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Burnaby family fonds
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription58458
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1858-1863
- Collection/Fonds
- Robert Burnaby fonds
- Description Level
- Fonds
- Physical Description
- 5 cm. of textual records.
- Scope and Content
- Fonds consists of letters written by Robert Burnaby related to both his work and explorations in British Columbia as well as personal matters relating to his family. Some of these letters were published in the 2002 book, "Land of Promise: Robert Burnaby's Letters from Colonial British Columbia 1858…
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1858-1863
- Collection/Fonds
- Robert Burnaby fonds
- Physical Description
- 5 cm. of textual records.
- Description Level
- Fonds
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- No known restrictions
- Accession Number
- 2009-06 2017-55
- Scope and Content
- Fonds consists of letters written by Robert Burnaby related to both his work and explorations in British Columbia as well as personal matters relating to his family. Some of these letters were published in the 2002 book, "Land of Promise: Robert Burnaby's Letters from Colonial British Columbia 1858-1863."
- History
- Robert Burnaby was a commission merchant and legislator, born on November 30, 1828, at Woodthorpe, Leicestershire, England, as the fourth son of the Reverend Thomas Burnaby and Sarah Meares. Robert Burnaby came to British Columbia at the end of 1858 as an experienced civil servant from Her Majesty’s Customs Office in London, and with a personal introduction to Governor James Douglas from Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Burnaby’s first year on the Pacific coast was a busy one: he spent a short time as private secretary to Richard Clement Moody, commander of the Royal Engineers at New Westminster; he explored for coal with Walter Moberly at Burrard Inlet; and he made a short visit to San Francisco. During this year, he also founded the firm of Henderson and Burnaby, commission merchants, in partnership with Edward Henderson, an old school friend from Christ’s Hospital and a man of means, who managed the London office. This type of business was precarious since the distance from sources of supply and risks in transportation encouraged overtrading and excessive speculation. The death of Henderson in 1865 and the general economic depression in Vancouver Island and British Columbia brought the firm to an end – a failure caused in part apparently by unwise investment in real estate. Burnaby then embarked upon a real estate and insurance business of his own. The exigencies of a mercantile career seem to have overwhelmed this man who, by upbringing and training, was more suited to a position in government service. Robert Burnaby was intensely interested in the welfare of Vancouver Island and British Columbia, and did all in his power to promote stable economic conditions. Before the end of his second year in Victoria, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Vancouver Island for the districts of Esquimalt and Metchosin, and he served his constituents well for five years. He was one of the founders of the Victoria Chamber of Commerce. During an 1866 visit to London on private business, he attended a meeting of prominent Victoria merchants and officials who strongly favoured the union of the two colonies and other measures for developing and improving their economic prospects. This group carried its resolutions to the secretary of state for the colonies. Burnaby was an active freemason and helped found the First Victoria Lodge in 1860. Among his recreational pursuits was a love of drama, and in 1863, he served as president of Victoria’s Amateur Dramatic Association. Burnaby numbered among his intimate friends Colonel Moody, Arthur Thomas Bushby, Henry Pering Pellew Crease, Judge Matthew Baillie Begbie, Edward Graham Alston, and Thomas Elwyn. In 1869, severe ill health caused Burnaby’s retirement and, five years later, his return to England. Friends arranged for him to travel in the Hudson’s Bay Company bark Lady Lampson; they later presented her captain, James Gaudin, with a generous purse in gratitude for the attention he had paid the ailing Burnaby during the voyage. Early in 1878, news reached Victoria that this “prominent and much respected merchant” had died. An honest, conscientious man of spirit, a clear-headed thinker, a “power” in his masonic lodge, a lucid speaker, full of fun, and clever, Burnaby has been fittingly commemorated in a number of place names in British Columbia including a lake, a strait, an island, a municipality, two mountain ranges, and finally Burnaby Mountain, the seat of Simon Fraser University. Burnaby died a bachelor on January 10, 1878, at Woodthorpe. - This information has been adapted from the Dictionary of Canadian Biography.
- Media Type
- Textual Record
- Creator
- Burnaby, Robert
- Notes
- Title based on creator of fonds.
![Gilley Brothers Logging team, [1895]. . thumbnail](/media/hpo/_Data/_Archives_Images/_Unrestricted/371/461-003.jpg?width=280)
Vancouver Road (Kingsway)
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/landmark729
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Associated Dates
- 1860
- Heritage Value
- The street we know as Kingsway is one of the legacies of the Royal Engineers' military defences for New Westminster. The fear of an American attack prompted the construction of the False Creek trail - later known as Vancouver Road and now Kingsway - in 1860 to connect the capital city to the ice-free salt water harbour at English Bay.
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Central Park (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Edmonds (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Maywood Area
- Marlborough Area
- Windsor Area
- Kingsway-Beresford Area
- Stride Avenue Area
- Edmonds Area
Images
![Gilley Brothers Logging team, [1895]. . thumbnail](/media/hpo/_Data/_Archives_Images/_Unrestricted/371/461-003.jpg)
Douglas Road
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/landmark714
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Associated Dates
- 1865
- Heritage Value
- Douglas Road was built between 1862-1865 by the Royal Engineers based in New Westminster. Originally known as the Douglas Street Trail, it took its name from Governor James Douglas. In 1926 a new connection was made to reach Grandview Road in Vancouver at Boundary Road. To distinguish this new highway it was renamed the Grandview Highway and it became commonly known as the combined Grandview-Douglas Highway until 1968 when the Burnaby and New Westminister sections were renamed Canada Way, in recognition of Canada's Centennial in 1967. The old part of Douglas Road north of Sprott Street remained intact.
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Burnaby Lake (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Douglas-Gilpin Area
- Street View URL
- Google Maps Street View
Images
