The Fraser River Gold Rush and the Victoria Newspaper Boom
An Exhibition for the Second W. Kaye Lamb Lecture January 27, 2005

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References

[1] Any good paper requires the insights and expertise of several interested parties. The author thanks Ralph Stanton, Rare Books and Special Collections Librarian at the University of British Columbia (UBC) for his supervision during the research. Dr. Robert (Bob) McDonald, Associate Professor of History, UBC and Ralph Stanton provided feedback on this essay. Also, the author thanks the staff at the Rare Books and Special Collections, UBC for providing speedy access to its collections. Finally, Frederic Murray, MLIS Student, and Wendy Huot, MLIS Student provided additional comments on this paper, and both of whom are working with the author to mount an online exhibition on early BC newspapers to be completed in April 2005.

[2] Basil Stuart-Stubbs, "British Columbia's Peripatetic Press," British Columbia Library Quarterly 22, no. 1 (July 1958), 25; H. Pearson Gundy, Canada, The Spread of Printing, Western Hemisphere (Amsterdam: Van Gendt; New York: Abner Schram, 1972), 72.

[3] Douglas C[rawford] McMurtrie, The First Printing in British Columbia (Chicago: privately printed, 1929), 5; Ćgidius Fauteux, "Pioneer Printers in the Western Province," in The Introduction of Printing into Canada (Montreal: Rollan Paper Company, 1957), 9. Basil Stuart-Stubbs records the year when the first printing press arrived in British Columbia as 1852, not 1856. Reportedly, Basil Stuart-Stubbs published a correction, but this author is unable to find it after hand searching subsequent volumes in the British Columbia Library Quarterly. Basil Stuart-Stubbs, "British Columbia's Peripatetic Press," British Columbia Library Quarterly 22, no. 1 (July 1958), 25.

[4] Additional key events are arranged chronologically in Appendix 1.

[5] Eric Haworth, "Gold Lures Printing to the West," in Imprint of a Nation (Toronto: Baxter Publishing, 1969), 190.

[6] George Woodcock, Amor de Cosmos: Journalist and Reformer (Toronto: OUP, 1975), 17.

[7] Douglas C[rawford] McMurtrie, The First Printing in British Columbia (Chicago: privately printed, 1929), 5.

[8] Basil Stuart-Stubbs, "British Columbia's Peripatetic Press," British Columbia Library Quarterly 22, no. 1 (July 1958), 25-26.

[9] Douglas C[rawford] McMurtrie, The First Printing in British Columbia (Chicago: privately printed, 1929), 7-8.

[10] Eric Haworth, "Gold Lures Printing to the West," in Imprint of a Nation (Toronto: Baxter Publishing, 1969), 190; Glennis Zilm, "B.C.'s First Books," Amphora 45 (September 1981), 20.

[11] Douglas C[rawford] McMurtrie, The First Printing in British Columbia (Chicago: privately printed, 1929), 8. Eric Haworth gives a greater role to Paul de Garro, naming him the printer and editor of the Le Courrier de la Nouvelle Calédonie. Eric Haworth, "Gold Lures Printing to the West," in Imprint of a Nation (Toronto: Baxter Publishing, 1969), 190. Basil Stuart-Stubbs describes Paul de Garro as a "…local bill-poster and carrier of hand-bills…," and not as a "printer." Admittedly, it is possible that Paul de Garro was the publisher and printer of Le Courrier de la Nouvelle Calédonie (September to October 1858) in that if he was not a printer, he quickly acquired the skill: he printed the Fraser Mines Vindicated, one of the earliest books printed in BC in November or December of 1858; and he printed the first issues of the British Colonist, which started December 11, 1858. Basil Stuart-Stubbs, "British Columbia's Peripatetic Press," British Columbia Library Quarterly 22, no. 1 (July 1958), 26.

[12] Basil Stuart-Stubbs, "British Columbia's Peripatetic Press," British Columbia Library Quarterly 22, no. 1 (July 1958), 26. George Woodcock records the full title of the first French newspaper in Victoria as "La Courrier de La nouvelle Calédonie: Journal politique et litteraire, organe des populations francaises dans les possessions anglaises." George Woodcock, "Imprints and Publishers of Early British Columbia," Canadian Notes & Queries, no. 43 (Winter 1990), 3.

[13] Basil Stuart-Stubbs, "British Columbia's Peripatetic Press," British Columbia Library Quarterly 22, no. 1 (July 1958), 26.

[14] Basil Stuart-Stubbs, "British Columbia's Peripatetic Press," British Columbia Library Quarterly 22, no. 1 (July 1958), 26.

