Robert Burnaby
Encyclopedia
Robert Burnaby was a
merchant, politician and civil servant in British Columbia
. The city of Burnaby, British Columbia
is named for him, as well as at least ten other urban and geographical features, including a mountain
, a lake
, a park
, a Queen Charlotte Island
and a street in Vancouver
.
Burnaby was born in Woodthorpe, Leicestershire
and arrived in British Columbia in 1858 after a career in the civil service in London. On the strength of his recommendation by Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Col. Richard Moody
decided to hire him as his personal secretary. Though he served in this role only briefly, he played a part in planning the settlement of the towns of Queensborough, Hope
and Yale
. Burnaby also explored the area around Burnaby Lake, which Moody decided to name after him.
Within a year or so, he founded a commission trading business with his friend Edward Henderson, in Victoria
. Unfortunately, high risk, speculation in a coal mine in Burrard Inlet
that never materialized, and a recession saw it fold in 1865. He then went into real estate and insurance. In 1862 he contended that he had a claim prior to that of the "Three Greenhorn Englishmen"
to what is now known as the West End
of Vancouver, but Judge Chartres Brew
dismissed the documents he produced as forgeries, "obviously written by a liar or a knave."
Soon after his arrival in Victoria, Burnaby ran for the Legislative Assembly
, and was elected as the member from Esquimalt and Metchosin, which he served as for five years.
Burnaby was very active in Freemasonry
, and a key figure in its history in British Columbia. In 1860 Burnaby helped to found Victoria Lodge No. 1085, the first Masonic lodge in what is now British Columbia, and was elected its first Past Master. When a District Grand Lodge for British Columbia was formed in 1868, under the Grand Lodge of England, Burnaby headed it as District Grand Master. At first he opposed a plan put forward by lodges affiliated with the Scottish Grand Lodge to form an independent Grand Lodge, but seeing growing tension between English and Scottish lodges, he later agreed to put the matter to a general vote. Finding wide support, he tabled the motion himself that created the new Grand Lodge of BC on October 21, 1871. Burnaby refused the post of Grand Master due to health concerns, but was elected first Past Grand Master.
He also helped found the Victoria Chamber of Commerce, and was president of the Amateur Dramatic Association of Victoria. The well-connected Burnaby was a close friend of many prominent figures in the region, including the Judges Matthew Baillie Begbie
and Henry Pering Pellew Crease
, gold commissioner Thomas Elwyn
, and Col. Moody.
The most lasting contribution Burnaby made to British Columbia may have been to simply lend his name to its maps. When the area around Burnaby Lake was later incorporated in 1892, the new municipality also chose the name Burnaby. An island and a narrows in the Queen Charlottes
are dubbed for him, as well as a street, a hill, and a park
in the Lower Mainland
. In all, at least eleven urban and geographical features in BC bear his name.
Burnaby's failing health lead to his retirement in 1869, his return to England in 1874, and finally his death in 1878.
merchant, politician and civil servant in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. The city of Burnaby, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
is named for him, as well as at least ten other urban and geographical features, including a mountain
Burnaby Mountain
Burnaby Mountain, elev. , is a low, forested mountain in the city of Burnaby, British Columbia, overlooking the upper arms of Burrard Inlet. It is the location of Simon Fraser University, the Discovery Park research community, and the System Control Tower of BC Hydro and a new complex of...
, a lake
Burnaby Lake Regional Park
Burnaby Lake is a lake located in Burnaby, British Columbia and is the focal geographic feature and namesake of Burnaby Lake Regional Park. Occupying of land, and is home to a large variety of wildlife. At least 70 species of birds make the lake and surrounding areas their home, and about 214...
, a park
Robert Burnaby Park
Robert Burnaby Park is a large public park in East Burnaby, just south of Burnaby Lake, located off Edmonds and 4th Street. It has an extensive trail system, as well as tennis courts and a swimming pool in the cleared upper slope area. The north end of the park contains a Disc Golf Course, one of...
, a Queen Charlotte Island
Burnaby Island
Burnaby Island is an island in Haida Gwaii off the north coast of British Columbia, Canada, located off the southeast coast of Moresby Island. It is part of the Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site....
and a street in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
.
Burnaby was born in Woodthorpe, Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
and arrived in British Columbia in 1858 after a career in the civil service in London. On the strength of his recommendation by Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Col. Richard Moody
Richard Moody
Major-General Richard Clement Moody was a Lieutenant-Governor, and later Governor, of the Falkland Islands, and the first Lieutenant-Governor of the Colony of British Columbia. While serving under this post, he selected the site of the new capital, New Westminster...
decided to hire him as his personal secretary. Though he served in this role only briefly, he played a part in planning the settlement of the towns of Queensborough, Hope
Hope, British Columbia
Hope is a district municipality located at the confluence of the Fraser and Coquihalla rivers in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Hope is at the eastern end of both the Fraser Valley and the Lower Mainland region, and is at the southern end of the Fraser Canyon...
and Yale
Yale, British Columbia
Yale is an unincorporated town in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It was founded in 1848 by the Hudson's Bay Company as Fort Yale by Ovid Allard, the appointed manager of the new post, who named it after his superior, James Murray Yale, then Chief Factor of the Columbia District...
