Peter O'Reilly

Peter O'Reilly (March 27, 1827 - September 3, 1905 ) was a British clerk, sheriff , judge and commissioner for gold and the Indian reservations . Through his offices and fortune, as well as by marrying into the leading circles of the province of British Columbia , he achieved great political influence.

From Ireland to Victoria

Peter O'Reilly was the son of Patrick O'Reilly and Mary Blundell. He spent his childhood in Ireland , where he was a lieutenant in the Irish Revenue Police until 1857 . He came to North America through Lord Claud Hamilton (1813-1884), who was a member of parliament , and who recommended the colony of British Columbia, founded in August 1858, because of its great opportunities.

O'Reilly left Ireland on February 5, 1859 and reached Victoria on Vancouver Island in early April. Initially he was employed in the administration in the Langley District , but was transferred to the more demanding Hope District in November . At the same time he was high sheriff of the colony until 1866 .

Gold Commissioner (from 1860)

As early as 1860, he was appointed Assistant Gold Commissioner for the Rock Creek area in the Similkameen Region and the Hope District. He was thus responsible for criminal justice as well as civil justice. He was also responsible for granting and registering excavation licenses (claims), for mine regulations, for water rights and drawing borders.

In March 1862 he was promoted to Chief Gold Commissioner . He moved to his new headquarters in Richfield , in the Cariboo Gold Rush area . However, he spent the winters on the milder coast. He suffered from frequent headaches, probably migraines . Still, he visited almost every place in the vast province, be it on horseback, on foot or by canoe.

In Victoria he married Caroline Agnes Trutch (1831-1899) on December 15, 1863. He finally rose to the leadership group of the province, because through the marriage he became the brother-in-law of Joseph William Trutch . With Caroline Agnes he had two sons and two daughters.

In 1864 gold was discovered again at what is now Fort Steele in East Kootenay in the Rocky Mountains , and in 1866 on the Columbia River near what is now Revelstoke . O'Reilly traveled after the gold finds, so to speak.

Indian Agent and County Court Judge (from 1871)

That was also the case in 1871 when he traveled to northern British Columbia for nine months, to the Omineca region. Here he first worked as an Indian agent , but also collected taxes. The area was extremely cold, and O'Reilly had to deal with mosquitos and was in mortal danger several times.

In 1866 Vancouver Island and British Columbia were united. O'Reilly has now been promoted to County Court Judge . As early as 1864, he had worked informally on the Legislative Council . He was reappointed in 1871, but in the same year the province was part of Canada and the council was dissolved. O'Relly was at the Omineca at the time .

O'Reilly County Court Judge for the Yale District served nearly ten years . In 1875 he made a trip to the Cassiar region in the northwest. He canoeed down the Stikine River , held court as gold commissioner and judge. But the time of lay judges was visibly coming to an end (finally 1883). O'Reilly took the action early on when he heard that Gilbert Malcolm Sproat , Indian Commissioner since 1878 , had resigned.

Indian Commissioner (from 1879/80)

The political influence of his brother-in-law Joseph William Trutch , who was vice governor of the province from 1871 to 1876 , fluctuated greatly. Trutch's influence was temporarily in decline since 1873, when the Liberals took over government in Ottawa , so that he applied in England. In 1880, however, with the return of his party friends to power, he was appointed commissioner for railway issues. Since he was also responsible for Indian affairs, he made sure that his brother-in-law was given the office. His successors were friends of the family too, so O'Reilly always had access to the highest levels of government.

In Ottawa he met the Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald , who as Minister of the Interior was also responsible for "Indian affairs". O'Reilly was granted an annual salary of $ 3,500 and his British-era pension rights. For the next 18 years he toured his vast area of ​​office.

