the Passage of Mr BlanchardBlanshard, Governor of Vancouver's Island, from Callao
to that place, and I am to request that you will move Earl Grey to inform
My Lords of the circumstances  under which this Passage was afforded to
Mr Blanchard, and whether his Lordship proposes that this Expense
should be charged on the Funds of this Country —



================================================================================
FILE: 1850-10-19_Blanshard_to_Earl_Grey_V50007.txt
================================================================================

I have the honor to inform your Lordship that H.M.S. Daedalus, under the command of Captain G Wellesly, visited this colony on the 22nd of September last, on my informing Captain Wellesly that three murders had been committed by the Indians and also of my inability to
take any measures for the punishment of the murderers, he consented to
proceed with the Daedalus to Fort Rupert, near which the murders were
committed, to give any assistance that might be required. On my arrival
at Fort Rupert, I found that the officer of the Hudson Bay company who had been dispatched by Dr Helmcken to make enquiries respecting the murder, had on his return given a totally false account of the result of those enquiries, asserting that he owed no obedience except to the
Hudson's Bay Company, he shortly afterwards crossed the straight to a
post of the company's and made a statement of the real facts to Mr
Douglas a chief factor of the company, of this declaration I was not
furnished with a copy till after my arrival here a few days ago, and not
till the investigation was concluded. Thus his conflicting stories were
in circulation at once, which being traced to the same source, raised
suspicions of foul play, and caused the report that I have previously
mentioned viz. that the unfortunate men had been murdered by order of
the Hudsons Bay Company; A deposition that has since been made me on
oath, backed by the evidence of an Interpreter and several of the Indian
chiefs, was perfectly conclusive not only as to the tribes but as to the
very persons of the murderers. On the 11. October Dr Helmcken visited the Newitty camp about 12 miles distant, and demanded by name the murderers for trial, the whole tribe took up arms they acknowledged
the murder and offered furs in payment, but refused to surrender the
guilty parties, declared themselves hostile, and threatened the lives of
the magistrate and his party pointing their guns at them; on learning
this I applied to Captain Wellesly for assistance and he dispatched the
boats of the Daedalus on the 12th to apprehend the murderers by force
if necessary, they returned on the 13th and I have the honor to
enclose your Lordship a copy of the report, by which you will see that
the whole tribe had deserted their camp, which was burnt by the officer
commanding the boats. I have offered a reward for the apprehension of
three of the murderers, the fourth who was present being a boy of only
nine years of age.
The Daedalus left me at Fort Rupert on the 14th Inst. to proceed to San Francisco, being unable to remain longer on account of shortness
of provisions —
With regard to the disturbances that had taken place among the
Honble Hudsons Bay Company's servants they have completely
subsided, insomuch so that Dr Helmcken did not find it necessary to
publish the proclamation of which I sent your Lordship a copy. The disturbances had been occasion : edoccasioned by the bad quality of food which had been served out to the English labourers, as well as by two miners being
actually placed in irons illegaly for some days, for refusing to perform
some work. The miners made me a written complaint on the subject
demanding redress, but they left the Island before I was able to take any notice of it.
I regret to say that Dr Helmcken has declined acting any longer as magistrate, on the ground that the  only causes are
between the Hudson's Bay Company and their servants, and as being a paid
servant of the former, he cannot be considered an impartial person; this
objection is good against all servants of the company holding
commissions, as they can be removed from the colony at a moments notice
by their employers and are kept in the greatest subjection —
There are at present no settlers at all in the Island, Mr Grant left for the Sandwich Islands some days ago.



================================================================================
FILE: 1850-10-23_Earl_Grey_to_Blanshard_V507005.txt
================================================================================

I have to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch N 3 of the
15th June containing a Report up to that Date of the state of the
settlement under your care.
I have reason to know that it is a subject of much regret to the
Hudson's Bay Company that the colonization of Vancouver's Island has not
been attended with the success at first anticipated from that enterprize.
The attractions of California have probably contributed with other causes
to draw Emigrants away from Vancouver's Island; but it is to be hoped
that this Emigration will eventually be beneficial to Vancouver's Island
in creating a demand for its productions and consequently making it a
desirable place for settlers. I observe that you have fallen into a
mistake with regard to the Puget Sound Agricultural Company. That
Company though its shares are held by persons more or less connected with
the Hudson's Bay Company, is a distinct and separate association, having
a Capital of its own and possessing Rights which are recognized by the
Treaty of 1846 between Great Britain and the United States.



