b. 1810
d. 1891
Capt. James Charles Prevost first came to the Pacific coast in 1850 as the commander
of the HMS
Portland, the flagship of his father-in-law, Rear Admiral Fairfax Moresby. Promoted to captain
in 1854, Prevost returned to the Pacific Station in 1857 as commander of HMS
Satellite.
He was concerned about the lack of religious instruction available to the Haida on
Haida Gwaii, and on his return trip to
British Columbia offered a free passage to any representative of the Church Missionary Society; William
Duncan accepted the offer and accompanied him and established a mission at
Metlakatla.
Prevost remained on the Pacific Station until 1860. From 1864 to 1869 he was in charge
of the naval establishment at Gibraltar.He retired in 1869 with the rank of rear admiral,
becoming an admiral in 1880. Prevost appeared as a witness before the Emperor of Germany, who was responsible
for settling the
San Juan Islands boundary dispute in 1872.
In 1878 and 1879, Prevost travelled back to
British Columbia and visited the Metlakatla mission he had helped establish. Prevost died in 1891 in
London, England.
- 1. Dorothy Blakey Smith, ed., The Journal of Arthur Thomas Bushby, 1858-1859, (A. Sutton: Victoria, 1963), 191.
- 2. Ibid., 191-192.
- 3. Peter Davis, James Charles Prevost, R.N., The Royal Victorian Navy (website). http://www.pdavis.nl/ShowBiog.php?id=684
- 4. Prevost Hill, BC Geographical Names.
- 5. Smith, The Journal of Arthur Thomas Bushby, 192.