[15] J. Forsyth, "Early Press of B.C. Was Ably Edited by Men Who Played Big Parts in Shaping Country," [microform], The Daily Colonist (Victoria, BC), 10 December 1933: 8. Although James Evans had attempted to print the Nor'Wester prior to the Victoria Gazette, he only succeeded on December 29, 1858.

[16] Douglas C[rawford] McMurtrie, The First Printing in British Columbia (Chicago: privately printed, 1929), 6.

[17] Eric Haworth, "Gold Lures Printing to the West," in Imprint of a Nation (Toronto: Baxter Publishing, 1969), 192.

[18] J. Forsyth claims that the newspaper was originally going to be called the North American. J. Forsyth, "Early Press of B.C. Was Ably Edited by Men Who Played Big Parts in Shaping Country," [microform], The Daily Colonist (Victoria, BC), 10 December 1933: 8. A number of events that serve as indicators of the tension building up between the British and United States, in no particular order, include: President Polk's, "54-40 or Fight" campaign; the influx of US gold miners; and the San Juan Islands dispute.

[19] George Woodcock, Amor de Cosmos: Journalist and Reformer (Toronto: OUP, 1975), 32. Glennis Zilm illustrates the broader connection between early BC newspapers and colonial politics: in late 1858, the presses of the Victoria Gazette and the British Colonist printed most of the government publications, which served as a relatively stable, much-needed source of revenue. The government attempted to print its own official newsletter, but local printers so strongly opposed the government that the government agreed to abandon its proposal. Glennis Zilm, "Early B.C. Books: An Overview of Trade Book Publishing in British Columbia in the 1800s with Checklists and Selected Bibliography related to British Columbiana," Master's thesis (Simon Fraser University, May 1981), 43.

[20] George Woodcock, "Imprints and Publishers of Early British Columbia," Canadian Notes & Queries, no. 43 (Winter 1990), 4. Ćgidius Fauteux records how Paul de Garro met an unfortunate end. With the failure of his newspaper, he eventually became a waiter in a Victoria restaurant. In 1861, he died from a boiler explosion on a steamer that was taking him to the mines of the Cariboo. Ćgidius Fauteux, "Pioneer Printers in the Western Province," in The Introduction of Printing into Canada (Montreal: Rollan Paper Company, 1957), 10.

[21] Basil Stuart-Stubbs, "British Columbia's Peripatetic Press," British Columbia Library Quarterly 22, no. 1 (July 1958), 28.

[22] Basil Stuart-Stubbs, "British Columbia's Peripatetic Press," British Columbia Library Quarterly 22, no. 1 (July 1958), 28.

[23] George Woodcock, Amor de Cosmos: Journalist and Reformer (Toronto: OUP, 1975), 32.

[24] Basil Stuart-Stubbs, "British Columbia's Peripatetic Press," British Columbia Library Quarterly 22, no. 1 (July 1958), 28.

[25] George Woodcock, Amor de Cosmos: Journalist and Reformer (Toronto: OUP, 1975), 34.

[26] Eric Haworth, "Gold Lures Printing to the West," in Imprint of a Nation (Toronto: Baxter Publishing, 1969), 195.

[27] George Woodcock, Amor de Cosmos: Journalist and Reformer (Toronto: OUP, 1975), 35; Eric Haworth, "Gold Lures Printing to the West," in Imprint of a Nation (Toronto: Baxter Publishing, 1969), 193; Douglas C[rawford] McMurtrie, The First Printing in British Columbia (Chicago: privately printed, 1929), 9.

[28] George Woodcock, Amor de Cosmos: Journalist and Reformer (Toronto: OUP, 1975), 39.

[29] George Woodcock, Amor de Cosmos: Journalist and Reformer (Toronto: OUP, 1975), 35; J. Forsyth, "Early Press of B.C. Was Ably Edited by Men Who Played Big Parts in Shaping Country," [microform], The Daily Colonist (Victoria, BC), 10 December 1933: 2.

[30] George Woodcock, Amor de Cosmos: Journalist and Reformer (Toronto: OUP, 1975), 42; Eric Haworth, "Gold Lures Printing to the West," in Imprint of a Nation (Toronto: Baxter Publishing, 1969), 193. G.P.V. Akrigg, and Helen B. Akrigg have listed the total bond required by Governor Douglas to be 600 pounds, not 800. G.P.V. Akrigg, and Helen B. Akrigg, British Columbia Chronicle, 1847-1871: Gold & Colonists ([Vancouver]: Discovery Press, 1977), 161.

