Peter O’Reillly is appointed stipendiary magistrate for Langley District, then Fort Hope, and then becomes high sheriff in 1859. The following year O’Reilly is also made a gold commissioner. O’Reilly serves until 1866 and is tasked with a variety of responsibilities including: hanging convicted criminals; issuing licenses; settling land and water claims; and marking boundaries, asserting British colonial control over Sto:lo territories.

Blok, Murray B. “Peter O'Reilly: The Rise of a Reluctant Immigrant.” The Advocate 69, no. 1 (2011), 125-127.

Kenneth, Brealey. “Travels from Point Ellice: Peter O’Reilly and the Indian Reserve System in British Columbia.” BC Studies 115 (1997): 188.   

Williams, David Ricardo. “O’REILLY, PETER,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography 13 (1994). Accessed February 28, 2021. http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/o_reilly_peter_13E.html