Important People to know in BC History

Captain James Cook

Captain James Cook was a British explorer.  On his third and final voyage, he went northeast to explore the west coast of North America. He unknowingly sailed past the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and soon after entered Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island. He anchored near the First Nations village of Yuquot. Cook's two ships spent about a month in Nootka Sound, from 29 March to 26 April 1778.  Relations between Cook's crew and the people of Yuquot were cordial if sometimes strained.

Chief Maquinna

Chief Maquinna was the chief of the Nuu-chah-nulth people of Nootka Sound when Captain Cook arrived on Vancouver Island.  His summer coastal village, Yuquot, became the first important anchorage for Europeans trying to gain power and make money when the maritime fur trade began. 

Sir Alexander Mackenzie

Sir Alexander Mackenzie was a Scottish explorer. He was the first person to cross the continent north of Mexico.  He opened the Canadian Northwest and much of the geography of western North America. Mackenzie’s journey linked the Northwest with Canada, rather than letting it come under the sway of the United States.  The Mackenzie river is named after him.

Simon Fraser

Simon Fraser was an American explorer.  Simon Fraser was given the task of exploring a river believed to be the Columbia to its ocean outlet.  He successfully navigated the river but it turned out not to be the Columbia, but rather an unknown river which was later name the Fraser River. Their harrowing journey, 520 miles in length and 36 days long, showed both the ruggedness of BC and the courage of the explorers. Their expedition ended at the mouth of the Fraser River (near Delta, Richmond, and South Vancouver).

Sir James Douglas

Sir James Douglas was a Hudson's Bay Company fur-trader and a British colonial governor on Vancouver Island. From 1851 to 1864, he was Governor of the Colony of Vancouver Island. In 1858 he also became the first Governor of the Colony of British Columbia.  He remained governor of both Vancouver Island and British Columbia until his retirement in 1864. He is often called "The Father of British Columbia".   James Douglas was born in Guyana to a Scottish planter, and Martha Ann Tefler, a Creole. Telfer was free coloured, which in her time and place meant a free person of mixed European and African ancestry. On April 27, 1828, Douglas married the daughter of New Caledonia's Chief Factor William Connolly, Amelia Connolly. Amelia's mother had been Cree. 

While he was Governor, Douglas there was a lot of pressure from the United States of America to take over BC. Douglas created Vancouver Island's first militia (army) and he also used the Royal Navy for protection.

Douglas made an elected Legislative Assembly to run the government. 

Douglas' largest problem in the mid- and late-1850s concerned relations with the majority First Nations population which numbered at around 30,000 people. 

• Songhees, 
• Cowichan, 
• Nanaimo, 
• Nuu-chah-nulth,
• Haida from Haida Gwaii,
• Euclataws Kwakiutl of northern Georgia Strait,
• Sechelt, Sḵwxwú7mesh, and Sto:lo peoples of the Lower Mainland. 

There were less than 1000 Europeans in the colony.  

Douglas' relations towards First Nations peoples were mixed:

•  Douglas' wife was Cree, 
• he had  many close business and personal relationships with indigenous peoples as a fur trader, 
• he worked to finish treaties (legal agreements) with First Nations on southern Vancouver Island. 
• Douglas had given arms to the Washington Territory's army to help the American government fight its war with Native American tribes, 
• the treaties he finished were criticized because they didn't give enough compensation for land taken from the First Nations (in most cases, a few blankets or a few shillings)

Dr. John Sebastian Helmcken

John Sebastian Helmcken was a British Columbia doctor who helped bring BC into Canada. He joined the Hudson's Bay Company in 1849 as a doctor on to be stationed on Vancouver Island. He settled there and married James Douglas' daughter Cecilia. 

This is Helmcken House, built by Dr. Helmcken in 1852.  This house still stands beside the Royal BC Museum.

In 1856, he was elected to the first Legislative Assembly of Vancouver Island.  He was the speaker of the Legislative Assembly until BC joined Confederation in 1871. Helmcken had been sent to Ottawa to negotiate terms of confederation with the Canadian government. The terms they negotiated were very favourable to BC; In particular, BC was promised a railway connection with the rest of Canada within ten years and the federal government agreed to assume the colony's sizable debt.  British Columbia became a Canadian province on July 20, 1871. After Confederation, Helmcken retired from politics.

Amor De Cosmos

Amor De Cosmos was a Canadian journalist, publisher and politician. He was the second Premier of British Columbia. He believed that BC and Vancouver Island needed to be self-supporting, have a distinct identity, and be connected politically and economically. For him, the two most important things were the union of Vancouver Island and British Columbia, and British Columbia joining Confederation. De Cosmos left journalism and entered politics and became a member of the Legislative Assembly of Vancouver Island and later BC.  He pushed hard to get BC in Canada.  Because of this he is known as one of British Columbia's Fathers of Confederation.

Matthew Baillie Begbie

Matthew Baillie Begbie was the first judge in British Columbia and later became known as "The Hanging Judge". He quickly earned a reputation as a strong, but fair, judge and kept law and order among the white population. He helped Governor James Douglas to keep the colony British and to become part of Canada.

Begbie traveled throughout British Columbia, on foot and on horseback to hold court and keep justice He spoke several languages and is said to have been able to conduct trials in several aboriginal languages without the use of an interpreter.

Upon BC entering Confederation in 1871, Begbie became its first chief justice. He stood up for the rights of Chinese and Native people; he had a tendency to take the side of the "little man."