Name/Title
Portrait of Sir Matthew Baillie Begbie (1819-1894), First Chief Justice Crown Colony of British ColumbiaEntry/Object ID
2001.01.34Description
Painting
Painting by Carl Coger (2000) after 1859 G.R. Fardon portrait photograph commissioned by the Union Club of British Columbia.
This 3/4 view seated portrait is of Sir Matthew Baillie Begbie, a British lawyer, politician, and judge. In 1858, Begbie became the first Chief Justice of the new Crown Colony of British Columbia in colonial times and in the first decades after British Columbia joined Confederation as a province of Canada serving from 1871 until his death in 1894.Type of Painting
EaselArtwork Details
Medium
Oil on canvasSubject Place
Region
Pacific NorthwestContinent
North AmericaContext
Likely born on a British ship at the Cape of Good Hope, Begbie first lived in Mauritius, and later in Guernsey. Following studies at Elizabeth College, Trinity College - Cambridge, and later Peterhouse College he obtained a BA in 1841. After articling, Begbie became a barrister three years later. In 1858 his name was put forward for the position of judge of the new colony of B.C.
With the influx of over 30,000 prospectors and others during the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush from 1858 and the later Cariboo Gold Rush of 1861, Begbie played a crucial role in establishing law and order in the B.C. Interior and the mining camps. His efforts and those of Governor James Douglas ensured that the colony remained British, to later become part of Canada. Begbie traveled throughout the province, on foot and later on horseback and by canoe administering justice. In 1865 alone, he reportedly covered some 5,600 kilometres. Begbie also played a valuable role as a member of the colonial executive and as the originator and draftsman of important legislation.
Begbie was viewed as contentious, yet he also had a lifelong interest in progressive law reforms, he made sound civil litigation decisions, he persuaded the federal government to preserve traditional Indigenous fishing rights on the lower Fraser River, and he expressed a positive opinion of B.C.'s First Nations and Chinese peoples. He was also seen as controversial for his racial attitudes at times, for accusations of judicial impropriety, for his denunciations of juries who reached verdicts he did not like, and in particular, for his role in the trials of six Tsilhqot’in Chiefs which resulted in their execution. The six were exonerated in 2014.
After his death, this man of many contradictions, came to be known as the 'Hanging Judge', although many dispute this conclusion. Begbie was made a Knight Bachelor according to the London Gazette of November 19, 1875.Made/Created
Artist Information
Artist
George Robinson (G.R.) Fardon (1807-1886)Role
PhotographerArtist
Carl Coger (1940- 2021)Role
PainterDate made
2000Time Period
19th Century, 21st CenturyNotes
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES
Born in Birmingham, England, George Robinson (G.R.) Fardon immigrated to New York, then relocated to San Francisco in 1849, where he started a photography business. He is believed to have introduced the glass plate negative process to San Francisco in 1852. Fardon, known as the master of cityscapes, captured photographic views of the city, including a seven-panel panorama of San Francisco and his published “San Francisco Album”, believed to be the earliest known photographically illustrated book about an American city.
With the 1858 Fraser River, B.C. discovery of gold and commercial opportunity, Fardon moved to Victoria, B.C. in 1859, where he established a successful photo gallery on Government Street. He offered a variety of services including his favourite paper prints, ambrotypes and even photos on patent leather. He did many views of Vancouver Island and also portraits. Later moving to Langley Street, he continued to be prolific into the late 1860s. In 1876 he returned briefly to California, opening a photography studio, and then returning to Victoria where died at age 79.
______________________
Born in Texas, U.S.A., Carl Coger was a Canadian artist known for his portraits, both sketches and finished oil paintings. He started his artistic career in Greenwich Village, New York, doing portrait work. After his move to Victoria, B.C. in 1977, he became a favourite and decades-long fixture on the Victoria Harbour Causeway sketching portraits of people walking by. In 2016, vision loss forced him into retirement and he generously gave away hundreds of his works in order to downsize to a smaller home.Inscription/Signature/Marks
Type
SignatureLocation
Lower right: Coger '00Dimensions
Dimension Description
ImageHeight
96.5 cmWidth
73.7 cmAcquisition
Acquisition Method
PurchaseDate
2000Notes
Legacy collection
Commissioned by the Union Club of B.C.Relationships
Related Entries
Notes
2001.01.29 Sir Matthew Baille Begbie on Horseback; Cariboo Justice
2001.01.34 Portrait of Sir Matthew Baillie Begbie (1819-1894)...
2016.01.18 Portrait of Sir Matthew Baillie Begbie (1819-1894), standing
2016.01.19 Portrait of Sir Matthew Baillie Begbie (1819-1894), seated
2023.09.02 View of Victoria, Vancouver Island, From Hospital Point, ca. 1863
