Early Years in British Columbia
On July 18, 1851 they set sail for Fort Rupert, and when they arrived on August 9, the three-year term on the contract with the Hudson's Bay Company began. Gilmour struggled unsuccessfully to develop a producing coal operation at Fort Rupert until August 24, 1852 when Governor Douglas instructed them to move on to Nanaimo where a coal seam had been discovered. Work proceeded but living conditions were difficult. In 1854 when the term of their HBC contracts came up and Governor Douglas refused to increase their pay rates, Gilmour left to return to Scotland. Dunsmuir stayed on. He went on to propose to Douglas that he carry on personally with the operation of a seam that Gilmour had thought was played out. On October 12, 1855, Dunsmuir commenced work on his own account and within a month was producing seven tons of coal a day. This venture was a modest success, but as the seam ran out, Dunsmuir was again employed to operate a new pit that the HBC opened in 1860.
Read more about this topic: Robert Dunsmuir
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