The Colony of Vancouver Island, officially known as the Island of Vancouver and its Dependencies, was a Crown colony of British North America from 1849 to 1866.
Captain James Cook was the first European to set foot on the Island at Nootka Sound in 1778, during his third voyage. He spent a month in the area, claiming the territory for Great Britain. Fur trader John Meares arrived in 1786 and set up a single-building trading post near the native village of Yuquot (Friendly Cove) in 1788. The fur trade began expanding across the island; this would eventually lead to permanent settlement.
It was not until 1843 that Britain – under the auspices of the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) – established a settlement on Vancouver Island. In March of that year, James Douglas of the Hudson’s Bay Company and a missionary had arrived and selected an area for settlement. Construction of the fort began in June of that year. This settlement was a fur trading post originally named Fort Albert (afterward Fort Victoria).
In 1846, the Oregon Treaty was signed by the British and the U.S. to settle the question of the U.S. Oregon Territory borders. The Treaty made the 49th parallel latitude north the official border between the two countries. In order to ensure that Britain retained all of Vancouver Island and the southern Gulf Islands, however, it was agreed that the border would swing south around that area.
In 1849, the Colony of Vancouver Island was established. The Colony was leased to the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) for ten years, at an annual fee of seven shillings. Thus in 1849, HBC moved its western headquarters from Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River (present day Vancouver, Washington) to Fort Victoria. Chief Factor James Douglas, was relocated from Fort Vancouver to Fort Victoria to oversee the Company’s operations west of the Rockies.[8]
The British colonial office designated the territory a Crown colony on 13 January 1849. Fort Victoria became the City of Victoria in 1862. With the colony’s budget collapsing by 1865 pressure grew for amalgamation with the mainland Colony of British Columbia.
The two colonies were merged in 1866 into the United Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia by the Act for the Union of the colonies, passed by the Imperial Parliament.
Blogs
- Stamp Forgeries: Forged Stamps of British Columbia
- Western Cover Society: British Columbia and Vancouver Island
Websites
- British North America Philatelic Society
- Greater Victoria Philatelic Society
- Muffin Break Stamp Club
- Sidney Stamp Club
- Vancouver Island Philatelic Society
