Burnaby: a Man, a Lake and a City in British Columbia

Robert Burnaby was born in central England (Leicestershire) in 1828. After a short career in the civil service in London, he emigrated to British Columbia at the age of 30, in 1858.

Robert Burnaby
source

In 1858, the Colonial Office of Great Britain, under the direction of Edward Bulwer-Lytton had just established the Colony of British Columbia. Bulwer-Lytton sent a detachment of Royal Engineers, under the command of Colonel Richard Clement Moody, who became the first Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia. Bulwer-Lytton also recommended Robert Burnaby to colonel Moody, who took Burnaby as his private secretary.

One of the first jobs of the Royal Engineers was to design and established a capital for the new colony: New Westminster. Because the Royal Engineers were sappers, the neighbourhood where they had their barracks was named Sapperton.

---

In March 1859, colonel Moody learned from members of the First Nations that there was a rather large lake north of New Westminster. He then sent a small detachment, under the command of Robert Burnaby. They came back with a survey of the lake and of the river that flows through the lake, the Brunette River. Because Burnaby was commanding the detachment, the lake was given his name: Burnaby Lake.

Burnaby Lake
source

Burnaby Lake hosts many varieties of plant, birds, fish and other animals. There used to be beavers in the lake, but I am afraid that they have disappeared. In fact, the lake seems to be slowly dying, due to pollution.

---

In 1892, when the area around Burnaby Lake was incorporated, the inhabitants unanimously chose to name the town Burnaby, to honour one of the first European that had been there. A hundred years later, Burnaby achieved City status, in 1992, two years before I emigrated to British Columbia.
Note that when the town of Burnaby was incorporated in 1992, Robert Burnaby, due to his poor health had returned to England where he died at the age of 49 in 1858.

Burnaby Today at Sunset
source

Burnaby is the third largest city of British Columbia, after Vancouver and Surrey. Its population is over 230,000 inhabitants. This is the city where I live.

---

So, the city was named after the man that gave its name to the lake.
It is not the only city named after a person. In fact, the city of Port Moody is named after colonel Moody. Another example is the town of Agassiz that got its name from the local train station, that itself got its name from a local farmer.

---

This post is tagged #fauxhq. To understand why, you need to read this post from @stellabelle.
I don't believe that this is a FULLHQ post, even less a 4KHQ one, and as @stellabelle says:

some bloggers may believe they are creating HQ posts, but in reality, they are writing FAUX HQ.

Personally, I believe this is an HQ post, but I don't want to brag, so I tagged it FAUXHQ.