Sirdar Regional District of Central Kootenay, British Columbia

Community - An unincorporated populated place, generally with a population of 50 or more, and having a recognized central area that might contain a post office, store and/or community hall, etc, intended for the use of the general public in the region. E side of Duck Lake just N of Creston, Kootenay Land District

Mapped Location

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

 

Information

General information on Sirdar

  • Feature Type: Place

 

Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for Sirdar

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

Name Description
Sirdar Official

 

Origin Notes and History of Sirdar

References to Sirdar that document the origin of its place name

Sirdar (Town) adopted 9 September 1924 on Geological Survey sheet 2044, Creston, as labelled on Geological Survey sheet 771, East Kootenay District, 1902, and as identified in the 1909 BC Gazetteer, and as labelled on BC Lands map of Kootenay Mining Division, 1911, and on BC Lands map 1EM, 1915 (Ottawa file OBF 0890). Sirdar (Post Office, Station & Village) identified in the 1930 BC Gazetteer; Sirdar (Post Office) identified in the 1953 BC Gazetteer. Form of name confirmed as Sirdar (Post Office) 7 December 1937 on Geological Survey sheet 603A, Nelson, and 6 May 1947 on Columbia River Basin manuscript 6. Form of name changed to Sirdar (community) 28 February 1983 on 82F/2.

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

Sirdar Post Office was opened 1 June 1900, situated about 9 miles north of Creston Post Office, opened the previous year.

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

Named after Field Marshal Lord Kitchener (1850-1916), who in 1892 was made "sirdar" (commander-in-chief) of the Egyptian Army. While sirdar he won the Battle of Omdurman (1898), and established British control over the Sudan as well as over Egypt.

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

"The Canadian Pacific Railway Company has changed the name of the new town at the 8th siding on the Crow's Nest road from Creston to Sirdar. Fred Little, who owns the prospective townsite, did not know where he was at for a while, but after consulting his library he found there was nothing libelous in the name Sirdar, which means "supreme", and he preferred it to Creston, which heretofore has meant nothing. Sirdar is a growing town. It is the headquarters of the contractors on the Nelson and Bedlington, and everything is in readiness for a first class boom." (The Nelson Tribune, 10 December 1898) [Note that Creston was actually the 7th siding on CPR's Crowsnest Line and remained so-named. The 6th and 8th sidings, located on either side of Creston about 15 miles distant, were named "Kitchener" and "Sirdar", respectively, in 1898.]

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

 

Regional District of Central Kootenay

Political Boundaries

Last updated: 2023-09-27