O'Reilly, who was always on good terms with the ranchers and settlers, was unfamiliar with the idea of ​​an Indian claim to land . His reservation assignments were often unfavorable, clashed with local traditions and they were sparsely equipped. In 1884 a commission reviewed the land grants, but recognized the fact that alienated land had not been returned as legitimate. Otherwise, O'Reilly always acted taking Indian claims into account. With the fact that he had listened to the wishes and demands, he had ventured far forward; that he often accepted them and recognized their rights to vital resources was also not to be taken for granted. In reality, he often decided against the Indians. This almost led to an uprising on the eastern border of British Columbia, among the Kutenai under the leadership of Chief Isadore . In contrast to neighboring tribes in Alberta , such as the Blackfoot , who had signed Contract No. 7 of the so-called Numbered Treaties , they received considerably less land anyway. However, a police force forced Isadore to move into the reservations designated by O'Reilly in 1884. These did not include a fertile strip of land, Joseph's Prairie ( Cranbrook ), which O'Reilly gave to Farmer Colonel James Baker, who was a member of Parliament. In May 1887, Isadore forcibly freed one of his chiefs, Kapula, from prison in Wild Horse Creek, and the settlers feared a rebellion. A commission, including O'Reilly, came to the Kutenai area on September 22nd and approved government plans in the tribe's absence. Isadore had to submit.

From 1890, Peter O'Reilly had to stay increasingly in Victoria and delegate work.

Resignation from all offices (1898)

In 1898, O'Reilly resigned from his posts. But it did not make him poor. He had always taken care of "extra income". Right from the start, he had granted loans, traded in cattle and land (e.g. sold an important piece of land in Vancouver to the Canadian Pacific Railway ), and also claimed gold claims, which led to conflicts of interest with his official function. In addition, he was active in various businesses in Victoria, where the connection with the management group there came in handy around his brother-in-law, who in turn was in charge of the railroad business.

He had his sons trained in England. In 1868 he bought a large house in Victoria, today's Point Ellice House , where he lived until his death. This residential building was declared a National Historic Site of Canada on October 26, 1966 when Point Ellice House / O'Reilly House was declared a National Historic Site of Canada by the Canadian government .

As a devout Anglican , he often attended church and also performed worship on his long travels. He died of heart disease on September 3, 1905; his wife had died in 1899. It is located in Ross Bay Cemetery , a cemetery that has existed since 1873 and is located on 1516 Fairfield Road.

swell

Peter O'Reilly kept a diary from 1858 to 1905. It can be found in the O'Reilly Collection in the British Columbia Archives under A / E / Or3 , along with numerous other relics . Correspondence and petitions in connection with Indian land in British Columbia can be found under GR 504, as well as the correspondence of the Indian Reservations Commission under NA, RG 10, 1274.

literature

So far, O'Reilly's biography has not been scientifically examined.

• Robert E. Cail: Land, man and the law. The disposal of crown lands in British Columbia, 1871-1913. University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver 1974, ISBN 0-7748-0029-1 .
• David ML Farr: The organization of the judicial system of the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia, 1849-1871. University of British Columbia, Vancouver 1944 (BA thesis).
• Robin Fisher: Contact and conflict. Indian-European relations in British Columbia, 1774–1890. University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver 1977, ISBN 0-7748-0065-8 .
• Sidney W. Jackman: The men at Cary Castle. A series of portrait sketches of the lieutenant-governors of British Columbia from 1871 to 1971. Morriss, Victoria 1972.
• Margaret A. Ormsby: Some Irish figures in colonial days. In: British Columbia Historical Quarterly. Volume 14, 1950, ISSN  0706-7666 , pp. 61-82.
• David R. Williams: The man for a new country. Sir Matthew Baillie Begbie. Gray, Sidney 1977, ISBN 0-88826-068-7 .

See also

• First Nations history
• History of the Coastal Salish
• History of British Columbia
• McKenna-McBride Commission
• Nuu-chah-nulth

Web links

• Peter O'Reilly . In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography . 24 volumes, 1966–2018. University of Toronto Press, Toronto ( English , French ).

Remarks

1. ↑ The Cariboo Gold Rush Towns, Richfield ( Memento of the original from May 20, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ Peter O'Reilly . In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography . 24 volumes, 1966–2018. University of Toronto Press, Toronto ( English , French ).
3. ↑ His home and garden, Point Ellice House in Upper Harbor of Victoria, can be viewed today (2616 Pleasant Street).
4. ^ Point Ellice House / O'Reilly House National Historic Site of Canada. In: Canadian Register of Historic Places. Retrieved June 10, 2017 (English).