Curtis Point named in 1910, by the Provincial Government; spelling changed to Curteis Point 4 April 1927 on C.3447, however, the original BC decision was seemingly never conveyed to the Geographic Board of Canada, as neither spelling appears in Board decisions, annual reports or gazetteers until 1927.

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

After Lieutenant Colonel C.S.S. Curteis, CMG, DSO, Royal Artillery, whose house stands on this point.

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

"Somewhere about 1910 or 1911, on the occasion of Mrs. Curteis and myself being of some slight service when the SS Iroquois was lost off Sidney, the Government of British Columbia was kind enough to name the point on which my house at North Saanich stands, after me. It was however spelt wrong on the only map I saw & I mentioned it at the time. I find now from correspondence that this wrong spelling "Curtis" has been continued. I write to ask whether you will on all future issues of local maps please have it spelt "Curteis Point" and take any steps that are possible to put the matter right, as I am sure you will not want the name mis-spelled on official publications. (letter 5 April 1926 from C.S.S.Curteis, 5th Pack Brigade RA, Helnuck [sp?], Egypt, to Hydrographic Department, Victoria, file H.1.26)

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

RE: Lieutenant Colonel Cyril S. S. Curteis, CMG, DSO, Royal Artillery: the first record is a wedding notice in the London Times, 28 November 1898: "Mabel de Stuteville Easton of New York and of Abbotsford, Bermuda, married Cyril S. S. Curteis, RA, eldest son of Rev. T.S. Curteis, Rector of Sevenoaks, Kent, on Nov. 15, 1898 at the Church of the Transfiguration." "Sam" Curteis met "Minna" Easton while serving with the Royal Artillery in Bermuda; indeed, two other of the five Easton sisters also married British Army Officers serving in Bermuda - one being my grandmother. Following the death of Mabel's father William Easton in 1909, her mother, Caroline Easton, and several of the family (including my grandparents) moved to BC. Caroline, with two of her daughters, Kathleen ("Kitty") and Vera ("Puggy") and her son, Archibald, settled first near Chilliwack and subsequently on a farm near Duncan (they are all buried in the churchyard of St. Peter's, Quamichan). My grandfather and his family settled in Victoria; he immigrated in 1911, the rest of the family following in 1912. The Haldane reforms of the British Army prompted Cyril Curteis as well as my grandfather to retire from the service and move to Canada. Exactly when he settled in British Columbia I have yet to determine. According to my father's records: "Between 1910 and 1912 there had been a general exodus of relatives from Britain to the Vancouver Island area. Cyril Curteis bought a very fine property on Saltspring Island, complete with a large house and a yacht to get back and forth to and from the mainland". Clearly he was wrong about the location of the property. With regard to the sinking of the S.S. Iroquois, the Sidney Museum website has this to offer: "The V & S Railway awarded a contract to transport mail to the Gulf Islands in February 1900, and the S.S. Iroquois was built to ply the waters between Sidney, Nanaimo and the Gulf Islands. She entered service on April 2, 1900, and made over two thousand trips from Sidney through the Gulf Islands. The 82-ft long vessel was capable of carrying 100 tons of passengers and freight and travelling at up to 12 knots. On April 11, 1911 ** the S.S. Iroquois left the dock at the foot of Beacon Avenue in Sidney with a strong southeaster blowing? When the ship was fifteen minutes out from the dock the cargo shifted and the S.S. Iroquois began to list. The Captain headed for shore but was unable to get near before the ship capsized. It is believed that 21 people died as a result of the accident." ** The S.S. Iroquois, in fact, sank on the morning of 10 April 1911, as recorded in both the Victoria Daily Times and the Victoria Colonist. From the former: "Great praise is given to all those who made such heroic attempts at rescue, and in particular to Capt. Curtis (sic), whose residence stands on a hillside overlooking Canoe Pass. Dr. Gordon Cummings, who has a sanitarium (sic) at Armstrong's point, reached Capt. Curtis' residence in time to render valuable assistance..... The living, dying and dead were gathered together in Captain Curtis' home at North Saanich yesterday, which had been turned hurriedly into a temporary hospital and morgue." From the Victoria Colonist: "It was at the residence of Capt. Curtis (sic), on a hillside overlooking Canoe Pass that the saddest scenes were enacted. There, cared for in the captain's residence, Miss Margaret Barton, a school teacher, who was rescued, was swathed in blankets and tended by Mrs. Curtis and others." Obviously, the error in spelling the Curteis name, which was the subject of Cyril Curteis' letter of 5 April 1926, had early origins. In 1926 Cyril Curteis was still (or again) serving in the Royal Artillery. I assume that he, like my grandfather, was recalled to service in 1914, on the outbreak of World War I. He did, eventually, retire in Scotland from whence I assume he came originally. His son, Hugh, commanded a Highland Light Infantry battalion during World War II and was later, in the rank of Brigadier, British Attache in Paris until he disappeared mysteriously when on holiday in the Alps. I expect that Colonel Curteis' decorations (Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, and the Distinguished Service Order) were awarded for service during World War I. " (biographical information and comment provided August 2001 by Charles R. Simonds, son of Lieutenant General Simonds, file V.1.38)

