Henry Pering Pellew Crease
Encyclopedia
Sir Henry Pering Pellew Crease (20 August 1823 – 27 November 1905) was a British lawyer
, judge
, and politician, influential in the colonies of Vancouver Island
and British Columbia
. He was the first Attorney General
of the united Colony of British Columbia
, and sat on the Supreme Court of that province for 26 years.
, in Cornwall
, the son of a Royal Navy captain. He earned his BA
from Clare College, Cambridge
and then studied law at the Middle Temple
. Though called to the bar in June 1849, he did not immediately pursue his career in law. Instead he joined his parents in an unsuccessful canal building endeavor in Upper Canada
. After only a short turn as a barrister on his return to England, he took a job in Cornwall
managing a tin mine owned by Great Wheal Vor
United Mines, which ended with his employer suing him.
By the time Crease left again for Canada in April 1858, he had married Sarah Lindley and had three young daughters, Susan, Mary, and Barbara. Sarah was the daughter of the famous botanist, John Lindley
. She was also a talented amateur artist, and would go on to create many drawings and watercolours of early BC. Unable to find work in Toronto
, Henry decided to try his luck in Victoria
, and arrived there in December.
on his first circuit, dealing out justice on the frontier as a Crown prosecutor
in the midst of the Gold Rush.
Politically, Crease presented himself as a foe of the Hudson's Bay Company
's hegemony
over the colony, and in 1860 was elected to the Vancouver Island
House of Assembly
as an independent member representing Victoria. However, he was soon criticized by the British Colonist
(a paper run by opposition leader Amor de Cosmos
) for being too cozy with the HBC-backed government. The following year, as if to prove de Cosmos right, governor Sir James Douglas
appointed Crease Attorney-General of British Columbia
, and Crease resigned his seat in the Assembly. He was a key member of the government, responsible for pushing literally hundreds of laws through the legislature, in between his continuing circuit tours, most of which was concerned with regulating the resource-based economic activity of the colony, including land settlement and gold mining. His legislation cemented his reputation as an advocate of free trade.
Even as a colonial pioneer, Crease clung to the aristocratic traditions of Britain. The Crease family's home in New Westminster was Ince Cottage, on Sapperton Road, named for the castle that belonged to Henry's mother's family in England. He sent his sons to Haileybury College in England for their schooling, and was dismayed to note that, "While you and I talk of the Old Country as 'Home,' all our children call Canada 'home.'"
When the colonies were joined
in 1866 Crease became the first Attorney General of the united British Columbia. In 1868 the colonial capital was moved to Victoria, and the Creases moved with it. There they built a new home, Pentrelew, on Fort Street.
In Victoria, as in New Westminster, Crease was active in many community organizations: the Church of England
, Royal Colonial Institute, and the Law Society of British Columbia, which he was key in founding. He sat on the board of the Colonial Securities Company, and was a lieutenant in the Seymour Artillery Company
.
At a time when British policy called for North American colonies to extinguish native title by means of treaties, the British Columbia government, including Crease, made no effort to negotiate treaties. Indeed, when the issue was raised in the legislature in 1870, Attorney General Crease objected to the mere discussion of the issue as potentially damaging, "for Indians do get word of what's going on." In response to the criticism that the government had no Indian policy, Crease stated simply that "our policy has been, let the Indians alone."
and retired from his government post. Crease was suspicious of both Confederation
and responsible government
, largely because they threatened greater government control over judges and central Canadian domination of patronage
. Like many British Columbians, he was disappointed that London
seemed to have given up on BC as an independent colony, abandoning either it to annexation to the United States or confederation with Canada. "I believe that England is sick of her Colonies," he wrote, "and to be a Colonist, whatever your POSITION & CHARACTER when at Home - is to lose Caste the moment you become a bona fide settler." Regardless of his opposition to Confederation, Crease was chosen to prepare for it as the chair of the Royal Commission for the Revision of Laws of BC.
After BC became a Canadian province in 1871, Crease devoted the next few years to fighting for judicial independence-- specifically the right of judges to live outside their districts. In 1881 the BC Supreme Court, including Crease, ruled in the Thrasher case that the province's attempts to regulate judges were unconstitutional. This decision was overturned two years later by the Supreme Court of Canada
.
In 1882, Crease presided over the trial of John Hall, who owned most of the land on Burrard Inlet
that now makes up the community of Belcarra, British Columbia
, and who was accused of murdering his mother in law. Hall and Crease had known each other for years, and Crease had once employed him as his agent in a dispute with trespassers who illegally logged on land he and his friend Robert Burnaby
owned near Hall's ranch. Hall was found guilty of manslaughter, and his land signed over to his attorney to pay for his defence.
