View source for Labouchere (paddle steamer)

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{{Use British English|date=December 2016}}
[[File:Labouchere (paddle steamer).jpg | thumb]]
The '''Labouchere''' was a [[paddle steamer]] in the service of the [[Hudson's Bay Company]], 
built in 1858 at Green's in [[Blackwall Yard|Blackwall]], London, England.<ref>[http://channelislands.noaa.gov/shipwreck/dbase/gfmns/labouchere.html Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Shipwreck Database]</ref> Under the command of Captain J. Trivett it was mostly in service in [[British Columbia]] and the rest of the [[Pacific Northwest]] in the 1850s and 1860s, including the [[Stikine lisière]] in [[Russian America]]. In 1859, its then-captain [[John Swanson (Medal of Honor)|John Swanson]] was elected by a "celebrated" majority of one (there was only one qualified elector) in the colonial [[Electoral district (Canada)|riding]] of [[Nanaimo]] for the [[Legislative Assembly of Vancouver Island|Legislative Assembly of the Colony of Vancouver Island]].<ref>''British Columbia: From the earliest times to the present, Vol II'', E.O.S. Scholefield and F.W. Howay, p. 156.</ref>

In 1862 the ''Labouchere'', while trading in Russian America (now Alaska), was nearly captured by aboriginal people presumably of the Tligit tribe, as reported by George Davidson, Assistant United States Coast Survey: 
"In May 1862, between two hundred and fifty and three hundred of the Indians on the west side of Chatham Strait, and about twenty-five miles north of Icy Strait, seized the captain and chief trader of the Hudson's Bay Company's steamer Labouchere, of seven hundred tons, on the quarter-deck, and taking possession of the vessel drove the crew forward. But parleying took
place, and the crew having a large gun trained aft, agreed to fire off their rifles, the Indians afterwards doing the same, and finally leaving the vessel, which at night quietly steamed away and was afraid to return for a year. It is but just to the Indian chiefs to say that when the vessel returned they covered her deck with fine sea-otter and other skins as a present to the captain and trader and a token of peace."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Davidson |first1=George |title=Annual Report of the Director, United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, to the Secretary of Commerce |date=1869 |publisher=U. S. Coast and Geodetic |page=225 |url=https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5Qafjt5r5w76nq47xCHgP8SJGVv66_j8bMQfhFgTZXwmWMKywiQyzgZ8X8r6o_SGArQiQp2uwzUm6Hc-sGEz9HxwpT_EbEn6xLI2XjF7XAIlO3ahzzxZPfRc-CtU_5w-O0faIMAEqlg5jcCISVkoGpwHu5Z44iA5SK7leDlVlwTfSgNRe2i1XtyZnpY0A6w9mGRVN0Trqig5cQTSlsxKw_AIOfI93VIsuNivm3-SoRyCa03t8loEZbB62gWAOjRmx81_WcJL81HdTttGh4K0MhiDrSJLPoIg4tmeseTmxW5Z-4VMRIeA |access-date=15 October 2023}}</ref>

By 1865-66 the ''Labouchere'' served the San Francisco to [[Victoria, British Columbia|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 <!--at 6:00 pm--> on 14 April 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 <!--capped in soruce with no other name-->; 23 men who had stayed on board were rescued by the Italian fishing vessel ''Andrew'' <!--"Italian fishing smack" in source, whatever a smack is--> just before the ''Labouchere'' sank beneath the waves.<ref>[http://www.labouchere.co.uk/linkpages/goodship.htm The Labouchere - Paddle Steamer], at the Labouchere school of seamanship website.</ref>

== Legacy ==

[[Labouchere Channel]] and Labouchere Point, on the northeast end of [[King Island (British Columbia)|King Island]] in the [[Dean Channel]] area of [[British Columbia Coast|the Central Coast of British Columbia]], near [[Bella Coola, British Columbia|Bella Coola]], and [[Labouchere Passage]] near Drury Inlet farther south, are named after the ''Labouchere''. The vessel was named for [[Henry Labouchere, 1st Baron Taunton|Henry Labouchere]] who was colonial secretary from 1855 to 1858.<ref name = Akrigg>{{Citation | last =Akrigg | first =G.P.V. | last2 =Akrigg | first2 =Helen B. | title =British Columbia Place Names | place =Vancouver | publisher =UBC Press | year =1986 | edition =3rd, 1997 | isbn =0-7748-0636-2 | url-access =registration | url =https://archive.org/details/britishcolumbiap0000akri_w1q9 }}</ref>{{rp|147}} Labouchere Bay on Prince of Wales Island in Alaska was named for the sidewheeler Labouchere.

==See also==
*[[List of ships in British Columbia]]

== References ==

<references/>

{{Hudson's Bay Company}}
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[[Category:Coast of British Columbia]]
[[Category:Pre-Confederation British Columbia]]
[[Category:Maritime history of California]]
[[Category:Paddle steamers]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the California coast]]
[[Category:Ships built by the Blackwall Yard]]
[[Category:Hudson's Bay Company ships]]
[[Category:1866 in California]]