John Thomas Walbran (1848 – 31 March 1913) was an English-Canadian ship's master and writer.

Biography

John Thomas Walbran was born in

Ripon Ripon () is a cathedral city in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city ...

, England, in 1848. He became qualified as a ship's master in 1881. On the coast of British Columbia from 1888 to 1890 he was employed by the

Canadian Pacific Navigation Company The Canadian Pacific Navigation Company was an early steamship company that operated steamships on the coast of British Columbia and the Inside Passage of southeast Alaska. The company was founded in 1883 by John Irving (1854-1936), a prominent ...

. From 1891 until retirement in 1904, he worked primarily on the Pacific Coast in the Georgian Bay Survey, subsequently renamed the

Canadian Hydrographic Service ''Retired Canadian Hydrographic Service logo or crest'' The Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS) is part of the federal department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada and is Canada's authoritative hydrographic office. The CHS represents Canada in t ...

. He was the first captain of the DGS ''Quadra''. He is best known for authorship of ''British Columbia Coast Names'' originally published in 1909, reprinted in 1971 and widely and frequently cited.

Death

John Thomas Walbran died at St. Joseph's Hospital on 31 March 1913 and was buried in

Ross Bay Cemetery Ross Bay Cemetery is located at 1516 Fairfield Road in Victoria, British Columbia, on Vancouver Island, Canada. Many historical figures from the early days of the province and colony of British Columbia are buried at Ross Bay. History The ceme ...

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...

Legacy

Walbran Island Walbran Island is an island in the Central Coast region of British Columbia, Canada. It is located on the northwest side of Rivers Inlet near its mouth into Fitz Hugh Sound. History It is named after John Thomas Walbran John Thomas Walbran (18 ...

, Walbran Point, and

Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park, originally Carmanah Pacific Provincial Park, is a remote wilderness park located inside traditional Ditidaht First Nation (also spelled diiɁdiitidq) ancestral territory. The park covers a land area of immediate ...

are named after him.

References

* Walbran, John T. (1909). ''British Columbia Coast Names'', Government Printing Bureau, Ottawa. {{DEFAULTSORT:Walbran, John Thomas 1848 births 1913 deaths Coast of British Columbia History of British Columbia People from Ripon

Biography

Death

Legacy

See also

References