The Daily Colonist

The British Colonist newspaper was founded only three weeks after the colony of British Columbia was created; the first issue was published on the morning of 11 December 1858. The Colonist focused on stories related to all of British Columbia, not only Victoria, and quickly became the most important newspaper in Western Canada. On 1 Jan 1887, the Colonist dropped the word “British” from its nameplate and became simply the Daily Colonist. Fifty years after the founding of the British Colonist, at the eve of the First World War, the Daily Colonist remained an important arena for Victorians to learn about their city and to express their opinions about what was important in Victoria.

The University of Victoria Library has digitized the (Daily) British Colonist from 1858-1920. To view the text searchable database visit http://www.britishcolonist.ca/

If you would like to view indices of Victoria newspapers, you can do so using  Early Victoria Newspapers.  This site gives you access to four indices of approximately forty-five thousand summarized transcripts of articles first appearing in newspapers published on Vancouver Island between 1858 and 1932. By default you will search:

• A general index to the British Colonist (also called the Daily Colonist) from 1858-1932.
• A specialized index to stories related to the West Coast of Vancouver Island in the British Colonist (also called the Daily Colonist) from 1858-1921.
• A specialized index of stories related to the Boer War in the British Colonist (also called the Daily Colonist) from 1899-1915.
• A specialized index to stories related to buildings, builders, building trades, architects etc. from 1858-1900.