New Westminster

Sister cities

• Moriguchi

History

The area now known as New Westminster was originally inhabited by Kwantlen First Nation. The discovery of gold in BC and the arrival of gold seekers from the south prompted fear amongst the settlers that Americans might invade to take over the area. Richard Clement Moody, a colonel, arrived in British Columbia in December 1858, at the head of the Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment, having been hand picked to 'found a second England on the shores of the Pacific' Moody "wanted to build a city of beauty in the wilderness" and planned his city as an iconic visual metaphor for British dominance, "styled and located with the objective of reinforcing the authority of the Crown and of the robe". Subsequent to the enactment of the Pre-emption Act of 1860, Moody settled the Lower Mainland and selected the site and founded the new capital, New Westminster. Moody and the Royal Engineers were trained in settlement and selected the site because of its defensibility: it was farther from the American border than the site of the colony's proclamation, Fort Langley, possessed "great facilities for communication by water, as well as by future great trunk railways into the interior", and possessed an excellent port. It was suggested by Moody and the Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment that the site be proclaimed "Queensborough". Governor James Douglas proclaimed the new capital with this name on February 14, 1859. In 1916 the remaining land on Poplar Island was turned over to the BC government. From 1927 to 1969, the British Columbia Shore Station Oceanographic Program was collecting coastal water temperature and salinity measurements from New Westminster every day for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. In 1991, the New Westminster Armoury was recognized as a Federal Heritage…