Dunsmuir




James Dunsmuir 1906

One must remember that at the time of Ladysmith's birth in 1900, James Dunsmuir was not simply a mine owner - he was the province's wealthiest man and its largest land owner. He would serve as premier from June, 1900 until 1902, and as lieutenant-governor from 1906 to 1909.

The road to riches - James Dunsmuir was born in 1851 on the voyage from Scotland to Vancouver Island where his father, Robert Dunsmuir took up a position with the Hudson Bay Company. In 1854 Robert Dunsmuir arrived in Nanaimo to work as an engineer in the new coal mines opening there, and after discovering coal outcroppings in the Nanaimo vicinity, he went into the business himself along with several partners. He established mines at Wellington, a few miles north of Nanaimo, shipping the coal from Departure Bay.

Production expanded, and Robert Dunsmuir soon acquired other mines - in 1879 he purchased the South Wellington Colliery Co., a neighbouring operation, and in 1888 he acquired all the major claims in the Comox region, forming the Union Colliery Co. His son James Dunsmuir, then 33 years old, became manager of Union Collieries. His other son Alexander remained in San Francisco.

In 1884 Dunsmuir and Sons opened the Alexandria mine at Extension in South Wellington, and in 1888 acquired the East Wellington Colliery, further consolidating the family's control over the coal industry on Vancouver Island.

The year 1883 however, saw the biggest financial coup (and land grant) of all. Robert Dunsmuir (who at that time was Nanaimo's MLA in the provincial legislature), signed an agreement with the Federal government to construct a railway from Esquimalt to Nanaimo. In return for this undertaking, the Dunsmuirs and their associates received $750,000 and a land grant of almost 2,000,000 acres, covering the eastern half of Vancouver Island from Finlayson Arm to Seymour narrows. This land grant included the rights to all coal and ores (excluding gold and silver), as well as all the timber.

In 1889 Robert Dunsmuir died. This was followed by the death in 1900 of James' brother Alexander in San Francisco. This left James Dunsmuir in complete control of the Dunsmuir empire. He had wealth and power beyond imagining.

Having reached these heights in 1900, Robert Dunsmuir proceeded over the next 10 years to divest himself of his gains. In 1905 he sold the E&N and the land grant to the CPR, and then in 1910 the entire Dunsmuir coal mining interests were sold to McKenzie and Mann, who reorganized the company as Canadian Collieries (Dunsmuir) Ltd.

James Dunsmuir died in Victoria in 1920, still the richest man in the province, and with him the Dunsmuir empire came to an end.