Sooke (District) / French Beach Park / Grant Rocks / River Jordan/ Leech River / Mount Maguire / Milnes Landing

Phone : (250) 642-1634
Your Host(s) : Municipal Administration

Sooke, BC (Nearby: Milnes Landing, East Sooke, Saseenos, Leechtown, Shirley)

  • French Beach Park
  • Grant Rocks
  • River Jordan
  • Leech River
  • Leech River
  • Leech River
  • Mount Maguire
  • Milnes Landing
  • Sooke

2205 Otter Point Road
Sooke, British Columbia
V9Z 1J2


British Columbia Tourism Region : Vancouver Island

Description From Owner:
  • French Beach Park - After James George French, who settled here around 1890.
  • A pioneer conservationist, he maintained wildlife protection areas in the Victoria and Sheringham Point areas. He was a brother of Sir John French, later Earl of Ypres, the British Commander-in Chief during the first part of World War I.
  • Grant Rocks - After Captain Walter Colquhoun Grant of the 2nd Dragoons (Scots Greys), who arrived on Vancouver Island in 1849 as the first independent colonist.
  • With him he brought eight men to work on his farm. He also brought impedimenta such as carriage harness and cricket sets, only to find that there were no carriages on Vancouver Island and that the VIBC men at Fort Victoria did not play cricket.
  • Finding that the BIBC owned all the good land around Victoria, Grant established his farm at Sooke and built a sawmill here. In 1853, admitting failure, he returned to England. He died eight years later, serving in the Indian Mutiny.
  • Although Grant had a very attractive personality, he lacked a business sense.
  • He was the first of many hundreds of young gentlemen from the British Isles who came out to British Columbia with scant knowledge of what they would find here and eventually lost a good deal of money.
  • He planted the first broom (Cytisus scuparius) to grow on Vancouver Island.
  • Jordan River - Named by the Spaniards after Alejandro Jordan, the chaplain who accompanied Lieutenant Francisco Eliza to Nootka in 1790 and remained there for some time.
  • Leech River - After Peter John Leech, who arrived in British Columbia as a corporal in the Royal Engineers in 1858 but remained here after his detachment was disbanded.
  • He was 'astronomer' with the Vancouver Island Exploration Expedition of 1864, which found gold on this stream. The resulting gold rush soon petered out. Leech later became city engineer of Victoria. He died in 1899.
  • Mount Maguire - After Lieutenant Rochfort Maguire, HMS Herald, in local waters in 1846-7.
  • Milnes Landing - ). Takes its name from Edward Milne, who opened a grocery store here in 1893.
  • Sooke - Takes its name from the Sooke band of Straits Salish Indians.
  • 'A most warlike and hardy race,' they were nearly annihilated in a combined attack of the Cowichans, Clallums, and Nitinats launched about 1848.
  • The derivation of Sooke is unknown. It was early spelled 'Soke' and pronounced 'soak.'
  • With permission from G.P.V and Helen B. Akrigg 1997 British Columbia Place Names. UBC Press.


Address of this page: http://bc.ruralroutes.com/sooke



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Sooke (District) / French Beach Park / Grant Rocks / River Jordan/ Leech River / Mount Maguire / Milnes Landing, Phone : (250) 642-1634

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  • Muir Point

  • After John Muir, who arrived on Vancouver Island with his wife and four sons in 1849. He worked for the HBC in the coalfields at Fort Rupert and Nanaimo, then moved to Sooke in 1853, acquiring the estate of Captain W.C. Grant, the first independent settler on Vancouver Island.


  • Parry Bay

  • After Rear-Admiral Sir William Edward Parry (1790-1855), Arctic explorer and Hydrographer of the Navy. Also PARRY PASSAGE, Queen Charlotte Islands.


  • Pedder Bay

  • Named in 1846 by Captain Kellett, RN, apparently after a friend, Lieutenant William Pedder.


  • Sheringham Point

  • Named Punta de san Eusebio by the Spaniards in 1790 but given its present name in 1846 by Captain Kellett of HMS Herald. Commander (later Vice-Admiral) William L. Sheringham took part in various naval surveys, none of which apparently brought him to this coast.


  • Whiffin Spit

  • This unusual name immortalizes John George Whiffin, a clerk on HMS Herald, here in 1846.


  • William Head

  • Named after Rear-Admiral Sir William E. Parry (1790-1855), the Arctic explorer. Note the proximity of Parry Bay.


  • Beechey Head

  • After Captain F.W. Beechey, RN (1796-1856), Arctic navigator.


Visitors to this page: 1,084     Emails sent through this page: 1     This record last updated: February 24, 2021

Nearby:
Nearby Lakes and Mountains:
  • Poirier Lake, 3km
  • Young Lake, 3km
  • McKenzie Lake, 4km
  • Kemp Lake, 4km
  • Boneyard Lake, 6km
  • Mount Maguire, 5km
  • Bluff Mountain, 6km
  • Peden Lake, 8km
  • Mount Manuel Quimper, 7km
  • Grass Lake, 8km
  • Trap Mountain, 8km
  • Bert Lake, 9km
  • Sheilds Lake, 9km
  • Glinz Lake, 8km
  • Empress Mountain, 10km
  • Crabapple Lake, 10km
  • Ragged Mountain, 9km
  • Mount Jack, 13km
  • Tugwell Lake, 12km
  • Macdonald Lake, 14km
  • Mount Matheson, 9km
  • Redflag Mountain, 10km
  • Matheson Lake, 10km
  • Jack Lake, 12km
  • Mount Ash, 10km
  • Butler Lake, 13km
  • Old Wolf Lake, 14km
  • Mavis Lake, 14km
  • Quarantine Lake, 11km
  • Boulder Lake, 14km
  • Mount Braden, 12km
  • Middle Peak, 12km
  • Blinkhorn Lake, 12km
  • Mount Helmcken, 12km
  • Ranger Lake, 15km
  • Council Lake, 17km
  • Mount Healey, 18km
  • Mount Blinkhorn, 12km
  • Goldstream Lake, 16km
  • Mount Muir, 15km
  • Forslund Lake, 15km
  • Mount McDonald, 14km
  • Sooke Lake, 19km
  • Horton Lake, 20km
  • Lubbe Lake, 18km
  • Butchart Lake, 19km
  • Mount Wells, 14km
  • Centre Mountain, 14km
  • Survey Mountain, 20km
  • Devereux Lake, 20km