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10th October 2007
Cumberland Museum
Robert Dunsmuir and his sons, James and Alexander, were the most successful coal miners in the history of Vancouver Island. Robert signed an indenture with the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in 1850. Robert and his family sailed from Scotland.
When the initial quarrying for coal proved unsuccessful at Fort Rupert, the company moved the Scottish miners and their families to Nanaimo in 1852. Dunsmuir gained the confidence of his superiors by hard work and by supporting the HBC. When he requested a "Free Miners License" that would allow him to prospect in his spare time, the HBC granted it. In 1869 he discovered a rich outcropping of coal northwest of the settlement. He claimed 1000 acres and obtained financial backing by taking on partners.
1852- Was when coal in the Comox Valley was first recorded by Europeans, when Joseph W. McKay, HBC factor at Nanaimo, wrote to Chief Factor James Douglas in Fort Victoria about the coal seam that he had heard of in the territory of the Sikloults, one of the Comox tribes. Douglas visited the area in early 1853 and confirmed the report.
By 1880 the Wellington Mines were so successful that Dunsmuir started to look further field for more coal. He began buying shares in the Union Coal Company. The company's efforts were under funded and unsuccessful, and by 1881 the last of the Union Coal partners had sold out to Dunsmuir.
Also in 1880 Robert Dunsmuir had contracted with the federal government to build the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway (E&N) in return for $750,000 and a land grant of almost 2,000,000 previously-unclaimed acres (basically the southeast quarter of Vancouver Island) which included all mineral and timber rights on that land.
After the death of Robert Dunsmuir in April 1889, James Dunsmuir became president of Union Colliery Company and Alexander continued as agent in San Francisco. However, the company was now officially owned by their mother, Joan Dunsmuir.
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Extracted from Cumberland Heritage:
A selected History of People buildings institutions & Sites 1888-1950 by Jennifer Nell Barr
When the initial quarrying for coal proved unsuccessful at Fort Rupert, the company moved the Scottish miners and their families to Nanaimo in 1852. Dunsmuir gained the confidence of his superiors by hard work and by supporting the HBC. When he requested a "Free Miners License" that would allow him to prospect in his spare time, the HBC granted it. In 1869 he discovered a rich outcropping of coal northwest of the settlement. He claimed 1000 acres and obtained financial backing by taking on partners.
1852- Was when coal in the Comox Valley was first recorded by Europeans, when Joseph W. McKay, HBC factor at Nanaimo, wrote to Chief Factor James Douglas in Fort Victoria about the coal seam that he had heard of in the territory of the Sikloults, one of the Comox tribes. Douglas visited the area in early 1853 and confirmed the report.
By 1880 the Wellington Mines were so successful that Dunsmuir started to look further field for more coal. He began buying shares in the Union Coal Company. The company's efforts were under funded and unsuccessful, and by 1881 the last of the Union Coal partners had sold out to Dunsmuir.
Also in 1880 Robert Dunsmuir had contracted with the federal government to build the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway (E&N) in return for $750,000 and a land grant of almost 2,000,000 previously-unclaimed acres (basically the southeast quarter of Vancouver Island) which included all mineral and timber rights on that land.
After the death of Robert Dunsmuir in April 1889, James Dunsmuir became president of Union Colliery Company and Alexander continued as agent in San Francisco. However, the company was now officially owned by their mother, Joan Dunsmuir.
______________________________
Extracted from Cumberland Heritage:
A selected History of People buildings institutions & Sites 1888-1950 by Jennifer Nell Barr