Augustus F. Pemberton
Commissioner of Police, British Columbia, 1858-67.

ton had been proclaimed a territory of the
American Union in 1853, and the British
Government considered it now expedient to
prove complete title to the new region. In
1858, Governor Douglas was commissioned
as Governor of the two Crown Colonies of
Vancouver Island and British Columbia.

Disciplined in the service of the Com-
pany, his natural initiative developed by the
rigours of frontier life, Governor Douglas
was ably fitted to rule the territory. The
post required an extremely able adminis-
trator, for the gold seekers—most of whom
came from the Californian fields—were hard
to handle.

Almost overnight the population of Vic-
toria had jumped from hundreds to thou-
sands, for this was the point of supply and
embarkation for the Fraser River.

In his dispatches to the Secretary of State
for the Colonies, the Governor had made
repeated mention of the need for an ade-
quate police force. Prior to the establish-
ment of the Crown Colony, police protec
tion on the Island had been of a volunteer
nature. The settlers formed posses to appre-
hend flagrant law-breakers.

If the emergency proved beyond the con-
trol of these voltigewrs the assistance of naval
vessels was sought. The principal danger
was from attacks of bands of marauding
Indians who were a constant menace to the
whites they so largely outnumbered. With
the rush of gold-seekers to the Fraser River
the situation had altered and a properly
organized police force was necessary.

Where Vancouver Island was concerned,
Governor Douglas met the situation by ap-

Page Fourteen

pointing Augustus F. Pemberton as Com-
missioner of Police on July 7, 1858. Under
Pemberton was a superintendent, chief con-
stable, sergeant and five constables, as well
as the staff to maintain the gaol. At first,
prisoners from all parts of the Island were
brought to Victoria for trial and incarcera-
tion, and later from the Mainland.

UrGED SELF-RELIANCE FOR COLONY

The Governor thought that the company
of Royal Engineers, sent to the Colony as
artificers, might well be utilized as a police
force on the Fraser River. However, Sir E.
Bulwer Lytton, Secretary of State, foresaw
the necessity of starting the Colony off on a
self-reliant basis and suggested the organiza-
tion of a proper police force, members to be
recruited from local residents; he intimated
that too frequent a display of militarism
might bring the Engineers into disrepute and
militate against their usefulness when a
real emergency arose.

In a dispatch to Governor Douglas, Bul-
wer Lytton stated: “It should be remem-
bered that your real strength lies in the
conviction of emigrants that their interests
are identical with those of the government,
which should be carried on in harmony with,
and by means of, the people of the country.
It may be convenient for you to know that
I contemplate sending out an experienced
Inspector of Police to assist in the forma-
tion of an efficient force. You should, con-
sequently, lose no time in considering how
that force should be organized. It must be
derived from the people on the spot, who
will understand that for their own preser-
vation from internal disturbances they must
rely solely on themselves.”

The Inspector of Police referred to by
Bulwer Lytton was Chartres Brew, an
Irishman who had served with the Irish
Constabulary. Born at Corsfin, County
Clare, in 1815, Brew had joined the Irish
Constabulary in 1840. He was doing duty
in Cork city as an inspector when, at the
direction of the Colonial Office, he was sent
to British Columbia.

A hardy, pioneering soul, he withstood a
hazardous trip across a wild, surging Atlan-
tic, which saw him
shipwrecked and
stranded in Halifax.
Hurriedly finding
another boat and un-
daunted by his exper-
ience, Brew continued
his journey and ar-
rived in Victoria only
a day behind schedule.

With Chartres
Brew and Augustus
Pemberton at the
helm, the little body
of law officers were
faced with a most dif-
ficult task. They en-
tered into the spirit of
their pioneering en-
terprise, and soon
their fame spread throughout the country.

The story is told of Viscount Milton and
Dr. F. Cheadle making an overland trip

Leg irons used on
prisoners in the early
days. From Richfield

prison.

across Canada. They arrived at Kamloops
in 1862. One of the party, a white man,
had incurred the wrath of an Assiniboine
Indian packer. The Indian, infuriated, was
about to attack the elderly white man when
Viscount Milton sternly warned the red-
skin: “There is law in this country.” A
serious disturbance was averted merely by
the mention of law protection.

The main source of worry for the police
in the early days, apart from Indians, was
the wild surge of humanity to the Fraser,

First gaol erected in British Columbia—now de-
molished—erected by Hudson’s Bay Company
at Craigflower, near Victoria, in the 50s.

when the word went out of the discovery of
gold along the banks of that historic river.

B. C. PoLicE A PIONEER FORCE

Brew’s first duty was to survey condi-
tions first-hand in the vicinity of the gold
strike and report to the Governor. His
findings prompted him to suggest the need
for 150 members of the Irish constabulary,
to be brought immediately to the Colony.
The Secretary of State vetoed the sugges-
tion, feeling that the revenues of the Colony
would not permit the transportation and
maintenance of such a body, and his pre-
vious recommendation was carried out. The
Police in British Columbia was truly a
pioneer force, recruited among the resi-
dents. :

Brew and his gallant force did splendid
work under existing conditions. Then
another menace was unearthed. Low-grade
white men were selling the Indians whisky
in return for furs.

The government hastily called for aid
from naval vessels from the Esquimalt sta-
tion. Police officers travelled up the coast
by frigate and sloop, and retribution for the
offenders was swift and severe. Brew, for
all his jovial Irish personality, was a stern
law enforcer. He wasted no sympathy on
whites who sold liquor to Indians. After
intensive investigation, caches of whisky
were found by the police and promptly
destroyed.

Back to the goldfields, Brew and his fel-
low officers found themselves in the midst
of a money-mad horde of men from all
parts of the world, all intent on one prize—
gold! “Trouble began when the new-comers
attempted to jostle the native residents out
of place. Among the miners, the best method

of settling an argument was the quick use
of a gun.

THE SHOULDER STRAP