Under Siege

My city began with a population explosion. In a single year, 1858, more than twenty thousand men came through this area, primarily from San Francisco, seeking Fraser River gold. The term Gold Rush was pretty accurate! The Hudson Bay Company was overwhelmed in trying to keep law and order. This concerned the British Government too. So, the Hudson Bay Company's charter to British Columbia was rescinded and the land became a British Colony.

Colonel Richard Moody and a corps of Royal Engineers were quickly sent to build a new capital. Colonel Moody chose a location on high ground next to the Fraser River, right before the river branches into the north and south arms. The city was founded to oversee the hordes of new immigrants and to prevent the area from becoming a territory of the United States. This area would be easily protected.



There was a dispute as to what to call the new capital. An appeal was sent to Queen Victoria and she named it after her favourite part of London. New Westminster is still known as the Royal City because of this. In 1866, it briefly kept its title when the British Colonies of Vancouver and Victoria were united. However, Victoria was made capital in 1868.