James Douglas (governor) - Governor of Two Colonies

Governor of Two Colonies

In 1858 the British Parliament created the Colony of British Columbia, and appointed Douglas as Governor. It was after this act that Douglas was asked to resign as Chief Factor of the western portion of the Hudson's Bay Company. The Company's trade monopoly on the mainland was not renewed, and neither was Douglas' position as Chief Factor. A judge, Matthew Baillie Begbie (the so-called "hanging judge"), was sent out to help Douglas maintain order and uphold British law in the area. Along with the judge came a contingent of Royal Engineers, to construct the infrastructure (mainly roads and bridges) needed to help open the resources of the land to be exploited by the colony. Soon after his appointment as Governor, Douglas was awarded with an appointment as a Commander of the Order of the Bath in recognition of his service as Governor of Vancouver Island.

In August 1858 news reached Douglas that two Vancouver Island miners had been killed by natives. He believed that the whole region was on the verge of war and went out to investigate. There had been numerous minor clashes between natives and whites but they had not yet resulted in death. After investigating the situation he found that alcohol had been a major cause, and prohibited the sale of liquor to natives. While on the trip to the murder scene Douglas brought the Crown Solicitor of Vancouver Island in order to uphold the law and make a show that pronounced that British law was still in effect. During this trip he encountered a great number of squatting foreigners, reducing the total possible revenues for land sales to the government.

In attempt to keep unlawful acts as infrequent as possible Douglas appointed regional constables, a Chief Inspector of Police (Chartres Brew), and a network of intelligence officials. He also created Assistant Gold Commissioners (the Chief Gold Commissioner was also Chartres Brew) to look after mining and civil cases. Such preventive measures helped ensure that the chaos accompanying the California gold rush was not repeated in British Columbia.

Continuing his service as governor of Vancouver Island, Douglas authorised construction of the government buildings known as the "Birdcages" in 1859. Then in 1862, with the discovery of rich gold deposits in the Cariboo region, sparking the Cariboo Gold Rush, Douglas ordered the construction of the Cariboo Road, an engineering feat running 400 miles from Fort Yale to Barkerville through extremely hazardous canyon territory. The Cariboo road was also called the "Queen's Highway" and the "Great North Road".

Near the end of his rule as Governor, Douglas was criticized for not changing the colony into a self-governing body. Instead, the only act of reform in this fashion was in the creation of an elected Legislative Council. His argument against the creation of a self-governing colony was the state of the population: few were British subjects, most held permanent residence within the colony, and of those few owned property.

He was friends with Robert Ker the First Auditor General of the Two Colonies of British Columbia, and John Sebastian Helmcken a future Speaker of the House of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, both of whom, like Douglas, are considered founding fathers of British Columbia. Helmcken married Douglas' daughter Cecilia.