James Douglas (governor) in the context of North West Company

The Colony of British Columbia was a crown colony in British North America from 1858 until 1866 that was founded by Richard Clement Moody, who was selected to 'found a second England on the shores of the Pacific'. Moody was Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works for British Columbia and the first Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia. Prior to the arrival of Moody's Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment, the Colony's supreme authority was James Douglas, Governor of the neighbouring colony of Vancouver Island.

This first colony of British Columbia did not originally include the Colony of Vancouver Island, or the regions north of the Nass and Finlay rivers or east of the Rocky Mountains, or any of the coastal islands, but it did include the Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands, and was enlarged in 1863 in the north and northeast up to the 60th parallel and the 120th meridian by the British Columbia Boundaries Act 1863 (26 & 27 Vict. c. 83). The colony was incorporated with the Colony of Vancouver Island in 1866 to create the new Colony of British Columbia (1866–1871).

The lieutenant governor of British Columbia (/lɛfˈtɛnənt/) is the representative of the monarch 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 Confederation. Since then, the lieutenant governor has been the representative of the monarchy in British Columbia. Previously, between December 1858 and July 1863, the title of lieutenant governor of British Columbia was given to Richard Clement Moody, who was Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works for British Columbia and Commander of the Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment that founded the Colony of British Columbia in 1858. Moody's office coexisted with the office of governor of British Columbia that was held 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. Since 30 January 2025, Wendy Lisogar-Cocchia has served as the 31st lieutenant governor of British Columbia.

The Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands was a British colony constituting the archipelago of the same name from 1853 to 1858, when it was amalgamated into the Colony of British Columbia. In 2010, the archipelago was renamed Haida Gwaii.

The Queen Charlotte Colony was created by the Colonial Office in response to the increase of American marine trading activity resulting from the gold rush on Moresby Island in 1851. No separate administration or capital for the colony was ever established, as its only officer or appointee was James Douglas, who was simultaneously Governor of Vancouver Island. He was granted a commission as Lieutenant-Governor of the Queen Charlotte Islands in September 1852.