Thomas Elwyn

He arrived in Victoria on Christmas Day, 1858 and was appointed, on the strength of his references from England, to the police force under Inspector Chartres Brew.

After serving for five months as the Chief Constable of Yale, Governor James Douglas made him Assistant Gold Commissioner of Lillooet.

That venture was discontinued for 1862 when miners protested the government inability to guarantee the safety of the gold being transported, and though revived again in 1863, again under Elwyn and despite his personal guarantee to the miners, its failure to generate revenue to offset costs resulted in its discontinuation.

He spend the next year mining at Wild Horse Creek in the Kootenay, before setting off to represent the government on the expedition to extend the Western Union Telegraph line north from Quesnel.

He took a short turn at driving cattle then signed aboard the HBC steamship Otter as purser.