Tiedemann Creek
Feature Type:Creek (1) - Watercourse, usually smaller than a river.
Status: Official
Name Authority: BC Geographical Names Office
Relative Location: Flows E into lower Mosley Creek, W side of Homathko River below Telhiqox Biny (lake), Range 2 Coast Land District
Latitude-Longitude: 51°18'37"N, 124°50'39"W at the approximate mouth of this feature.
Datum: WGS84
NTS Map: 92N/7
Origin Notes and History:

"Teidemann Creek (not Tiedemann)" adopted in the 18th Report of the Geographic Board of Canada, as labelled on BC map 2D, 1923. Spelling changed to Tiedemann Creek 7 July 1927 (Ottawa file OBF 0732) and published in the 19th Report of the Geographic Board of Canada, 31 July 1927: "Tiedemann glacier and creek (not Teidemann), decision revised to agree with the correct spelling of [the family name]." Confirmed 5 October 1960 on 92N.

Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office

"After H.O. Teidemann [sic], C.E., explorer of the Homathko River, 1862 and 1872."

Source: 18th Report of the Geographic Board of Canada, 31 March 1924 (supplement to the Annual Report of the Dept of the Interior, 1924, Ottawa)

Herman Otto Tiedemann came to Victoria to work for Jospeh Pemberton's colonial government; designed & supervised the building of Victoria's "Birdcages" (1858), Fisgard lighthouse, courthouse (1889) and other Victoria buildings and churches, meanwhile conducting exploration surveys along the BC and Alaska coast. In 1862 he accompanied Alfred Waddington on exploratory surveys to locate a wagon route through the Coast Mountains, to connect coastal waters via the head of Bute Inlet with the Fraser River and points east. Died 1891 at Victoria, age 70. Probably the namesake of Tiedeman Island [sic] in Alaska, so-named c1883 by USC&GS. See also Tiedemann Glacier.

Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office

According to January 1972 advice from Provincial Archives, Tiedemann wrote to Mr. Waddington in July 1862, stating that he named this stream after himself, after nearly drowning in it.

Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office

"...born in Berlin in 1821 and came to Canada in 1858. When he was 40 years old he married Mary Bissett of Victoria. Having trained as a civil engineer in Germany, upon arrival in Victoria he first worked under James Douglas as a surveyor and architect, joining the staff of Joseph Pemberton, the Surveyor-General. In 1869 Tiedemann is credited with having designed and constructed the first lighthouse in this area known as Fisgard Lighthouse off Race Rocks.... In addition he helped design the first legislative buildings, known as the "Bird Cages" and was responsible (in 1888) for designing the new Victoria Court House building which is now the Maritime Museum. This building's design was said to have been based on a similar courthouse in Tiedemann's native Germany. It was also the first building in Victoria to use reinforced concrete. In the year 1862, Tiedemann worked with Alfred Waddington on mapping out a route from Bute Inlet to the Cariboo and was believed to have almost died from starvation in the process. After the [mapping] project was completed, he remained in Alexandria for a while in order to recuperate. Tiedemann's other achievements included bringing Elk Lake water into Victoria. His intention was originally to also take water from Prospect Lake but this plan failed to pan out. In 1863 he moved to Nanaimo to work on plans for the coal mines there...." (Pages from the Past, by Valerie Green, Saanich News, 27 February 2002, p.11)

Source: included with note