History of British Columbia Sheriffs

Last updated July 28, 2022

Governor John Douglas, the second governor for the Colony of Vancouver Island, appointed the first sheriff for Vancouver Island in 1857. Sheriff Andrew Muir was born in Scotland, and his family had established a sawmill in Sooke after they left the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company.^[1]

Sheriff Muir was tasked with the role of coroner, constable, and election returning officer. In 1858, the Gold Rush brought thousands of new visitors to Vancouver Island. Sheriff Muir's duties increased to include the suppression of riots and fugitive apprehension. The Colony of British Columbia was also created in this year. By 1860, the B.C. Sheriffs Act was created, and the two colonies were divided into nine counties, each with its own high sheriff.^[2]

These early sheriffs had many duties, including jailhouse keeper, tax collector and gold commissioner, in addition to the duties first performed by Sheriff Muir. As the British Columbia Provincial Police were created in 1858 and several municipal police departments were established in the later 19th century and early 20th century, Sheriffs' focus was turned away from policing duties that they initially took on due to a lack of other resources. In the 20th century their role continued to change. Sheriffs, depending on their county, would serve as justice of the peace - allowing them to act as marriage commissioners.^[3] They were also empowered to create a posse (posse comitatus or "power of the county") for the apprehension of fugitives. At the Oakalla Prison, Sheriffs were responsible for the execution of prisoners sentenced to death, as it was a court process, as late as the 1960s.^[2]

In 1974, the British Columbia government amalgamated the county sheriffs into the provincial British Columbia Sheriff Service.

Related Research Articles

Vancouver Island Island on the western coast of Canada

Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is 456 km (283 mi) in length, 100 km (62 mi) in width at its widest point, and 32,134 km² (12,407 sq mi) in area. The island is the largest by area and the most populous along the west coasts of the Americas.

Events from the year 1858 in Canada.

The history of British Columbia covers the period from the arrival of Paleo-Indians thousands of years ago to the present day. Prior to European colonization, the lands encompassing present-day British Columbia were inhabited for millennia by a number of First Nations.

Greater Victoria is located in British Columbia, Canada, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. It is a cultural rather than political entity, usually defined as the thirteen easternmost municipalities of the Capital Regional District (CRD) on Vancouver Island as well as some adjacent areas and nearby islands.

A chief of police is the title given to an appointed official or an elected one in the chain of command of a police department, particularly in North America. A chief of police may also be known as a police chief or sometimes just a chief, while some countries favour other titles such as commissioner or chief constable. A police chief is appointed by and answerable to a national or local government, with the main exception being elected sheriffs in the United States.

The lieutenant governor of British Columbia is the viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The office of lieutenant governor is an office of the Crown and serves as a representative of the monarchy in the province, rather than the governor general of Canada. The office was created in 1871 when the Colony of British Columbia joined the Confederation. Since then the lieutenant governor has been the representative of the monarchy in British Columbia. Previously, between 1858 and 1863 under colonial administration the title of lieutenant governor of British Columbia was given to Richard Clement Moody as commander of the Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment. This position coexisted with the office of governor of British Columbia served by James Douglas during that time.

Sir James Douglas, was a British Columbian fur trader and politician who became the first Governor of the Colony of British Columbia. He is often credited as "The Father of British Columbia". He was instrumental to the resettlement of 35 African-Americans fleeing a life of racial persecution in San Francisco, who arrived in the province aboard the steamship Commodore in what later became known as The Pioneer Committee. In 1863 Douglas was knighted by Queen Victoria for his services to the Crown.

The Colony of British Columbia was a British Crown Colony that resulted from the amalgamation of the two former colonies, the Colony of Vancouver Island and the mainland Colony of British Columbia. The two former colonies were united in 1866, and the united colony existed until its incorporation into the Canadian Confederation in 1871.

The Colony of British Columbia was a crown colony in British North America from 1858 until 1866 that was founded by Richard Clement Moody, who was selected to 'found a second England on the shores of the Pacific', who was Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works for British Columbia and the first Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia. Prior to the arrival of Moody's Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment, the Colony's supreme authority was its Governor James Douglas, who was the Governor of the neighbouring colony of Vancouver Island.

The British Columbia Provincial Police (BCPP) was the provincial police service of British Columbia, Canada, between 1858 and 1950.

The Queen Charlottes Gold Rush was a gold rush in southern Haida Gwaii of what is now the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada, in 1851.

Gold commissioner was an important regional administrative post in the colonies of the British Empire where extensive gold prospecting took place, including in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and in South Africa. The key responsibilities of gold commissioners were to uphold the law, provide access to the gold fields, issue mining licences, and register gold claims. Such a role was required due to the lawlessness that often followed gold rushes.

The Legislative Assembly of Vancouver Island, sometimes House of Assembly of Vancouver Island, was the colonial parliamentary body that was elected to represent voters in the Colony of Vancouver Island. It was created in 1856 after a series of petitions were sent to the Colonial Office in London protesting the Hudson’s Bay Company’s proprietary rule over the colony. It was the first elected assembly in British North America west of Ontario. Although at first only handful of colonists met the voting requirement, and most of those that did were tied to the HBC, the franchise was gradually extended, and the assembly began to assert demands for more control over colonial affairs, as well as criticize colonial governor Sir James Douglas's inherent conflict of interest as both governor and Hudson Bay Company's chief factor.

The British Columbia Sheriff Service (BCSS) is a provincial law enforcement agency overseen by the Ministry of the Attorney General in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1857, it is the oldest law enforcement agency in the province. Sheriffs are provincial peace officers appointed under the BC Sheriff Act and BC Police Act with authority to enforce all relevant federal and provincial acts including the criminal code throughout British Columbia while in the lawful execution of their duties.

Leechtown is at the confluence of the Leech River into the Sooke River in southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The ghost town, off BC Highway 1 is about 59 kilometres (37 mi) by road northwest of Victoria.

In British Columbia, eight counties are created in the "County Boundary Act". The counties are created for the administration of justice, and are not used in the administration of government. Local government is organized by municipalities and by regional districts.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to British Columbia:

The Douglas Treaties, also known as the Vancouver Island Treaties or the Fort Victoria Treaties, were a series of treaties signed between certain indigenous groups on Vancouver Island and the Colony of Vancouver Island.

David Cameron was a jurist, merchant, and manager operating across the British Empire. He was unsuccessful as a cloth merchant in Scotland and as a sugar plantation manager in Demerara, Guianas. He became a Hudson's Bay Company clerk in Nanaimo, British Columbia and then a judge in the Colony of Vancouver Island. In 1853, Cameron became the first Chief Justice of Vancouver Island, a position which he held until 1858. He served as a justice until his retirement in 1865.

References

↑ Peers, Elida. "B.C.'s first sheriff was a Sooke resident". sookenewsmirror.com. Sooke News Mirror. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
1 2 "B.C. Sheriff Services History - Province of British Columbia". gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
↑ Smith, David (1 Feb 2008). He Can Either Marry You or Hang You: The History of British Columbia's Sheriffs. Canada: Trafford Publishing. ISBN 978-1425139155.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[Muir-1] Peers, Elida. "B.C.'s first sheriff was a Sooke resident". sookenewsmirror.com. Sooke News Mirror. Retrieved 8 April 2018.

[bcss_history-2] 1 2 "B.C. Sheriff Services History - Province of British Columbia". gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 8 April 2018.

[Smith-3] Smith, David (1 Feb 2008). He Can Either Marry You or Hang You: The History of British Columbia's Sheriffs. Canada: Trafford Publishing. ISBN 978-1425139155.

[1]

[2]

[3]