Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names
A Complete Reference to Coastal British Columbia
- Publisher
- Harbour Publishing Co. Ltd.
- Initial publish date
- Sep 2009
- Category
- Western Provinces
-
Hardback
- ISBN
- 9781550174847
- Publish Date
- Sep 2009
- List Price
- $24.95
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Where to buy it
Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels
- Age: 9
- Grade: 4
Description
Winner of the 2010 Roderick Haig-Brown Regional BC Book Prize
Winner of the 2009 Lieutenant-Governor's Medal for Historical Writing
In 1909 Captain John T. Walbran published one of the most beloved and enduring of all BC books, British Columbia Coast Names. Harbour Publishing celebrates the hundredth anniversary of that landmark work by presenting the first book to update Walbran's classic, Andrew Scott's Raincoast Place Names. Like its progenitor, Raincoast Place Names is much more than simply a catalogue of name origins because it tells the often fascinating stories behind the names and in so doing serves as a history of the region in capsule form. It is also a monumental work, twice the size of Walbran's and including more than three times as many places. Four thousand entries consider, in intriguing detail, the stories behind over five thousand place names: how they were discovered, who named them and why, and what the names reveal. It describes the original First Nations cultures, the heroics of the 18th-century explorers and fur traders, the gruelling survey and settlement efforts of the 19th century, the lives of colonial officials, missionaries, gold seekers and homesteaders, and the histories of nearly every important vessel to sail or cruise the coast.
The book also examines--for the first time--the rich heritage of BC place names added in the 20th century. These new entries reflect the world of the steamship era, the ships and skippers of the Union and Princess lines, the heroes of the two World Wars and the sealing fleet, Esquimalt's naval base and BC's fishing, canning, mining and logging industries.
Richly illustrated with photos and maps, this book is an essential reference work, a must-have guide for boaters and mariners and a standard companion for anyone interested in BC history. It also makes a fine shelf-mate for the Encyclopedia of British Columbia.
About the author
Andrew MacLeod is the BC Legislative Bureau Chief for TheTyee.ca website. His first book, A Better Place on Earth (Harbour Publishing, 2015), won the George Ryga Award for Social Awareness in Literature. He won a 2006 Association of Alternative Newsweeklies award for news writing and was a finalist for a 2007 Western Magazine Award for best article in BC and the Yukon. His reporting has appeared in Monday Magazine, The Georgia Straight, BCBusiness Magazine, 24 Hours, the San Francisco Bay Guardian, Detroit’s MetroTimes, Portland’s Willamette Week and elsewhere. Andrew lives in Victoria, BC.
Librarian Reviews
The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names: A Complete Reference to Coastal British Columbia
This book updates and revises Captain John Walbran’s 1909 British Columbia Place Names, a history of the BC coast from 1774 to the present. An extensive introduction outlines the parameters of the work that is limited to coastal locations. Each of the 4,000 alphabetical entries includes latitude and longitude along with whatever information is known about the naming. Anecdotes and historical data including First Nations names are often included especially where this information is not readily available elsewhere. Twelve interspersed essays give greater detail on such subjects as the Fraser Estuary, the Royal Engineers, the Nisga’a First Nation and the Geographical Names Office.Includes the sources used and supplies an extensive list of web sites.
Source: The Association of Book Publishers of BC. BC Books for BC Schools. 2010-2011.
