James Dunsmuir was a British Columbian industrialist and politician. Son of Robert Dunsmuir

Robert Dunsmuir

Robert Dunsmuir was a Scottish-Canadian coal miner, railway developer, industrialist and politician. -Origins in Scotland:...

, he was heir to his family's coal fortune. The Dunsmuir family dominated the province's economy in the late nineteenth century and were a leading force in opposing organized labour. Dunsmuir managed his family's coal business from 1876 until 1910 increasing profits and resisting efforts to unionize. In 1905 he sold his Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway to the Canadian Pacific Railway

Canadian Pacific Railway

The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

. In 1910 he sold his coal mining company, Union Colliery of British Columbia and R. Dunsmuir and Sons to Canadian Collieries (Dunsmuir) Ltd (CCD).

Dunsmuir entered provincial politics in 1898 winning a seat in the provincial legislature

Legislature

A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...

 and became the 14th Premier

Premier of British Columbia

The Premier of British Columbia is the first minister, head of government, and de facto chief executive for the Canadian province of British Columbia. Until the early 1970s the title Prime Minister of British Columbia was often used...

 in 1900. His government attempted to resist popular pressure to curtail Asian labour and immigration

Immigration

Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...

 not for humanitarian reasons but to ensure a cheap labour pool for business. It also promoted railway construction and accomplished a redistribution of seats to better represent population distribution in the province. Dunsmuir disliked politics and resigned as Premier in 1902. In 1906 he became the province's eighth Lieutenant Governor

Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia

The Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia is the viceregal representative in British Columbia of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared with equally the ten other jurisdictions of Canada and resides predominantly in her oldest...

 but retired in 1909 and lived out his years at the baronial mansion he had constructed at Hatley Park

Hatley Park National Historic Site

Hatley Park National Historic Site is located in Colwood, British Columbia in Greater Victoria. It is the site of Hatley Castle, a Classified Federal Heritage Building. Since 1995, the mansion and estate have been used for the public Royal Roads University...

.
James Dunsmuir founded the town

Town

A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

 of Ladysmith, British Columbia

Ladysmith, British Columbia

Ladysmith is a town located on the 49th parallel on the east coast of Vancouver Island British Columbia, Canada. The local economy is based on forestry, tourism and agriculture. A hillside location adjacent to a sheltered harbour form the natural characteristics of the community., the population...

. He is interred in the Ross Bay Cemetery

Ross Bay Cemetery

Ross Bay Cemetery is located at 1516 Fairfield Road in Victoria, British Columbia, on Vancouver Island, Canada.-History:The cemetery was opened in 1873. The 27.5 acre cemetery is part of a public park and its south side faces Ross Bay on the Pacific Ocean...

 in Victoria, British Columbia

Victoria, British Columbia

Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...

.

One of his eight daughters, Jessie Muriel, married, as her first husband, the couturier

Couturier

A couturier is an establishment or person involved in the clothing fashion industry who makes original garments to order for private clients. A couturier may make what is known as haute couture. Such a person usually hires patternmakers and machinists for garment production, and is either employed...

 Edward Molyneux

Edward Molyneux

Edward Henry Molyneux was a British fashion designer whose fashion house in Paris was in operation from 1919 until 1950.- Overview :Born in London to Justin Molyneux and Lizzy Kenny, Edward Molyneux attended Beaumont College, a Roman Catholic preparatory school...

. His second-born son, James A. Dunsmuir, Jr., died in the sinking of the RMS Lusitania

RMS Lusitania

RMS Lusitania was a British ocean liner designed by Leonard Peskett and built by John Brown and Company of Clydebank, Scotland. The ship entered passenger service with the Cunard Line on 26 August 1907 and continued on the line's heavily-traveled passenger service between Liverpool, England and New...

in 1915.

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