Henry Pering Pellew Crease

Born in Cornwall, England, in 1825, Henry Crease graduated from Cambridge University as a lawyer. He emigrated to Vancouver Island in 1858 and began practicing as a barrister. In 1860, he was appointed to the Vancouver Island House of Assembly and, one year later, became Attorney General of the Colony of British Columbia. He continued in this position until the union of the colonies in 1871 when he was named Judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia. Prior to his death in 1905, he was knighted in England.

In 1865, Crease presided over the trial of Ahan and Lutas who were convicted of murdering Peter MacDougall.

Henry Crease left a considerable paper trail. His personal legal records fill fourteen boxes and two metres of shelf space at the B.C. Provincial Archives. For a biography of his wife, see Henry and Self, The Private Life of Sarah Crease, 1826-1922 by Kathryn Bridge (Victoria: Sono Nis, 1996).

Secondary Sources

Loo, Tina. “Henry Pering Pellew Crease.” In Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. XIII. Toronto: University of Toronto, 1994, 228-31.