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The Plaque Commemorating the Labouchere

by John M. MacFarlane 2017

Monument plaque

The plaque commemorating the Labouchere (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection. )

On the causeway at the Inner Harbour of Victoria BC is a plaque commemorating the Labouchere.

Labouchere

The Labouchere (Photo from the H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest collection. )

The Labouchere was built in 1858 at Blackwall, UK by Green, Wigrams & Green. 202’ x 28’ x 15’ She was a sidewheeler powered by a 181hp engine (10 kts). She was extensively altered in San Francisco CA in 1866. The hold was 15’. In 1858–1866 she was owned by the Hudson’s Bay Co., London UK.

She was built of teak and Baltic oak. She was brought out to Victoria by Captain John F. Trivett arriving January 31, 1859. She was the first ocean steamer to arrive at Queensborough (New Westminster) July 16, 1859. She was seized by First Nations people, in a dispute over the price of sea otter skin, while under command of Captain Swanson 150 miles north of the Stikine River. Swanson was able to peaceably regain control of the vessel. She was lost near Point Reyes in dense fog while en route from San Francisco to Victoria under Captain Mouat on April 1, 1866. One of eight lifeboats was swamped, incurring the loss of two lives. Those in the lifeboats were picked up by the Rescue. The 23 men who had stayed on board were rescued by the Italian fishing vessel Andrew.


To quote from this article please cite:

MacFarlane, John M. (2017) The Plaque Commemorating the Labouchere. Nauticapedia.ca 2017. http://nauticapedia.ca/Gallery/Monument_Labouchere.php

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