Like other ridings established in that year, a byelection was called to fill the seat until the general election of 1872.

The riding constituted all of the New Westminster Land District as well as the whole of the mainland Coast and adjoining islands, all the way to the Yukon border excepting the Coast and the Alaska Panhandle.

The 1871 names were all temporary pending ratification of the riding system by the provincial legislature.

When they became mandated the riding names were simplified, New Westminster District's becoming simply New Westminster, and the same pattern was followed by the other temporary names, Victoria District, Cariboo Distridct, and Yale District, which became the ridings of Victoria, Cariboo, and Yale for the general election the following year.

By the 1872 election the riding boundaries had been properly legislated and renamed.