================================================================================
FILE: 1850-11-18_Blanshard_to_Earl_Grey_V50008.txt
================================================================================

As I shall have completed two years absence from England, before
your answer can reach me, may I take the liberty of requesting your
Lordship to grant me leave to Visit England, as I have urgent private
affairs to attend to which require my presence there, and since my
arrival here I have suffered so severely from continual attacks of ague
and subsequent relapses that I am now enfeebled to a degree which
renders me incapable of the slightest exertion. I am not able to
enclose a Medical certificate as the surgeon in the employment of the
Hudsons  Bay Company has been removed from this colony to one of their
posts in Oregon.
Should your Lordship grant this application I trust you will direct
a passage to be allowed me as far as Panama in one of H M Ships, as there
are no direct means of communication, the indirect ones are very
uncertain enormously expensive and the heavy expenses which have been
thrown on me by the Hudson Bay Company, contrary to my expectation, for
my passage out and during my residence here, have greatly straightened
my private finances,



================================================================================
FILE: 1850-11-18_Blanshard_to_Earl_Grey_V50009.txt
================================================================================

I regret to inform your Lordship that I find myself compelled to
tender my resignation as governor, and solicit an immediate recall from
this colony, as my private fortune is utterly insufficient for the mere
costs of living here, so high have prices been run up by the Hudson's
Bay Company, and as there are no independent settlers every requisite
for existence must be obtained from them;
My health has completely given way under repeated attacks of ague,
and shows no signs of amendment. Under these circumstances I trust your
Lordship will at once recall me, and appoint some person as my successor
whose larger fortune may enable him to defray charges which involve me in certain ruin; I trust that your Lordship will give directions that I
may be furnished with a passage as far as Panama in one of HM Ships, as
my state of health will not bear the long voyage round Cape Horn, and
being compelled to defray the expenses of my passage out, by the
Hudson's Bay Company who repudiated the bills their Chairman had
authorized me to draw, has so straightened my private means, that I am
unable to pay the heavy expenses of the route through California.



================================================================================
FILE: 1850-11-20_Earl_Grey_to_Blanshard_V507006.txt
================================================================================

I have to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch No 4, of the 10th of July, notifying the provisional appointment of Mr John
Sebastian Helmcken as a Magistrate at "Fort Rupert" and the adjoining
District of Vancouver's Island.
Under the present circumstances of the settlement I approve of this
Gentleman's appointment as being one more conducive to the welfare of the
Community than any other selection you could have made.
With respect to imposing a Tax on the importation of Ardent Spirits
I am of opinion that it would be very desirable whenever the time shall
arrive for the creation of a Legislature, and the necessary authority
for the imposition of duties can be thus obtained.



================================================================================
FILE: 1850-11-22_Pelly_to_Hawes_Parliamentary_Under-Secretary_V505HB04.txt
================================================================================

I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 20th
Instant, accompanying a Copy of a Despatch with its enclosure from the
Governor of Vancouvers Island to Earl Grey, and stating that his
Lordship proposes to confirm the appointment of Mr HelmkenHelmcken as
Magistrate for Fort Rupert and the adjacent district, for which
communications I have to request that you will convey my best thanks to Earl Grey.



================================================================================
FILE: 1850-12-02_Pelly_to_Grey_V505HB05.txt
================================================================================

I have to acknowledge the receipt of Mr Hawes's letter of the 30th Ult. enclosing a copy of a Despatch from Mr Blanshard
Governor of Vancouver's Island dated the 18th August, and requesting
me to furnish your Lordship with any information which it may be in the
power of the Hudson's Bay Company to afford on the subject of the
melancholy occurrence reported by Governor Blanshard, the murder of
three British subjects by the Indians in the neighbourhood of Fort
Rupert at the northern end of the Island.

The Hudson's Bay Company have received from Mr Douglas their principal Officer at Fort Victoria a letter dated 17th August in
which no mention is made of such an occurrence. I enclose an extract
from that letter containing all the information which he gives respecting the state of affairs at Fort Rupert, and what he was doing for the purpose of restoring order.
If no instructions have yet been given that one of Her Majesty's cruisers in the Pacific should visit Vancouver's Island, I would take the liberty of suggesting that the Admiral on that Station be instructed to cause frequent visits to be made to the Island by the cruisers.



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FILE: 1850-12-18_Colvile_to_Grey_V505HB06.txt
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I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of Mr Hawes's letter of the 11th Instant, (addressed to Sir J.H. Pelly, the Governor, who
is unfortunately absent from indisposition) desiring to be informed
whether the Hudsons's Bay Company contemplate adopting any measures for
a more permanent protection to the people in Vancouver's Island than can
be afforded by the occasional visits of Her Majesty's Ships of war; In
reply to which I have to state that we have never found any serious
difficulty in protecting the Servants and property of the Company from
hostile attacks of Indians, and we have every confidence that a
continuance of that temperate and prudent conduct towards them, which is
the rule and practice of the Service, will be the means of restoring a
good understanding with the tribes in Vancouver's Island with whom it may be necessary to maintain intercourse. By the Ship "Tory" which
sailed from hence on the 8th Ultimo we sent out a considerable number of agricultural and other Servants to Vancouver Island, and we do not consider it necessary to do more at present. —