Source: included with note

"RE: Lieutenant Colonel Cyril S. S. Curteis, CMG, DSO, Royal Artillery: the first record I have is a wedding notice in the London Times, 28 November 1898: "Mabel de Stuteville Easton of New York and of Abbotsford, Bermuda, married Cyril S. S. Curteis, RA, eldest son of Rev. T.S. Curteis, Rector of Sevenoaks, Kent, on Nov. 15, 1898 at the Church of the Transfiguration."
"Sam" Curteis met "Minna" Easton while serving with the Royal Artillery in Bermuda; indeed, two other of the five Easton sisters also married British Army Officers serving in Bermuda - one being my grandmother. Following the death of Mabel's father William Easton in 1909, her mother, Caroline Easton, and several of the family (including my grandparents) moved to BC. Caroline, with two of her daughters, Kathleen ("Kitty") and Vera ("Puggy") and her son, Archibald, settled first near Chilliwack and subsequently on a farm near Duncan (they are all buried in the churchyard of St. Peter's, Quamichan). My grandfather and his family settled in Victoria; he immigrated in 1911, the rest of the family following in 1912. The Haldane reforms of the British Army prompted Cyril Curteis as well as my grandfather to retire from the service and move to Canada. Exactly when he settled in British Columbia I have yet to determine. According to my father's records: "Between 1910 and 1912 there had been a general exodus of relatives from Britain to the Vancouver Island area. Cyril Curteis bought a very fine property on Saltspring Island, complete with a large house and a yacht to get back and forth to and from the mainland". Clearly he was wrong about the location of the property.
With regard to the sinking of the S.S. Iroquois, the Sidney Museum website has this to offer: "The V & S Railway awarded a contract to transport mail to the Gulf Islands in February 1900, and the S.S. Iroquois was built to ply the waters between Sidney, Nanaimo and the Gulf Islands. She entered service on April 2, 1900, and made over two thousand trips from Sidney through the Gulf Islands. The 82-ft long vessel was capable of carrying 100 tons of passengers and freight and travelling at up to 12 knots. On April 11, 1911 ** the S.S. Iroquois left the dock at the foot of Beacon Avenue in Sidney with a strong southeaster blowing? When the ship was fifteen minutes out from the dock the cargo shifted and the S.S. Iroquois began to list. The Captain headed for shore but was unable to get near before the ship capsized. It is believed that 21 people died as a result of the accident." ** The S.S. Iroquois, in fact, sank on the morning of 10 April 1911, as recorded in both the Victoria Daily Times and the Victoria Colonist. From the former: "Great praise is given to all those who made such heroic attempts at rescue, and in particular to Capt. Curtis (sic), whose residence stands on a hillside overlooking Canoe Pass. Dr. Gordon Cummings, who has a sanitarium (sic) at Armstrong's point, reached Capt. Curtis' residence in time to render valuable assistance..... The living, dying and dead were gathered together in Captain Curtis' home at North Saanich yesterday, which had been turned hurriedly into a temporary hospital and morgue." From the Victoria Colonist: "It was at the residence of Capt. Curtis (sic), on a hillside overlooking Canoe Pass that the saddest scenes were enacted. There, cared for in the captain's residence, Miss Margaret Barton, a school teacher, who was rescued, was swathed in blankets and tended by Mrs. Curtis and others." The first record I have is a wedding notice in the London Times, Nov. 28, 1898:

"Mabel de Stuteville Easton of New York and of Abbotsford, Bermuda, married Cyril S. S. Curteis, RA, eldest son of Rev. T.S. Curteis, Rector of Sevenoaks, Kent, on Nov. 15, 1898 at the Church of the Transfiguration."

