The Labouchere was a

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses wer ...

in the service of 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 ...

, built in 1858 at Green's in Blackwall,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

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. Under the command of Captain J. Trivett it was mostly in service in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

and the rest of the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

in the 1850s and 1860s, including the Stikine lisière in

Russian America Russian America (russian: Русская Америка, Russkaya Amerika) was the name for the Russian Empire's colonial possessions in North America from 1799 to 1867. It consisted mostly of present-day Alaska in the United States, but a ...

. In 1859, its then-captain John Swanson was elected by a "celebrated" majority of one (there was only one qualified elector) in the colonial riding of

Nanaimo Nanaimo ( ) is a city on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. As of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, it had a population of 99,863, and it is known as "The Harbour City." The city was previously known as the "H ...

for the Legislative Assembly of the Colony of Vancouver Island. In 1862 the ''Labouchere'', while trading in Russian America (now Alaska), was nearly captured by aboriginal people presumably of the Tligit tribe, as reported by George Davidson, Assistant United States Coast Survey: "In May, 1862, between two hundred and fifty and three hundred of the Indians on the west side of Chatham Strait, and about twenty-five miles north of Icy Strait, seized the captain and chief trader of the Hudson's Bay Company's steamer Labouchere, of seven hundred tons, on the quarter-deck, and taking possession of the vessel drove the crew forward. But parleying took place, and the crew having a large gun trained aft, agreed to fire off their rifles, the Indians afterwards doing the same, and finally leaving the vessel, which at night quietly steamed away and was afraid to return for a year. It is but just to the Indian chiefs to say that when the vessel returned they covered her deck with fine sea-otter and other skins as a present to the captain and trader and a token of peace." By 1865-66 the ''Labouchere'' served the

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 ...

Victoria 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, Seychelle ...

run. On its second run on that route, under the command of W.A. Mouat and carrying 100 passengers and cargo on behalf of Faulkner, Bell & Co., the ''Labouchere'' was grounded in heavy fog off

Point Reyes Point Reyes (, meaning "Point of the Kings") is a prominent cape and popular Northern California tourist destination on the Pacific coast. Located in Marin County, it is approximately west-northwest of San Francisco. The term is often applied ...

after disembarking San Francisco on 14 April 1866 and, after backing off the reef and staying offshore overnight, sank on the morning of the 15th. One of eight lifeboats was swamped, incurring the loss of two lives. Those in the lifeboats were picked up by Rescue ; 23 men who had stayed on board were rescued by the Italian fishing vessel ''Andrew'' just before the ''Labouchere'' sank beneath the waves.The Labouchere - Paddle Steamer
at the Labouchere school of seamanship website.

Legacy

Labouchere Channel and Labouchere Point, on the northeast end of

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in the

Dean Channel Dean Channel is the upper end of one of the longest inlets of the British Columbia Coast, from its head at the mouth of the Kimsquit River. The Dean River, one of the main rivers of the Coast Mountains, enters Dean Channel about below the head ...

area of the Central Coast of British Columbia, near Bella Coola, and Labouchere Passage near Drury Inlet farther south, are named after the ''Labouchere''. The vessel was named for

Henry Labouchere Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

who was colonial secretary from 1855 to 1858. Labouchere Bay on Prince of Wales Island in Alaska was named for the sidewheeler Labouchere.

References

Coast of British Columbia Pre-Confederation British Columbia Maritime history of California Paddle steamers Shipwrecks of the California coast Ships built by the Blackwall Yard Hudson's Bay Company ships 1866 in California {{California-stub

Legacy

See also

References