The full content of this document is only available to subscribing institutions. More information can be found via www.amdigital.co.uk

Title Correspondence 1931-1934, 1937
Reference rbsc_arc_1705_2_5
Library University of British Columbia
Collection Charles E Spring Fonds
Collection Series Charles E Spring Fonds: Correspondence
Date 5 Jun 1931 - 9 Mar 1937
Description Correspondence relating to compensation claims against the British government. Compensation was being sought for losses resulting from the modus vivendi agreement of the early 1890s between Britain and the US, which restricted sealing in the Pacific North-West. These letters trace Charles Spring's continuing campaign on behalf of many different sealers following what he saw as an unsatisfactory decision by the claims commission several years earlier.
Document Type Correspondence
Theme(s) Regulation and Legislation; Trade and Commerce
Keywords letter, seal, seal hunting, law, regulations, claim, compensation, order, sealing voyage, government, ship, tribunal, trade, treaty, settlement, crew, captain, customs, cost, skins, capture, payment, money
Countries Canada; USA; UK; Russia; Japan
Places Bering Strait; Vancouver Island; Victoria; British Columbia; North Pacific; Alaska; Ottawa
Company Union Steamship Company
Ships Coquitlam, Corwin
People Captain Harry Paxton; Charles Spring
Additional Information

This information is adapted from a description of the Spring Archive devised by Stephen C Lunsford (bookseller) under the title: ‘Archive of Nineteenth-Century Arctic, Alaska, and British Columbia Seal-Hunting Logbooks, Manuscripts, and other Documents mostly from Captain Charles Spring – Ecology, Ethnology, Economy on the Northwest Coast'.

Charles E. Spring (1859-1938) was the oldest son of William Spring, a sealer in Victoria, British Columbia. William had established a thriving sealing fleet and in 1884 Charles joined the family business. William died later that year and Charles began running the business, adding considerably to the fleet and developing the Behring Sea sealing routes from the West Coast of Vancouver Island stations he owed. However, between 1885 and 1891 he, like many sealers, suffered due to ship seizures by the United States. The US Government wished to protect sealing monopolies granted in its new Alaskan territory and to prevent pelagic sealing (the practice of killing seals at sea, which resulted in many breeding females dying, thus damaging seal populations). In 1891, Charles’ business was again hit, this time by the modus vivendi agreement, which temporarily restricted sealing while the US and Great Britain negotiated a long-term settlement. The sealers themselves were not informed of this until they returned to port and had their catches confiscated. Charles was ruined and the northern sealing industry collapsed. He became an active spokesperson for sealers, and was prominent in pushing tribunal claims that sought compensation for sealers’ losses due to the ship seizures and modus vivendi.

This collection contains documents on the growth of the northern sealing industry, its business workings, the method and practice of hunting, the extent of native involvement, the effect of the modus vivendi agreement and subsequent tribunal claims, and the financial and personal consequences suffered by Charles Spring.

Copyright Item provided courtesy of University of British Columbia Library