It would be unjust to
write of the great men and women of Vancouver and leave out the one man who may
have had the biggest impact on this city and this region. The man whom
after this great city is named, Captain George Vancouver.
George Vancouver was born in June 1757 in Norfolk, England. Captain Vancouver was an English officer of
the British Royal Navy. In his early days he was a midshipman where he learned
the ropes from of the best, Captain James Cooks. Captain Cook is known to be
one of the greatest explorers of all time. Vancouver joined Cook on his second
and third voyages which explored the South Pacific and Hawaiian Islands respectively.
Upon returning he was made a lieutenant.
Two monumental moments for the city of Vancouver were 1778, which is
when Captain Cook claimed the area for the United Kingdom, and during the late
1780’s when Britain and Spain were on the verge of war over the ownership and
right to colonize/settle the Pacific Northwest Coast, present day Vancouver
Island and its surroundings. Without going into the long story and details this
debate was resolved by the first Nootka Convention and from this command of the
Discovery ship was given to Captain Vancouver as he was sent to survey and take
possession of Nookta Sound, present day Vancouver Island.
Sails were set in 1791 and Captain Vancouver after sailing
through and past Australia, New Zealand, China and up the coast of Oregon and
Washington finally arrived at Vancouver Island on April 29 1792. After arriving
he spent several months surveying and mapping out every inlet and outlet he
could find. His charts and maps were so accurate that he, as Vice President of
Mount Royal University Robin Fisher states,
“drew up a map of the north-west coast
that was accurate to the 9th degree, to the point it was still being
used into the modern day as a navigational aid. That’s unusual for a map from
that early a time”
Originally Captain Vancouver had
met a Spanish captain while receiving back British possessions and the Island
was called as a combination of their names, Quadra
and Vancouver Island. Spanish influence in the area died off and the name
was then shortened to Vancouver Island. For all we know if the influence had
not worn of this great city of ours could be called city of Quadra instead of
Vancouver. Eventually in 1885 when the City of Vancouver was created and a name
was to be chosen nothing seemed more fitting then to honour the great Captain
George Vancouver.
Information credited and sourced
from:
www.canadahistory.com/sections/eras/eras.htmlttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Vancouver
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