Richard Blanshard
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Richard Blanshard MA (19 October 1817 – 5 June 1894) was an
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...
and first
governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
of the Colony of Vancouver Island from its foundation in 1849 to his resignation in 1851.


Biography

Blanshard was born in
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 ...
to a wealthy mercantile family, and after reading law at
Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
, 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 on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
. 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; 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 ...
and its autocratic Chief Factor, James Douglas. Indeed, prior to Blanshard's appointment, there had been serious consideration given by the colonial office 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 interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations i ...
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 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 county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
and
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
. 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 Golden Ears Provincial Park is a Provincial park in British Columbia, Canada and is . It is named after the prominent twin peaks which are commonly referred to as Golden Ears ( Mount Blanshard) (elevation: ). The park was originally part of Gariba ...
in the Garibaldi Ranges of the
Coast Mountains The Coast Mountains (french: La chaîne Côtière) 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 Coast of British Columbia ...
, immediately north of Maple Ridge, British Columbia. *The
Blanshard River Blanshard may refer to: Places: *Blanshard, Manitoba, rural municipality in the province of Manitoba in Western Canada *Blanshard Peak, distinctive rock pinnacle in Golden Ears Provincial Park *Blanshard Street, arterial road in Victoria, British C ...
is a tributary of the
Tatshenshini River The Tatshenshini River (; Tlingit ''Tʼachanshahéeni'', Southern Tutchone ''Shäwshe Chù'') is a river in the Canadian boreal forest, in the southwestern Yukon and the northwestern corner of British Columbia. It originates in British Columbia, ...
, near the British Columbia–
Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...
border. *
Blanshard Island Blanshard may refer to: Places: *Blanshard, Manitoba, rural municipality in the province of Manitoba in Western Canada *Blanshard Peak, distinctive rock pinnacle in Golden Ears Provincial Park *Blanshard Street, arterial road in Victoria, British C ...
is located among the Gulf Islands northeast of the
City of 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 ...
. *
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 Pat Bay Highway through Victoria since 1978 when the ...
is a major thoroughfare in downtown Victoria, running northwards from the north end of
Beacon Hill Park Beacon Hill Park is a 75 ha (200 acre) park located along the shore of Juan de Fuca Strait in Victoria, British Columbia. The park is popular both with tourists and locals, and contains a number of amenities including woodland and shoreline trail ...
to join with
Highway 17 Route 17, or Highway 17 can refer to the following roads: For the roads named "A17", see list of A17 roads. International * European route E17 * European route E017 Australia * Brisbane Valley Highway, Queensland * D'Aguilar Highway, Queenslan ...
just past the Victoria– Saanich boundary. * A large
provincial Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Can ...
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''


Further reading


''Governor Blanshard's Plight'', R. Gosnell and E.O.S. Scholefield, ''A History of British Columbia'', Historical Society of British Columbia (Vancouver 1913), pp. 107–114
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanshard, Richard 1817 births 1894 deaths Lawyers from London Colonial governors of British Columbia and Vancouver Island Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Colony of Vancouver Island people 19th-century English lawyers