[31] George Woodcock gives a flavourful description of what an early BC newspaper would read like. All newspapers at the time followed the style of a "western frontier newspaper." The international news section would be grossly outdated, but the local gossip would be fresh, barely with time to let the ink dry. Advertisements would vary from medicine to gourmet foods from England. Bankruptcies would be frowned upon, and public condemnation would be echoed in the newspaper for public misdeeds. Above all, papers at this time were written with loaded language. An illustrative account follows care of the Colonist: "an unfortunate lover of old rye was brought before the magistrate yesterday. He pleaded guilty to the crime of being corned the night before…" On another page, George Woodcock summarizes the values embodied in many of the early newspapers as "independence, individuality, and machismo." George Woodcock, Amor de Cosmos: Journalist and Reformer (Toronto: OUP, 1975), 38, 40, 42.

[32] Eric Haworth, "Gold Lures Printing to the West," in Imprint of a Nation (Toronto: Baxter Publishing, 1969), 193.

[33] Douglas C[rawford] McMurtrie, The First Printing in British Columbia (Chicago: privately printed, 1929), 14.

[34] Glennis Zilm, "Printing Technology in B.C. in the 1800s," Amphora 51 (March 1983), 4.

[35] Cecil Clark, "Old Press Printed First Colonist…and Turned out a Great Deal of B.C.'s Newspaper History," [microform], The Daily Colonist (Victoria, BC), (27 February 1966), 13.

[36] Bryan Dewalt, Technology and Canadian Printing: A History from Lead Type to Lasers, Transformation Series, no. 3 (Ottawa: National Museum of Science and Technology, 1995), 31.

[37] Glennis Zilm, "Printing Technology in B.C. in the 1800s," Amphora 51 (March 1983), 3. J. Forsyth reports how the Victoria Gazette was first printed on a No. 4 Washington hand press. On July 24, 1858, James W. Towne replaced the No. 4 Washington hand press with an Adams power platen press, previously used in San Francisco. J. Forsyth, "Early Press of B.C. Was Ably Edited by Men Who Played Big Parts in Shaping Country," [microform], The Daily Colonist (Victoria, BC), 10 December 1933: 8.

[38] Bryan Dewalt, Technology and Canadian Printing: A History from Lead Type to Lasers, Transformation Series, no. 3 (Ottawa: National Museum of Science and Technology, 1995), 31.

[39] Toronto Public Library, Canadian Book of Printing: How Printing Came to Canada and the Story of the Graphic Arts (Toronto: [s.n.], 1940), 65.

[40] John Clyde Oswald, "British Columbia," in Printing in the Americas (Port Washington, New York: Kennikat Press, 1965), 522. No definition of the geographic scope of "North Pacific Coast" is provided.

[41] Glennis Zilm, "Printing Technology in B.C. in the 1800s," Amphora 51 (March 1983), 4; Eric Haworth, "Gold Lures Printing to the West," in Imprint of a Nation (Toronto: Baxter Publishing, 1969), 193.

[42] Bryan Dewalt, Technology and Canadian Printing: A History from Lead Type to Lasers, Transformation Series, no. 3 (Ottawa: National Museum of Science and Technology, 1995), 29.

[43] Glennis Zilm, "Early B.C. Books: An Overview of Trade Book Publishing in British Columbia in the 1800s with Checklists and Selected Bibliography related to British Columbiana," Master's thesis (Simon Fraser University, May 1981), 174; Glennis Zilm, "Printing Technology in B.C. in the 1800s," Amphora 51 (March 1983), 4.

[44] Bryan Dewalt, Technology and Canadian Printing: A History from Lead Type to Lasers, Transformation Series, no. 3 (Ottawa: National Museum of Science and Technology, 1995), 31.

[45] Cecil Clark, "Old Press Printed First Colonist…and Turned out a Great Deal of B.C.'s Newspaper History," [microform], The Daily Colonist (Victoria, BC), (27 February 1966), 13.

[46] Toronto Public Library, Canadian Book of Printing: How Printing Came to Canada and the Story of the Graphic Arts (Toronto: [s.n.], 1940), 65.

[47] George Wallace went on to join a Japanese troupe, travelled all over the world, lost most of his fortune in the process, and died in Montreal in 1888. Ćgidius Fauteux, "Pioneer Printers in the Western Province," in The Introduction of Printing into Canada (Montreal: Rollan Paper Company, 1957), 13.

