New Westminster National Historic Event
New Westminster, British Columbia
New Westminster's Main Street, ca. 1865
© Photograph attributed to Charles Gentile | Photo attribuée à Charles Genitle / Library and Archives Canada | Bibliothèque et Archives Canada / C-088874
Address :
New Westminster, British Columbia
Recognition Statute:
Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date:
1924-06-04
Other Name(s):
-
New Westminster
(Designation Name)
Importance:
Capital of the colony of British Columbia from 1859-68
Plaque(s)
Existing plaque: Governors Court, New Westminster, British Columbia
In 1859 military considerations induced Colonel Richard Moody to select the site of New Westminster as capital of the new colony of British Columbia. Jointly developed until 1863 by civilians and the Royal Engineers, whose campground was here, the town, dominated by its Canadian middle class, tried to challenge Victoria's commercial and political power. Hopes rose when New Westminster became the seat of government after the colony's union with Vancouver Island in 1866, but fell with the removal of the capital to Victoria in 1868. Consequently, union with Canada was advocated to solve the town's fiscal problems.