In 1884, Crease overturned the Chinese Population Regulation Bill, which imposed an annual tax of ten dollars on each Chinese over the age of ten. He ruled that the provincial government had acted beyond its constitutional authority in passing the act, which fell within federal powers of taxation. The next year, as a member of the Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration, Crease wrote that "The real fact is, and the more completely it is recognized the better, that we cannot do without a certain number of Chinese for manual labour and for domestic servants," but went on to warn that Chinese immigrants "will never assimilate with the Anglo-Saxon race, nor is it desirable that they should … They do not regard British Columbia as their home and when they die send their bones home to be buried in China."
Sitting on several Royal commissions, the Exchequer Court of Canada, and the BC Supreme Court, Crease remained an influential figure long after his defeat in the Thrasher case. However, federal Justice Minister Sir Charles Hibbert Tupper
was not impressed with Crease's judgment toward the end of his career and pushed for Crease's retirement in a letter to BC Supreme Court Chief Justice Theodore Davie
. Crease retired soon afterward in January 1896. On 23 January 1896 Crease was knighted
. He died in 1905 and was buried at Ross Bay Cemetery
in Victoria.
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
, and politician, influential in the colonies of Vancouver Island
Colony of Vancouver Island
The Colony of Vancouver Island , was a crown colony of British North America from 1849 to 1866, after which it was united with British Columbia. The united colony joined the Dominion of Canada through Confederation in 1871...
and British Columbia
Colony of British Columbia
The Colony of British Columbia was a crown colony in British North America from 1858 until 1866. At its creation, it physically constituted approximately half the present day Canadian province of British Columbia, since it did not include the Colony of Vancouver Island, the vast and still largely...
. He was the first Attorney General
Attorney General of British Columbia
The Ministry of the Attorney General of British Columbia is a provincial government department responsible for the oversight of the justice system within the province of British Columbia, Canada...
of the united Colony of British Columbia
United Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia
The Colony of British Columbia is a crown colony that resulted from the amalgamation of the two former colonies, the Colony of Vancouver Island and the mainland Colony of British Columbia...
, and sat on the Supreme Court of that province for 26 years.
Early life
Crease was born at Ince CastleInce Castle
Ince Castle is three miles from Saltash, Cornwall, England. It is not a castle in the conventional sense, but a manor house built of brick. It was built in 1642, at the start of the English Civil War and was captured in 1646. Attached to the house are four three-storey towers with walls 1.2 metres...
, in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, the son of a Royal Navy captain. He earned his BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
from Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1326, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. Clare is famous for its chapel choir and for its gardens on "the Backs"...
and then studied law at the Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
. Though called to the bar in June 1849, he did not immediately pursue his career in law. Instead he joined his parents in an unsuccessful canal building endeavor in Upper Canada
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
. After only a short turn as a barrister on his return to England, he took a job in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
managing a tin mine owned by Great Wheal Vor
Wheal Vor
Wheal Vor was a metalliferous mine about two miles north west of Helston and one mile north of the village of Breage in the west of Cornwall, England, U.K. It is considered to be part of the Mount's Bay mining district. Until the mid–19th century the mine was notable for its willingness to try out...
United Mines, which ended with his employer suing him.
By the time Crease left again for Canada in April 1858, he had married Sarah Lindley and had three young daughters, Susan, Mary, and Barbara. Sarah was the daughter of the famous botanist, John Lindley
John Lindley
John Lindley FRS was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist.-Early years:Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley was a nurseryman and pomologist and ran a commercial nursery garden...
. She was also a talented amateur artist, and would go on to create many drawings and watercolours of early BC. Unable to find work in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Henry decided to try his luck in Victoria
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
, and arrived there in December.
Lawyer and politician
Upon his arrival in Victoria, Crease was admitted as a barrister to the courts of Vancouver Island and British Columbia, becoming the first lawyer qualified to practice in both jurisdictions. Crease opened a practice in Victoria, sent for his family, and soon found himself traveling with Supreme Court Judge Matthew Baillie BegbieMatthew Baillie Begbie
Sir Matthew Baillie Begbie was born on the island of Mauritius, thereafter raised and educated in the United Kingdom...
on his first circuit, dealing out justice on the frontier as a Crown prosecutor
Crown Prosecutor
Crown Prosecutors are the public prosecutors in the legal system of Australia.Crown Prosecutors represent the Crown in right of the Commonwealth and in right of each State or Territory in criminal proceedings. Crown Prosecutors are appointed not elected and not public servants; they are private...
in the midst of the Gold Rush.