[48] Basil Stuart-Stubbs, "British Columbia's Peripatetic Press," British Columbia Library Quarterly 22, no. 1 (July 1958), 29; Cecil Clark, "Old Press Printed First Colonist…and Turned out a Great Deal of B.C.'s Newspaper History," [microform], The Daily Colonist (Victoria, BC), (27 February 1966), 13.

[49] Basil Stuart-Stubbs, "British Columbia's Peripatetic Press," British Columbia Library Quarterly 22, no. 1 (July 1958), 28-29.

[50] Basil Stuart-Stubbs, "British Columbia's Peripatetic Press," British Columbia Library Quarterly 22, no. 1 (July 1958), 30.

[51] Cecil Clark, "Old Press Printed First Colonist…and Turned out a Great Deal of B.C.'s Newspaper History," [microform], The Daily Colonist (Victoria, BC), (27 February 1966), 13; Basil Stuart-Stubbs, "British Columbia's Peripatetic Press," British Columbia Library Quarterly 22, no. 1 (July 1958).

[52] Canada. Library and Archives Canada. Canadian Confederation: Provinces and Territories. "British Columbia - Canadian Confederation." (7 October 2004). http://www.collectionscanada.ca/confederation/023001-2185-e.html (22 January 2005).

[53] Eric Haworth, "Gold Lures Printing to the West," in Imprint of a Nation (Toronto: Baxter Publishing, 1969), 190, holds the incorrect year of 1856 as when Vancouver Island became a British colony. Perhaps Eric Haworth is thinking of 1856 for different politically important reason: the first elected legislative assembly in British North America west of Upper Canada.

[54] Basil Stuart-Stubbs, "The Stuart-Stubbs Handy-Dandy Guide to Pre-Confederation Newspapers in British Columbia" (Vancouver, University of British Columbia, Rare Books and Special Collections: n.d.), [25236 SPAM].

[55] Basil Stuart-Stubbs, "The Stuart-Stubbs Handy-Dandy Guide to Pre-Confederation Newspapers in British Columbia" (Vancouver, University of British Columbia, Rare Books and Special Collections: n.d.), [25236 SPAM].

[56] Douglas C[rawford] McMurtrie, The First Printing in British Columbia (Chicago: privately printed, 1929), 9-10.

[57] G.P.V. Akrigg, and Helen B. Akrigg, British Columbia Chronicle, 1847-1871: Gold & Colonists ([Vancouver]: Discovery Press, 1977), 354.

[58] Canada. Library and Archives Canada. Canadian Confederation: Provinces and Territories. "British Columbia - Canadian Confederation." (7 October 2004). http://www.collectionscanada.ca/confederation/023001-2185-e.html (22 January 2005).

[59] Douglas C[rawford] McMurtrie, The First Printing in British Columbia (Chicago: privately printed, 1929), 7.

[60] Eric Haworth, "Gold Lures Printing to the West," in Imprint of a Nation (Toronto: Baxter Publishing, 1969), 192.

[61] J. Forsyth, "Early Press of B.C. Was Ably Edited by Men Who Played Big Parts in Shaping Country," [microform], The Daily Colonist (Victoria, BC), 10 December 1933: 8.

[62] J. Forsyth, "Early Press of B.C. Was Ably Edited by Men Who Played Big Parts in Shaping Country," [microform], The Daily Colonist (Victoria, BC), 10 December 1933: 8. Provided the most information on the circulation history of the Victoria Gazette [2].

[63] Douglas C[rawford] McMurtrie, The First Printing in British Columbia (Chicago: privately printed, 1929), 10, has the start-up date of the Weekly Victoria Gazette as February 1859.

[64] Eric Haworth, "Gold Lures Printing to the West," in Imprint of a Nation (Toronto: Baxter Publishing, 1969), 193, pins the date for the start of the Weekly Victoria Gazette as January 1859.

[65] Not to be confused with the original Victoria Gazette, hence the [2] to indicate King's.

[66] Eric Haworth, "Gold Lures Printing to the West," in Imprint of a Nation (Toronto: Baxter Publishing, 1969), 193-194.

[67] J. Forsyth, "Early Press of B.C. Was Ably Edited by Men Who Played Big Parts in Shaping Country," [microform], The Daily Colonist (Victoria, BC), 10 December 1933: 8.

[68] J. Forsyth, "Early Press of B.C. Was Ably Edited by Men Who Played Big Parts in Shaping Country," [microform], The Daily Colonist (Victoria, BC), 10 December 1933: 8.

[69] George Woodcock, Amor de Cosmos: Journalist and Reformer (Toronto: OUP, 1975), 40.



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