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 Derby — Fort Langley, British Columbia Posted by:  Dunbar Loop
N 49° 11.887 W 122° 35.661
10U E 529552 N 5449559
Derby was a short lived community on the Lower Fraser River. Destined to become the port of entry and the colonial capital of a proposed colony it quickly sprang to life in the early days of the Cariboo Gold Rush. It died within a year.
Waymark Code: WM8PXM
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Date Posted: 04/29/2010
Views: 12
The Cariboo Gold Rush saw a huge influx of miners, mainly American, on the undetermined area that would become British Columbia. Other than Vancouver Island today's BC was under control of the Hudson's Bay Company and not a part of the British Crown. In its short life spanning 1858-59 it reached a population of 5,000, mostly made up a itinerant miners heading the goldfields hundreds of kilometers north.
The Hudson's Bay Company Chief Factor and Governor of Vancouver Island was concerned with all the Americans present on the Mainland that this asset would become a territory of the United States in short order. He requested that the Royal Engineers be based here and build roads to assist miner's to get into the Interior where the gold rush was. He also wanted Derby Reach to become the colonial capital. However, the Royal Engineers thought that this site would be indefensible to an American invasion from the south. They recommended that New Westminster, 30 kilometers down the Fraser River, would be a better location. It was sited on a steep hillside and more importantly it was protected from imagined American troops by the wide Fraser River from Oregon Territory. Overnight people began to leave Derby for the strategic new capital.
This sign discusses the short lived Derby Reach, one of British Columbia's first ghost towns.
Derby Reach – Location! Location! Location!
”The town site is bound on the upper end by a claim of the H.B. Company for 10 square miles of land and on the other side by swampy country, it is divided into 183 blocks of 5 by 10 chains [1 chain = 66 feet] in size; and these blocks are subdivided into 18 lots, size 64 x 120. There are nineteen blocks reserved for Government uses in different portions of the town, and these are the only reservations. The width of the streets is 78 feet, with an alleyway 12 feet in width, through each block. The streets are not named with but exception, is a street called Kanaka street, from the fact of some Kanaka [Hawaiians] having occupied a house near by.”
Victoria Gazette, Nov. 25, 1858
Gold Rush Sparks Population Boom
The Fraser River Gold Rush of 1858 brought many people to the Fraser Valley. The rapid influx of people, mostly American, concerned James Douglas, Governor of Vancouver Island and Chief Factor of the Hudson’s Bay Company. He felt it threatened British sovereignty. The operations of the company, law and order, and control over mining activity because the mainland was not yet declared a Crown Colony.
Land Speculation Soars – Crown Claims Land
Gold-rush fever and rumours about a new capital led speculators to squat on land at Derby Reach. They planned to layout lots for the town of Derby and sell them for profit. In response, Douglas quickly established Crown title of the land at Derby and conducted a government survey of the Derby Townsite. He planned to sell the lots by public auction and use the money for the new mainland colony.
Lots For Sale
On Nov. 19, 1858 the colony of British Columbia was proclaimed. On 25, 1858 the Victoria Gazette announced that the sale of the Derby lots would start that day. Because the public felt that Derby would become either the Capital or the Port of Entry for the new colony, auction prices far exceeded those expected. By Nov. 30th all of the lots were sold and Kanaka and First Nations people were displace.
Building Begins at Derby Townsite
Between November 1858 and April 1859 a courthouse, a jail, a church and a parsonage were built at Derby. The first party of Royal Engineers, who were sent to survey and keep law and order, built their barracks at Derby.
”No Capital” Decision Creates Ghost Town
In April 1859, the more strategically located New Westminster became the Capital and Port of Entry for the Colony of B.C. and construction at Derby stopped. To compensate those who purchased lots at Derby, Douglas offered them lots in New Westminster in exchange. Soon after, Derby Townsite and its plans were abandoned.
Reason for Abandonment: Economic
Date Abandoned: 01/01/1859
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