"Sam" Curteis met "Minna" Easton while serving with the Royal Artillery in Bermuda. Indeed, two other of the five Easton sisters also married British Army Officers serving in Bermuda - one being my grandmother.

Following the death of Mabel's father, William Easton, in 1909, her mother, Caroline Easton, and several of the family (including my grandparents) moved to British Columbia. Caroline, with two of her daughters, Kathleen ("Kitty") and Vera ("Puggy") and her son, Archibald, settled first near Chilliwack and subsequently on a farm near Duncan (they are all buried in the churchyard of St. Peter's Quamichan). My grandfather and his family settled in Victoria; he immigrated in 1911, the rest of the family following in 1912.

The Haldane reforms of the British Army prompted Cyril Curteis as well as my grandfather to retire from the service and move to Canada. Exactly when he settled in British Columbia I have yet to determine. According to my father's records: "Between 1910 and 1912 there had been a general exodus of relatives from Britain to the Vancouver Island area� Cyril Curteis bought a very fine property on Salt Spring Island, complete with a large house and a yacht to get back and forth to and from the mainland". Clearly he was wrong about the location of the property.

With regard to the sinking of the S.S. Iroquois, the Sidney Museum website has this to offer:

"The V & S Railway awarded a contract to transport mail to the Gulf Islands in February, 1900, and the S.S. Iroquois was built to ply the waters between Sidney, Nanaimo and the Gulf Islands. She entered service on April 2, 1900, and made over two thousand trips from Sidney through the Gulf Islands. The 82 feet long vessel was capable of carrying 100 tons of passengers and freight and travelling at up to 12 knots.

"On April 11, 1911 (sic) the S.S. Iroquois left the dock at the foot of Beacon Avenue in Sidney with a strong southeaster blowing� When the ship was fifteen minutes out from the dock the cargo shifted and the S.S. Iroquois began to list. The Captain headed for shore but was unable to get near before the ship capsized. It is believed that 21 people died as a result of the accident."

The S.S. Iroquois, in fact, sank on the morning of April 10, 1911, as recorded in both the Victoria Daily Times and the Victoria Daily Colonist.

From the former:

"Great praise is given to all those who made such heroic attempts at rescue, and in particular to Capt. Curtis (sic), whose residence stands on a hillside overlooking Canoe Pass. Dr. Gordon Cummings, who has a sanitarium (sic) at Armstrong's point, reached Capt. Curtis' (sic) residence in time to render valuable assistance." And

"Living, dying and dead were gathered together in Captain Curtis' (sic) home at North Saanich yesterday, which had been turned hurriedly into a temporary hospital and morgue,�"

From the latter:

"It was at the residence of Capt. Curtis (sic), on a hillside overlooking Canoe Pass that the saddest scenes were enacted. There, cared for in the captain's residence, Miss Margaret Barton, a school teacher, who was rescued, was swathed in blankets and tended by Mrs. Curtis (sic) and others."
"Obviously, the error in spelling the Curteis name, which was the subject of Cyril Curteis' letter of 5 April 1926, had early origins. In 1926 Cyril Curteis was still (or again) serving in the Royal Artillery. I assume that he, like my grandfather, was recalled to service in 1914, on the outbreak of World War I. He did, eventually, retire in Scotland from whence I assume he came originally. His son, Hugh, commanded a Highland Light Infantry battalion during World War II and was later, in the rank of Brigadier, British Attache in Paris until he disappeared mysteriously when on holiday in the Alps. I expect that Colonel Curteis' decorations (Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, and the Distinguished Service Order) were awarded for service during World War I." (biography and comment supplied August 2001 by Charles R. Simonds, son of Lieutenant General Simonds, file V.1.38)

Source: included with note