Colonial Despatches

English Bay is located just off of Vancouver on the south side of Burrard Inlet. English Bay Beach, which lies along the bay, is one of the busiest and most well-known beaches in Vancouver and is a popular site for swimming and sunbathing.1 Captain Richards, RN, named the bay in 1859 to commemorate the meeting of the British Captain Vancouver and Spanish captain Valdes and Galiano in 1792.2

The bay was originally inhabited by the Coast Salish First Nations who called it “Ayyulshun” or “soft under feet.” Although the famous English Bay Beach was not established until the late 1800s, the bay itself had been used by Europeans since the late 1700s , and previously before that by the Indigenous population for generations.3

• 1. English Bay, BC Geographical Names ; History of English Bay: English Bay & the West End, the beginning, History of English Bay.
• 2. Ibid.
• 3. History of English Bay ; V.I.A., 5 Things You Didn't Know About English Bay, 11 July 2017.