Vancouver Island Letters of Edmund Hope Verney, 1862-1865

R. Douglas Francis is a professor of history at the University of
Calgary and the co-author of Destinies: Canadian History Since
Confederation.

Edmund Hope Verney was the commander of the gunboat HMS Grappler, which
was stationed on Vancouver Island between 1862 and 1865. He was the
eldest son and heir of Sir Harry Verney, second baronet of the Claydon
estate in England and a prominent British MP. He had already served in
the Crimean War and with a naval brigade in India during the Mutiny,
before taking command of the Grappler at the age of 24.

Verney was in Victoria during a transitional period of colonial life,
as the two separate colonies on the Island and the mainland debated
their future in the depressed conditions of the post-gold-rush era. The
options were to join the United States, unite into a single colony that
would remain under British rule, or join with the other British North
American colonies in Confederation. Verney’s letters ranged well
beyond commentary on colonial political life to include naval affairs,
social life, civic and ecclesiastical affairs, the nature and impact of
European settlement, relations with Natives, and impressions of local
people and places. He also took part in the settlement of Comox and
Cowichan, and, as a magistrate, in the establishment of a free school
and as a member of the immigration board for British Columbia.

The vast majority of the letters reproduced here are ones Verney sent
to his father, and on occasion to his stepmother, supplemented by
correspondence to other family members and letters of an official
nature. Editor Allan Pritchard has written an excellent introduction
that sets Verney and his views in a larger historical context. Indeed,
Pritchard’s introduction is so comprehensive, including liberal
quotations from the letters reproduced, as to make the letters
themselves seem almost redundant. While these letters will prove
valuable for B.C. historians researching the period, they have limited
value for the general reader, because Verney never succeeded in rising
above the mundane and everyday experiences to provide insights of a more
universal and lasting nature.