. Burnaby also explored the area around Burnaby Lake, which Moody decided to name after him.
Within a year or so, he founded a commission trading business with his friend Edward Henderson, in Victoria
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
. Unfortunately, high risk, speculation in a coal mine in Burrard Inlet
Burrard Inlet
Burrard Inlet is a relatively shallow-sided coastal fjord in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Formed during the last Ice Age, it separates the City of Vancouver and the rest of the low-lying Burrard Peninsula from the slopes of the North Shore Mountains, home to the communities of West...
that never materialized, and a recession saw it fold in 1865. He then went into real estate and insurance. In 1862 he contended that he had a claim prior to that of the "Three Greenhorn Englishmen"
The Three Greenhorns
The Three Greenhorns were three Englishmen, Samuel Brighouse, William Hailstone and John Morton, who were the first white settlers in the area known today as Vancouver's West End...
to what is now known as the West End
West End, Vancouver
The West End of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is on the downtown peninsula neighbouring Stanley Park and the areas of Yaletown, Coal Harbour and the downtown financial and central business districts....
of Vancouver, but Judge Chartres Brew
Chartres Brew
Chartres Brew was a Gold commissioner, Chief Constable and judge in the Colony of British Columbia, later a province of Canada....
dismissed the documents he produced as forgeries, "obviously written by a liar or a knave."
Soon after his arrival in Victoria, Burnaby ran for the Legislative Assembly
Legislative Assembly of Vancouver Island
The Legislative Assembly of Vancouver Island was the colonial parliamentary body that was elected to represent voters in the Colony of Vancouver Island. It was created in 1856 after a series of petitions were sent to the colonial office in London protesting the Hudson’s Bay Company’s proprietary...
, and was elected as the member from Esquimalt and Metchosin, which he served as for five years.
Burnaby was very active in Freemasonry
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
, and a key figure in its history in British Columbia. In 1860 Burnaby helped to found Victoria Lodge No. 1085, the first Masonic lodge in what is now British Columbia, and was elected its first Past Master. When a District Grand Lodge for British Columbia was formed in 1868, under the Grand Lodge of England, Burnaby headed it as District Grand Master. At first he opposed a plan put forward by lodges affiliated with the Scottish Grand Lodge to form an independent Grand Lodge, but seeing growing tension between English and Scottish lodges, he later agreed to put the matter to a general vote. Finding wide support, he tabled the motion himself that created the new Grand Lodge of BC on October 21, 1871. Burnaby refused the post of Grand Master due to health concerns, but was elected first Past Grand Master.
He also helped found the Victoria Chamber of Commerce, and was president of the Amateur Dramatic Association of Victoria. The well-connected Burnaby was a close friend of many prominent figures in the region, including the Judges Matthew Baillie Begbie
Matthew Baillie Begbie
Sir Matthew Baillie Begbie was born on the island of Mauritius, thereafter raised and educated in the United Kingdom...
and Henry Pering Pellew Crease
Henry Pering Pellew Crease
Sir Henry Pering Pellew Crease was a British lawyer, judge, and politician, influential in the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia...
, gold commissioner Thomas Elwyn
Thomas Elwyn
Thomas Elwyn was a British soldier, police officer and gold commissioner in colonial British Columbia.Elwyn, born into a family with a long military tradition, served as a lieutenant in the 30th Foot during the Crimean war...
, and Col. Moody.
The most lasting contribution Burnaby made to British Columbia may have been to simply lend his name to its maps. When the area around Burnaby Lake was later incorporated in 1892, the new municipality also chose the name Burnaby. An island and a narrows in the Queen Charlottes
Queen Charlotte Islands
Haida Gwaii , formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands, is an archipelago on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. Haida Gwaii consists of two main islands: Graham Island in the north, and Moresby Island in the south, along with approximately 150 smaller islands with a total landmass of...
are dubbed for him, as well as a street, a hill, and a park
Robert Burnaby Park
Robert Burnaby Park is a large public park in East Burnaby, just south of Burnaby Lake, located off Edmonds and 4th Street. It has an extensive trail system, as well as tennis courts and a swimming pool in the cleared upper slope area. The north end of the park contains a Disc Golf Course, one of...
in the Lower Mainland
Lower Mainland
The Lower Mainland is a name commonly applied to the region surrounding and including Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. As of 2007, 2,524,113 people live in the region; sixteen of the province's thirty most populous municipalities are located there.While the term Lower Mainland has been...
. In all, at least eleven urban and geographical features in BC bear his name.
Burnaby's failing health lead to his retirement in 1869, his return to England in 1874, and finally his death in 1878.