Amor de Cosmos Creek adopted in the 19th Report of the Geographic Board of Canada, 31 July 1927; form of name changed to Amor DeCosmos Creek (ie. one word with upper-case D) 24 May 1977; altered application of the headwaters portion 6 July 1992; form of name changed to Amor De Cosmos Creek (ie. two words, upper case D) 11 October 1994, based on Library of Congress information, and according to the majority of signatures viewed).

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

After Amor De Cosmos, second premier of British Columbia, 1872-74, and one of the most prominent figures in early political history in BC; a leader in the battle for responsible government and in the agitation for Confederation with the Dominion of Canada.
Born William Alexander Smith in 1825 at Windsor, Nova Scotia, and educated there and in Halifax. In 1852 sought his fortune as a photographer in the California goldfields. By act of the California Legislature, in 1854 he changed his name to Amor De Cosmos, a mixture of Latin, French and Greek which he mistranslated as "Lover of the World". Settled in Victoria in 1858 and formed "The British Colonist" newspaper, which he owned and edited until 1863. Elected in 1863 to represent the city of Victoria as a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Colony of Vancouver Island; elected a member of the first Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, following the union of the two colonies in 1866; served as the second Premier and President of the Executive Council from December 1872 to February 1874, when he resigned to stand for the House of Commons; represented Victoria in the federal Parliament until 1882, when defeated in the general election. In 1870 he had founded the "Daily Standard" newspaper, which he owned and edited until 1874. In 1873-4 he had travelled to London to lay before the Imperial authorities the grievances of the Province in the matter of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Died 4 July 1897. (excerpts from newspaper obituaries & biographies in Provincial Archives). (see also "What made Amor de Cosmos Tick?" Victoria Times-Colonist, 29 June 1981).

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

In his first issue [of The British Colonist] he began his attack on Governor Douglas, charging that under him "the offices of the Colony are filled with toadyism, consanguinity and incompetency, compounded with whitewashed Englishmen and renegade Yankees."

Source: Akrigg, Helen B. and Akrigg, G.P.V; British Columbia Place Names; Sono Nis Press, Victoria 1986 /or University of British Columbia Press 1997