Sir James Douglas
The role and place of Sir James Douglas in the development of British Columbia
Dylan Koltz Hale
HIST-1390-A01 – History of Colonial Canada: 1500-1885
Prof. Friesen
11/14/2013
Sir James Douglas was a born a world away from the west coast of Canada, but over the course of his life he had irrevocably altered the area we know today as British Columbia. Born in British Guyana he was one of three children of Martha Ann Ritchie; a mixed race women known as a “free coloured”. His father John Douglas was a son of a wealthy Scottish family. The couple did not marry and thus Sir James Douglas was an illegitimate and mixed race child. His father, knowing he could not bring his son back to Scotland, decided he would give his son the best chance possible to succeed and sent him to work as a clerk in a trading post in Canada. Douglas quickly rose through the ranks, impressing his superiors with intelligence and persistence. He rose to become the highest rank in the Hudson’s Bay Company and became the Governor of two frontier colonies. Sir James Douglas’ place in British Columbia during the first half of the 17th century was the founding of and development of two Colonies and the promotion and success of Hudson’s Bay Company in Western Canada. In this essay I will argue and defend these statements in respective order.
Sir James Douglas left his old post at Fort Saint James when he was promoted to Accountant of Fort Vancouver and arrived there in the year 1830.1 He came in amazement at the scale of the fort, it was the largest settlement west of the Great Plains and he was the head of operations there. As the accountant of Fort Vancouver he implemented a successful social and political agenda.2 He invited priests and encouraged Britain to supply him with teachers for new schools for both boys and girls.3 In addition, he established a charity group of the Fort’s wealthier citizens, founded an orphanage, and improved the fort’s hospital.4 Nine years after
Dylan Koltz Hale
HIST-1390-A01 – History of Colonial Canada: 1500-1885
Prof. Friesen
11/14/2013
Sir James Douglas was a born a world away from the west coast of Canada, but over the course of his life he had irrevocably altered the area we know today as British Columbia. Born in British Guyana he was one of three children of Martha Ann Ritchie; a mixed race women known as a “free coloured”. His father John Douglas was a son of a wealthy Scottish family. The couple did not marry and thus Sir James Douglas was an illegitimate and mixed race child. His father, knowing he could not bring his son back to Scotland, decided he would give his son the best chance possible to succeed and sent him to work as a clerk in a trading post in Canada. Douglas quickly rose through the ranks, impressing his superiors with intelligence and persistence. He rose to become the highest rank in the Hudson’s Bay Company and became the Governor of two frontier colonies. Sir James Douglas’ place in British Columbia during the first half of the 17th century was the founding of and development of two Colonies and the promotion and success of Hudson’s Bay Company in Western Canada. In this essay I will argue and defend these statements in respective order.
Sir James Douglas left his old post at Fort Saint James when he was promoted to Accountant of Fort Vancouver and arrived there in the year 1830.1 He came in amazement at the scale of the fort, it was the largest settlement west of the Great Plains and he was the head of operations there. As the accountant of Fort Vancouver he implemented a successful social and political agenda.2 He invited priests and encouraged Britain to supply him with teachers for new schools for both boys and girls.3 In addition, he established a charity group of the Fort’s wealthier citizens, founded an orphanage, and improved the fort’s hospital.4 Nine years after