James Douglas (governor)

Sir James Douglas, KCB (August 15, 1803 – August 2, 1877) was a Canadian fur trader and politician who became the first Governor of the Colony of British Columbia. He is often credited as "The Father of British Columbia". In 1863, Douglas was knighted by Queen Victoria for his services to the Crown.

Douglas was born in Guyana to a wealthy Scottish planter and a free woman of Barbadian-Creole ancestry. He started work at 16 for the North West Company and then the Hudson's Bay Company, where he eventually became a Chief Factor. From 1851 to 1864, he was Governor of the Colony of Vancouver Island. In 1858, he became the first Governor of the Colony of British Columbia and asserted the authority of the British Empire during the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, which had the potential to turn the Mainland into an American state; in reaction to the threat of annexation, he sponsored the resettlement of 35 Black Americans, later known as the "Pioneer Committee", from San Francisco to Vancouver Island. Douglas remained governor of British Columbia and Vancouver Island until his retirement in 1864.