page_title: Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Joseph Trutch, June 1870. Photo by William James Topley. Online from Library and Archives Canada PA-025343 [1]
context_page_description: The Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia is the viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The office of Lieutenant governor is an office of the Crown and serves as a representative of the monarchy in the province, rather than the Governor General of Canada. The office was created in 1871 when the Colony of British Columbia joined the Confederation. Since then the Lieutenant Governor has been the representative of the monarchy in British Columbia. Previously, between 1858 and 1863 under colonial administration the title of Lieutenant governor of British Columbia was given to Richard Clement Moody as commander of the Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment. This position coexisted with the office of Governor of British Columbia served by James Douglas during that time.
  The Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia is appointed in the same manner as the other provincial viceroys in Canada and is similarly tasked with carrying out most of the monarch's constitutional and ceremonial duties. The present, and 30th, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia is Janet Austin, who has served in the role since 24 April 2018.
context_section_description: The first British settlement in the area was the Colony of British Columbia (1858–66), of which the first Lieutenant Governor, from 1858 to 1863,
  was Richard Clement Moody, who had previously served as the first Governor of the Falkland Islands. Moody selected the site for and founded the original capital of British Columbia – New Westminster – and established the Cariboo Road and Stanley Park. He named Burnaby Lake after his private secretary Robert Burnaby and named Port Coquitlam's 400-foot (120 m) "Mary Hill" after his wife Mary. Port Moody is named after him.
  This colony of British Columbia was amalgamated with the Colony of Vancouver Island to form the Colony of British Columbia (1866–71), which was succeeded by the present-day province of British Columbia following the Canadian Confederation of 1871, when the present office of Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia came into being.
  Since 1871, 28 lieutenant governors have served the province, amongst whom were notable firsts, such as David Lam—the first Asian-Canadian lieutenant governor in Canada—and Iona Campagnolo—the first female Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia. The shortest mandate by a Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia was Edward Gawler Prior, from 1919 to his death in 1920, while the longest was George Pearkes, from October 1960 to July 1968.
  In 1903, before political parties were a part of British Columbia politics, Lieutenant Governor Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière was the last lieutenant governor in Canada to dismiss from office an incumbent premier, Edward Gawler Prior; Prior had been found to have given an important construction contract to his own hardware business, though he was later appointed as lieutenant governor himself. In 1952, the Lieutenant Governor was, without a clear majority in the Legislature following the general election, required to exercise his personal judgement in selecting his premier. Though the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) (now the New Democratic Party) held one fewer seat than the Social Credit Party (SoCred), Lieutenant Governor Clarence Wallace was under pressure to call on the CCF leader to form the new Cabinet; however, Wallace went with SoCred leader W.A.C. Bennett, which resulted in the start of a twenty-year dynasty for the latter.
caption: First Lieutenant governor of the Province of British Columbia, Sir Joseph William Trutch KCMG, 1871-1876
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