Politically, Crease presented himself as a foe of the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
's hegemony
Hegemony
Hegemony is an indirect form of imperial dominance in which the hegemon rules sub-ordinate states by the implied means of power rather than direct military force. In Ancient Greece , hegemony denoted the politico–military dominance of a city-state over other city-states...
over the colony, and in 1860 was elected to the Vancouver Island
Colony of Vancouver Island
The Colony of Vancouver Island , was a crown colony of British North America from 1849 to 1866, after which it was united with British Columbia. The united colony joined the Dominion of Canada through Confederation in 1871...
House of Assembly
Legislative Assembly of Vancouver Island
The Legislative Assembly of Vancouver Island was the colonial parliamentary body that was elected to represent voters in the Colony of Vancouver Island. It was created in 1856 after a series of petitions were sent to the colonial office in London protesting the Hudson’s Bay Company’s proprietary...
as an independent member representing Victoria. However, he was soon criticized by the British Colonist
Victoria Times-Colonist
The Times Colonist is an English-language daily newspaper in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It was formed by the merger, in 1980, of the Victoria Daily Times, established in 1884, and the British Colonist , established in 1858 by Amor De Cosmos, who was also British Columbia's second...
(a paper run by opposition leader Amor de Cosmos
Amor De Cosmos
Amor De Cosmos was a Canadian journalist, publisher and politician. He served as the second Premier of British Columbia.-Early life:...
) for being too cozy with the HBC-backed government. The following year, as if to prove de Cosmos right, governor Sir James Douglas
James Douglas (Governor)
Sir James Douglas KCB was a company fur-trader and a British colonial governor on Vancouver Island in northwestern North America, particularly in what is now British Columbia. Douglas worked for the North West Company, and later for the Hudson's Bay Company becoming a high-ranking company officer...
appointed Crease Attorney-General of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, and Crease resigned his seat in the Assembly. He was a key member of the government, responsible for pushing literally hundreds of laws through the legislature, in between his continuing circuit tours, most of which was concerned with regulating the resource-based economic activity of the colony, including land settlement and gold mining. His legislation cemented his reputation as an advocate of free trade.
When the colonies were joined
United Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia
The Colony of British Columbia is a crown colony that resulted from the amalgamation of the two former colonies, the Colony of Vancouver Island and the mainland Colony of British Columbia...
in 1866 Crease became the first Attorney General of the united British Columbia. In 1868 the colonial capital was moved to Victoria, and the Creases moved with it. There they built a new home, Pentrelew, on Fort Street.
In Victoria, as in New Westminster, Crease was active in many community organizations: the Church of England
Anglican Church of Canada
The Anglican Church of Canada is the Province of the Anglican Communion in Canada. The official French name is l'Église Anglicane du Canada. The ACC is the third largest church in Canada after the Roman Catholic Church and the United Church of Canada, consisting of 800,000 registered members...
, Royal Colonial Institute, and the Law Society of British Columbia, which he was key in founding. He sat on the board of the Colonial Securities Company, and was a lieutenant in the Seymour Artillery Company
The British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own) (RCAC)
The British Columbia Regiment is a Primary Reserve armoured reconnaissance regiment of the Canadian Forces; the regiment is subordinate to 39 Canadian Brigade Group of Land Force Western Area. Established in 1883, it is the oldest military unit in Vancouver, British Columbia...
.
At a time when British policy called for North American colonies to extinguish native title by means of treaties, the British Columbia government, including Crease, made no effort to negotiate treaties. Indeed, when the issue was raised in the legislature in 1870, Attorney General Crease objected to the mere discussion of the issue as potentially damaging, "for Indians do get word of what's going on." In response to the criticism that the government had no Indian policy, Crease stated simply that "our policy has been, let the Indians alone."
BC Supreme Court judge
In 1870 he was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of British ColumbiaSupreme Court of British Columbia
The Supreme Court of British Columbia is the superior trial court for the province of British Columbia. The BCSC hears civil and criminal law cases as well as appeals from the Provincial Court of British Columbia. Including supernumerary judges, there are presently 108 judges...
and retired from his government post. Crease was suspicious of both Confederation
Canadian Confederation
Canadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed on July 1, 1867. On that day, three British colonies were formed into four Canadian provinces...
and responsible government
Responsible government
Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability which is the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy...
