Richard Blanshard MA (19 October 1817 – 5 June 1894) was an English

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

and first

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of the

Colony of Vancouver Island 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, after which it was united with the mainland to form the Colony of British Columbia. ...

from its foundation in 1849 to his resignation in 1851.

Biography

Blanshard was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to a wealthy mercantile family, and after reading law at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, served in the army in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. At the age of 32, a personal connection helped secure Blanshard the post of colonial governor of Vancouver Island. Although the commission was dated in July, 1849, Blanshard did not arrive in the colony's capital of Fort Victoria until March of the following year. Blanshard's short tenure proved unhappy from the start, largely because of the enormous power and influence wielded by the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

and its autocratic Chief Factor, James Douglas. Indeed, prior to Blanshard's appointment, there had been serious consideration given by the

colonial office The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created in 1768 from the Southern Department to deal with colonial affairs in North America (particularly the Thirteen Colo ...

to appointing Douglas governor, but concerns over

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates t ...

prevented it. Blanshard arrived to a colony in which the land had been given as a ten-year lease to the Hudson's Bay Company, with Douglas given a mandate to attract settlement. Almost the entire non-

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

population were Company employees, answerable to Douglas, and Blanshard was prevented from setting up a colonial assembly by the fact that so few of them met the qualifications of electors, i.e., land ownership. Inevitable jurisdictional conflicts arose between Douglas and Blanshard, and the colonial office, too, took Blanshard to task for indiscriminate retributions taken against the First Nations population near present-day Port Hardy. The absence of any real power, combined with health concerns and the enormous cost of living drove Blanshard to resign; he abandoned the colony in September 1851 after just one and a half years there. Blanshard evidently did not pursue further colonial service. He married and inherited his family's estates in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

and

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. He died in London at the age of 76.

Places named for Blanshard

* Mount Blanshard, part of a group of sugarloaf-type peaks commonly known as the Golden Ears, is located in Golden Ears Provincial Park in the Garibaldi Ranges of the

Coast Mountains The Coast Mountains () are a major mountain range in the Pacific Coast Ranges of western North America, extending from southwestern Yukon through the Alaska Panhandle and virtually all of the British Columbia Coast, Coast of British Columbia sout ...

, immediately north of

Maple Ridge, British Columbia Maple Ridge is a city in British Columbia, Canada. It is located in the northeastern section of Greater Vancouver between the Fraser River and the Golden Ears (peaks), Golden Ears, which is a group of mountain summits which are the southernmo ...

. *The Blanshard River is a tributary of the Tatshenshini River, near the British Columbia–

Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...

border. * Blanshard Island is located among the

Gulf Islands The Gulf Islands is a group of islands in the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the British Columbia Coast, mainland coast of British Columbia. Etymology The name "Gulf Islands" comes from "Gulf of Georgia", the original term used by Geor ...

northeast of the City of Victoria. *

Blanshard Street Blanshard Street is an arterial road in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre and Mayfair Shopping Centre are located along Blanshard. It has been the route for the British Columbia Highway 17, Pat Bay Highway (Highwa ...

is a major thoroughfare in downtown Victoria, running northwards from the north end of Beacon Hill Park to join with Highway 17 just past the Victoria– Saanich boundary. * A large provincial government structure, The Richard Blanshard Building stands on the corner of Blanshard and Pandora Streets in Victoria.

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''

Biography

Places named for Blanshard

External links

Further reading