| Feature Type: | River - Watercourse of variable size, which has tributaries and flows into a body of water or a larger watercourse. |
| Status: | Official |
| Name Authority: | BC Geographical Names Office |
| Relative Location: | Flows N into Strait of Georgia at Parksville, NW of Nanaimo, Nanoose Land District |
| Latitude-Longitude: | 49°19'30"N, 124°17'29"W at the approximate mouth of this feature. |
| Datum: | WGS84 |
| NTS Map: | 92F/8 |
| Related Maps: |
92F/1 92F/2 92F/8 |
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Origin Notes and History:
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Adopted 4 October 1945 on C.3590, as labelled on BC Lands 1892 map of the Southern Districts of Vancouver Island, and on Geological Survey sheet 997, Nanaimo & New Westminster Mining Divisions, 1908, and on BC Lands' map 2A, 1913, etc. Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office |
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Not compiled or labelled on British Admiralty Charts surveyed in 1860. The earliest use of the name might be Williams' 1882-83 BC Directory, which lists under Nanaimo,"Hirst, John Jr., farmer, Englishman River." Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office |
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So-named because "....an Englishman was drowned while attempting to cross." (Victoria Colonist, Islander section, 12 December 1948, p 10). No further details provided. Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office |
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This may or may not be the "Rio de Grullas" identified on early Spanish charts; grulla is Spanish for 'crane' and would refer to the Great Blue Herons that populate the coast, and congregate on the sand flats at river estuaries. Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office |