City of Richmond Metro Vancouver Regional District, British Columbia

City - A populated place with legally defined boundaries, incorporated as a city municipality under the provincial Municipal Act. Lulu and Sea Islands, just S of Vancouver, New Westminster Land District

Mapped Location

City of Richmond: The mapped location is an approximation and should not be used for navigation or wayfinding.

 

Information

General information on City of Richmond

  • Feature Type: Incorporated

 

Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for City of Richmond

A brief list of names that this geographic feature has been named

Name Description
City of Richmond Official

 

Origin Notes and History of City of Richmond

References to City of Richmond that document the origin of its place name

Incorporated as the Township of Richmond 10 November 1879. "Richmond (Municipal District)" adopted in the 18th Report of the Geographic Board of Canada, 31 March 1924, p.357; confirmed 11 February 1936 on 92G/3 and 10 November 1979 on 92G/3. Re-incorporated as a City per Letters Patent 3 December 1990, called City of Richmond; Richmond (City) confirmed 8 November 1991 on 92G/3.

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office  |  Province of British Columbia

After Richmond, Surrey, England (Gosnell Year Book, 1897). [see also the municipality's own website.]

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
Nelson, Denys; Place Names of the Delta of the Fraser River; 1927, unpublished manuscript held in the Provincial Archives  |  Province of British Columbia

In 1861 Hugh McRoberts, who had come to British Columbia from Australia, established Richmond Farm here, its name being chosen by one of his daughters, who took it from a favourite place in Australia. In September 1862 the British Columbian printed "A Visit to Richmond", a fact that negates the claim of Mary Boyd, wife of the first reeve of Richmond, that the settlement was named in honour of her birthplace in Yorkshire - the Boyds did not arrive in the area until 1863.

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
Akrigg, Helen B. and Akrigg, G.P.V; British Columbia Place Names; Sono Nis Press, Victoria 1986 /or University of British Columbia Press 1997  |  Province of British Columbia

"... Hugh McRoberts came to British Columbia in 1858 for the Cariboo Gold Rush. McRoberts was the first settler on Sea Island in 1861 and acquired 630 hectares in 1862 for farming. According to one source, it eventually became the largest farm in the British Empire. McRoberts called his place Richmond or Richmond View, and in 1862 the British Columbian newspaper printed a story called "A Visit to Richmond." Most sources say the name was chosen by McRobert's daughter to commemorate one of her favourite places in Australia, possibly the town of Richmond near Sydney. (McRoberts was Irish but lived in Australia before coming to BC.) However, it has been pointed out that McRobert's wife was a native of Richmond in Yorkshire, England. Also, Mary Boyd, who did not arrive in Richmond until 1863 but was the wife of Hugh Boyd, the first "warden" (ie. reeve or mayor), claimed that the community was christened after her hometown, which coincidentally, was also Richmond in Yorkshire, England. Finally, it has also been suggested by some that the city was named after Richmond in Surrey, England.

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
included with note  |  Province of British Columbia

I recognize that this reference "A Visit to Richmond" in the British Columbian, September 1862 was the first time the name Richmond was used in this area, but the McRoberts were not living there at incorporation and the memory of their farm had little or nothing to do with choosing the name "Township of Richmond”. Mary Boyd was at the meeting the night the name was selected and approved the choice because she was born in Richmond, Yorkshire. Everyone in attendance had a reason to think that Richmond was the perfect name for the incorporated islands at the mouth of the Fraser. The fact is, the Township of Richmond, British Columbia was named for the Township of Richmond, Lennox County, Ontario by John Wesley Sexsmith (for his birth place) and was supported by his son Charles Garret Sexsmith and his brother-in-law Orison Davis Sweet. (information provided November 2013 by Julia Sexsmith Boak, Richmond BC)

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
included with note  |  Province of British Columbia

 

Metro Vancouver Regional District

Political Boundaries

Last updated: 2023-09-26