Born in England, educated at Oxford, and called to the bar in 1844, Blanshard was appointed first Governor of Vancouver Island in 1849 and assumed office in March, 1850. Disappointed by conditions in the colony, discouraged because gold strikes in California were retarding population growth and economic development, and suffering poor health, he resigned in November of the same year. Nevertheless, communications were so slow that he was unable to leave Victoria until September, 1851. He died in London.