Colonial Despatches

John Fenton was a miller and millwright who worked for the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1843, he succeeded William Frederick Crate as miller at Fort Vancouver. Although, he remained in this position for only six years -- resigning in 1849 once Crate returned to Fort Vancouver and resumed his work as miller and millwright.(1) Included in Fenton's trade, he built a saw-mill on Vancouver Island on HBC land at the site of the present-day Six Mile Pub. In 1849, he journeyed south to California in search of gold.(2)

• 1. William R. Sampson, Crate, William Frederick, Dictionary of Canadian Biography.
• 2. Six Mile Pub: Our History.