How a man of mixed race helped create British ColumbiaPosted in Articles, Biography, Canada, History, United States on 2017-03-01 02:12Z by Steven |
How a man of mixed race helped create British Columbia
The Vancouver Courier
2017-02-14
Martha Perkins, Editor-in-Chief
 Sir James Douglas, who became governor of Vancouver Island in 1851, was born in Guyana to a Creole mother and Scottish father. |
To celebrate Black History Month we profile the Hudson Bay Company’s Sir James Douglas
In 1803 in what was then British Guyana, James Douglas was born. His father was a Scottish merchant and his mother was what they called “free coloured” — a Creole woman of mixed African and European heritage.
Unlike his younger sister, who was as dark skinned as their mother, Douglas appeared to be Caucasian. But his later actions, including marrying a woman of Cree ancestry, have led amateur historian (and former Vancouver mayor) Sam Sullivan to believe that when Douglas built Fort Victoria, his aim was to create an inclusive society where everyone had an opportunity to thrive…
Read the entire article here.