James William Douglas (June 1, 1851 – November 7, 1883) was a Canadian who represented

Victoria City Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychel ...

in the

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is the deliberative assembly of the Parliament of British Columbia, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The Legislative Assembly meets in Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria. Members ar ...

from 1875 to 1878. He was born in Victoria, Colony of Vancouver Island, the son of Sir James Douglas, the first governor of Vancouver Island, and Amelia Connolly. James had been born in British Guiyana to a Scottish planter father and a free woman of colour. Amelia was the Anglo-Métis daughter of William Connolly, fur trader, and his

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...

wife; she grew up at the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

forts managed by her father. Douglas was educated in Victoria. He served in the local militia. For a time, he studied law with John Foster McCreight. In 1877, Douglas married Mary, the daughter of

Andrew Charles Elliott Andrew Charles Elliott (June 22, 1829 – April 9, 1889) was a British Columbian politician and jurist. Career Elliott's varied career in British Columbia included gold commissioner, stipendiary magistrate, and, following the union of the Is ...

. He died in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

at the age of 32.

References

1851 births 1883 deaths Politicians from Victoria, British Columbia Independent MLAs in British Columbia Colony of Vancouver Island people Canadian people of Scottish descent Canadian people of Barbadian descent Canadian people of Guyanese descent Black Canadian politicians History of Black people in British Columbia {{BritishColumbia-MLA-stub