James Dunsmuir (1851-1920), first son of Robert Dunsmuir, managed the Dunsmuir family's E&N Railway and coal business until selling the E&N to the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1905 followed by sale of the coal company in 1910 to Canadian Collieries (Dunsmuir) Ltd. A capitalist through and through he did not get along well with labour. He became the 14th premier of British Columbia, then the province's 8th Lieutenant Governor, retiring in 1909 to live out his years at the baronial mansion he had constructed at Hatley Park.

Hatley Park eventually became a Canadian Naval College then a Canadian Military College until replaced by Royal Roads University in 1995.