, largely because they threatened greater government control over judges and central Canadian domination of patronage
Patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings or popes have provided to musicians, painters, and sculptors...
. Like many British Columbians, he was disappointed that London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
seemed to have given up on BC as an independent colony, abandoning either it to annexation to the United States or confederation with Canada. "I believe that England is sick of her Colonies," he wrote, "and to be a Colonist, whatever your POSITION & CHARACTER when at Home - is to lose Caste the moment you become a bona fide settler." Regardless of his opposition to Confederation, Crease was chosen to prepare for it as the chair of the Royal Commission for the Revision of Laws of BC.
After BC became a Canadian province in 1871, Crease devoted the next few years to fighting for judicial independence-- specifically the right of judges to live outside their districts. In 1881 the BC Supreme Court, including Crease, ruled in the Thrasher case that the province's attempts to regulate judges were unconstitutional. This decision was overturned two years later by the Supreme Court of Canada
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...
.
In 1882, Crease presided over the trial of John Hall, who owned most of the land on Burrard Inlet
Burrard Inlet
Burrard Inlet is a relatively shallow-sided coastal fjord in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Formed during the last Ice Age, it separates the City of Vancouver and the rest of the low-lying Burrard Peninsula from the slopes of the North Shore Mountains, home to the communities of West...
that now makes up the community of Belcarra, British Columbia
Belcarra, British Columbia
See also Belcarra, County Mayo in the Republic of Ireland.Belcarra is a village on the shore of Indian Arm, a side inlet of Burrard Inlet, and is part of Metro Vancouver. It lies northwest of Port Moody and immediately east of the Deep Cove area of North Vancouver, across the waters of Indian Arm...
, and who was accused of murdering his mother in law. Hall and Crease had known each other for years, and Crease had once employed him as his agent in a dispute with trespassers who illegally logged on land he and his friend Robert Burnaby
Robert Burnaby
Robert Burnaby was amerchant, politician and civil servant in British Columbia. The city of Burnaby, British Columbia is named for him, as well as at least ten other urban and geographical features, including a mountain, a lake, a park, a Queen Charlotte Island and a street in Vancouver.Burnaby...
owned near Hall's ranch. Hall was found guilty of manslaughter, and his land signed over to his attorney to pay for his defence.
In 1884, Crease overturned the Chinese Population Regulation Bill, which imposed an annual tax of ten dollars on each Chinese over the age of ten. He ruled that the provincial government had acted beyond its constitutional authority in passing the act, which fell within federal powers of taxation. The next year, as a member of the Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration, Crease wrote that "The real fact is, and the more completely it is recognized the better, that we cannot do without a certain number of Chinese for manual labour and for domestic servants," but went on to warn that Chinese immigrants "will never assimilate with the Anglo-Saxon race, nor is it desirable that they should … They do not regard British Columbia as their home and when they die send their bones home to be buried in China."
Sitting on several Royal commissions, the Exchequer Court of Canada, and the BC Supreme Court, Crease remained an influential figure long after his defeat in the Thrasher case. However, federal Justice Minister Sir Charles Hibbert Tupper
Charles Hibbert Tupper
Sir Charles Hibbert Tupper, KCMG, PC was a Canadian lawyer and politician.-Family, early career:Tupper was the second son of Sir Charles Tupper, a physician, leading Conservative politician, and Canadian diplomat...
was not impressed with Crease's judgment toward the end of his career and pushed for Crease's retirement in a letter to BC Supreme Court Chief Justice Theodore Davie
Theodore Davie
Theodore Davie was a British Columbia lawyer, politician and jurist. He practiced law in Cassiar and Nanaimo before settling in Victoria and becoming a leading criminal lawyer. He was the brother of Alexander Edmund Batson Davie. Theodore Davie was first elected to the provincial legislature in...
. Crease retired soon afterward in January 1896. On 23 January 1896 Crease was knighted
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
. He died in 1905 and was buried at Ross Bay Cemetery
Ross Bay Cemetery
Ross Bay Cemetery is located at 1516 Fairfield Road in Victoria, British Columbia, on Vancouver Island, Canada.-History:The cemetery was opened in 1873. The 27.5 acre cemetery is part of a public park and its south side faces Ross Bay on the Pacific Ocean...
in Victoria.
External links
- Meet the Crease family at British Columbia Archives
Sources
- J.B. Kerr, "Crease, Henry Pering Pellew" in Biographical dictionary of well-known British Columbians : with a historical sketch (Vancouver : Kerr & Begg, 1890) p. 133