Page 122 - Fortier Family History

Roderick Finlayson cont. After the 49th parallel was established in 1846 as the boundary between British and American territory \[see John Gordon\], the company gradually abandoned its southern posts, and Fort Victoria replaced Fort Vancouver (Vancouver, Wash.) on the Columbia River as its principal depot. As a result, in June 1849 Douglas left Fort Vancouver to relieve Finlayson of his duties as officer in command. Finlayson was subsequently appointed chief accountant of Fort Victoria, a position he held until 1862. In January 1849 Vancouver Island had been formally leased to the HBC for the purpose of colonization. In order to fulfil the conditions of the grant, company officers, including Finlayson, were given inducements to purchase land and establish farms. In 1851 he purchased 100 acres of land north of Rock Bay, the first of the extensive real estate dealings from which he would become wealthy. His rising status within the community was reflected also in his promotion to chief trader in 1850 and his appointment two years later to the Council of Vancouver Island, on which he served as treasurer. He remained a member until 1863. When Douglas severed his connection with the HBC in 1859, Finlayson was made chief factor. Finlayson visited Scotland on furlough in 1861; upon his return the next year he was granted the superintendency of the company’s affairs in the interior of British Columbia. He retired from the company in 1872 to devote himself to farming and to managing his real estate and business interests: according to an obituary in the Vancouver Daily World, he became “a prominent figure amongst the business men in the Commercial quarter of the Capital.” In 1878 he was elected mayor of Victoria, and it was during his one year in office that construction of the city hall was undertaken. Following his tenure as mayor he left public life, remaining in Victoria until his death in 1892. Roderick Finlayson - HBC Chief Trader/Factor Early Sketch of Ft. Victoria By Eleanor Stardom