John Linn was a British

Royal Engineer The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

. He was born in

Corstorphine Corstorphine (Scottish Gaelic: ''Crois Thoirfinn'') ( ) is an area of the Scottish capital city of Edinburgh. Formerly a separate village and parish to the west of Edinburgh, it is now a suburb of the city, having been formally incorporate ...

and joined the Army in 1846. Two years later he moved to

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

where he was stationed for 9 years. He later settled in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

in 1859. He died on 18 April 1876 from a paralytic stroke. North Vancouver's

Lynn Valley Lynn Valley is a neighbourhood in the District of North Vancouver, British Columbia. Located at the northern edge of Metro Vancouver, it sits between Mount Fromme and Mount Seymour. The area's natural parks include Lynn Headwaters Regional Park, ...

is named after him.

References

The Royal Engineers Living History GroupDistrict of North Vancouver's Lynn Canyon Park Guide
*''Namely Vancouver: A Hidden History of Vancouver Place Names'' (2001) By Tom Snyders, Jennifer O'Rourke, page 172. Military personnel from Edinburgh Royal Engineers soldiers North Vancouver (district municipality) {{BritishColumbia-stub