Labouchere (paddle steamer)

The "Labouchere" was a paddle steamer in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company, launched originally at London, England and Captain J. Trivett. It was mostly in service in British Columbia and the rest of the Pacific Northwest in the 1850s and 1860s. In 1859, its then-captain John Swanson was elected by a "celebrated" majority of one (there was only on qualified elector) in the colonial riding of Nanaimo for the Legislative Assembly of the Colony of Vancouver Island. ["British Columbia: From the earliest times to the present, Vol II", E.O.S. Scholefield and F.W. Howay, p. 156.] .

By 1865-66 the "Labouchere" served the San Francisco to Victoria run. On its second run on that route, under the command of W.A. Mouat and carrying 100 passengers and cargo on behalf of Faulkner, Bell & Co., the "Labouchere" was grounded in heavy fog off Point Reyes after disembarking San Francisco on April 14, 1866 and, after backing off the reef and staying offshore overnight, sank on the morning of the 15th. One of eight lifeboats was swamped, incurring the loss of two lives. Those in the lifeboats were picked up by Rescue ; 23 men who had stayed on board were rescued by the Italian fishing vessel "Andrew" just before the "Labouchere" sank beneath the waves. [ [http://www.labouchere.co.uk/linkpages/goodship.htm "The Labouchere - Paddle Steamer ", from the Labouchere school of seamanship website] ]

Legacy

Labouchere Channel, Labouchere Passage and Labouchere Point, on the northeast end of King Island in the Dean Channel area of the Central Coast of British Columbia, near Bella Coola, is named after the "Labouchere". Captain Mouat is commemorated by Mouat Provincial Park on Salt Spring Island, near Victoria.

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