Colonial Despatches

Burrard Inlet separates the city of Vancouver from North Vancouver. In 1792, Vancouver named it Burrard's Channel, in honour of a former shipmate, Captain Sir Harry Burrard (1765-1840).1 In 1791, Spanish explorer Francisco Eliza called it Brazo de Floridablanca, in reference to a famous Spanish statesman of the time.2

In 1792, Spanish explorers Alcalá-Galiano and Valdez charted it as Canal de Sasamat, as a variant on what they understood to be the local First Nations name for the inlet.3

• 1. Andrew Scott, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names (Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing, 2009), 95.
• 2. Ibid.
• 3. Ibid.