William John Sutton

William John Sutton (19 January 1859 – 9 May 1914) was a timberman, geologist, mineralogist, assayer, surveyor, lecturer, explorer, pioneer and promoter of Vancouver Island, British Columbia and stood twice in B.C.

At the age of 33 years Sutton married Helen Annie Fox (1852-1932) who was born in Sheffield and ran the family cutlery store in Victoria.

[7] After tragedy struck the Sutton family when his cousin Alfred was accidentally shot, the sawmill was closed down and Will was appointed Government Assayer (1887-1889).

[9] Will was forced to resign to sort out his father's lumber business but under his management the assay office "had been converted to a model of its kind."

[citation needed] William John and his brother James Edward, were both keen phrenologists (a pseudoscience that involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits) and had given several lectures in Victoria on the topic.

[1] He remained with the Company when they were taken over by Canadian Pacific Railway until his death in 1914, from a heart attack, whilst running a survey line for a road being constructed in Ucluelet.

He gave evidence to several government commissions (1905, 1909) and in 1910 published, as a member of the Natural History Society, a booklet, Our Timber and its Conservation,[14] in which he described 18 commercial species of forest trees.

He argued that timber resources in British Columbia were comparatively limited and was critical of current government practice in regard to land leases and taxes.

[15] As a member of the British Columbia Board of Trade, the Natural History Society and the Vancouver Island Development League, Sutton played an important role in helping to facilitate the establishment of Strathcona Provincial Park.

[22] His wife, Helen Annie, outlived Sutton by 18 years; she compiled an album of some of his photographs which her sister presented to the archive at the Royal British Columbia Museum in 1933.

There are 57 photographs including geological features, First Nation villages, Cowichan Lake and river; and several 'ghost' towns on mainland British Columbia.

His father William Sutton built the first grist mill in Kincardine, Ontario and became the first sheriff of Bruce County only to be sacked after 25 years.