Background
Pinchbeck was born in Yorkshire, England in 1831 and at the age of 18, he moved to San Francisco, United States of America where he operated a roadhouse during the California Gold Rush.
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William Pinchbeck
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Nind had originally considered Fort Alexandria for this purpose but chose instead as it was at a junction of two main pack trails: one from the Douglas Road and another through the Fraser Canyon.
Career
He would later travel north to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada where he joined the British Columbia Provincial Police. In 1860, during the Cariboo Gold Rush, Pinchbeck accompanied Gold Commissioner Philip Henry Nind to to create a local government and bring law and order to the area. Like many provincial policemen of the era, Pinchbeck had to fulfill a variety of duties including Justice of the Peace, lawyer, judge, and jailer.
The horse races often drew large crowds of spectators and on some of the biggest races the stakes could be as high as $100,000.
Although the Cariboo Road would bypass in 1863, Pinchbeck stayed on in the area and continued to prosper and his roadhouse suffered no lack of business, particularly in the winter when it catered to local miners who stayed there until they could return to the goldfields in the spring. In 1863, Pinchbeck would begin a common-law marriage with Chulminick, a local First Nations Shuswap woman, who may have been the daughter of Chief William, for whom is named.
Their home was located where the Stampede Grounds are today. They had two sons, William Felix, born in 1867 and James, born in 1872.
In 1884, after returning to England, Pinchbeck married Alice Elizabeth Kilham and returned to where he built his new bride a ranch house on the lake, which they called the "Lake House" and was one of the finest homes in the Cariboo.
The couple would have three sons, Robert in 1885, Fredrick in 1887, and Cyril in 1889. However, the Cariboo region"s economy was by then beginning to decline. The initial excitement over the gold rush was long past and with no major roads running near, Pinchbeck"s ranch and businesses were no longer profitable.
Pinchbeck died on July 30 or 31st, 1893, and was buried in a plot overlooking.
Achievements
Membership
He was a member of the British Columbia Provincial Police and owned a roadhouse and many other properties in, British Columbia.
