miners’ licences, registered mining claims and
supervised local mining boards. He was also
assistant commissioner of lands, collector of
revenue, Indian agent and coroner.

To expedite matters relating to the
administration of justice, Governor Douglas
established a small debts court in December
1859. The court, at which a stipendiary
magistrate presided, was for the collection of
debts and claims not exceeding £50. Individuals
who could not pay fines sometimes received a
gaol sentence and were housed with other
prisoners,

With a growing population, a larger and better
ventilated gaol was required. In 1859, a
committee, which was appointed to investigate
conditions and discipline at the public gaol in
Victoria, recommended a new gaol. It would
include a prison hospital, and separate the
convicted from the remanded population.

The governor responded to the committee’s
suggestions in the legislature. He acknowledged
that the confined nature of the gaol made it
inappropriate for a hospital. However, the
owner of the building—the Hudson’s Bay
Company—would not consent to its expansion.

Convict labour

As early as 1859, convict labour was utilized on
Vancouver Island to assist with the cost of
government. It was viewed as a means of
occupying prisoners’ time and reducing
opportunity to plot escape. Some prisoners
were sentenced to imprisonment with hard
labour. At the Victoria gaol, these prisoners
assisted with the construction and maintenance
of government buildings, roads and other
public works.

There were difficulties, mainly caused by
prisoners trying to escape. The chain gang
system was adopted in response to these
attempts. Prisoners were shackled together with
leg irons and marched through the streets to
work sites. They were also employed as
maintenance workers at the gaol.

Prisoners sentenced to hard labour received a
more substantial diet than individuals serving

time without labour. Nevertheless, some
able-bodied prisoners complained that the
amount of food was inadequate, according to a
letter from Chartres Brew to the colonial
secretary in August 1861. Enclosed in this letter
was a scale of rations for prisoners at New
Westminster.

The daily rations included:
» 1'% pounds of bread;

» 6 ounces of meat (made into soup with
vegetables);

3/4 of a pound of potatoes;
a 1 pint of coffee in the morning; and
» | pint of tea at night.

Prisoners serving a sentence with hard labour
were allowed double the amount of meat.
Surprisingly, “lunatics” were fed the same as
ptisoners at hard labour.

Era of Colonial Rule (1849-1870)