King Coal: Pacific Steamships

Convinced that mining near Fort Rupert was a lost cause, the HBC acted on reports of more abundant coal further south. Joseph McKay, a HBC clerk, had heard a story from a Coast Salish man that the area around Nanaimo Bay held abundant deposits of coal. He and the HBC’s Chief Trader on Vancouver Island, James Douglas, investigated the area in the spring of 1850 and were excited to find thick, high-quality coal formations, including an extensive seam later named after Douglas.²⁶ Two years later, the HBC established Fort Nanaimo and moved most of its miners and labourers from Fort Rupert to the new Fort.

Above Left: " Sir James Douglas, 1860's" BCARS A-01229
Above Right: "Joseph W. McKay, CA. 1862" BCARS D-04541

"Nanaimo, 1850's" BCARS C-00568

The HBC mines at Nanaimo proved to be more productive than their predecessors. By 1859, the Hudson's Bay Company had produced 6 000 tons of coal.²⁷ Most of the black fuel was shipped via steamers such as the Cadboro and the Recovery.²⁸ The coal was sold in Victoria, then distributed in San Francisco and other cities.²⁹

"Nanaimo, 1860's" BCARS F-02788

The HBC didn't ever develop the Nanaimo mines to their full potential, however. The Company found new sources of labour in Staffordshire and other parts of England’s "Black Country" but found that these new miners could be just as demanding as their Scottish counterparts.³⁰ The Company also changed its management structure, and it replaced the familiar clerk at Fort Nanaimo with a more specialised "mine manager".³¹ Nevertheless, the HBC coal interests continued to be run much like its fur trading posts, based on a system of small-scale production.

It would seem inevitable, then, that a company with fewer outside interests should take over the Vancouver Island mines. The newly formed Vancouver Coal Mining and Land Company purchased the HBC coal interests in 1862.³² By the end of 1866 the Douglas Seam mines had produced 184 400 metric tonnes of coal.³³