Adopted 12 December 1939 on 92F/11, as submitted to the Geographic Board of Canada October 1935 by BC Geographic Division. Re-approved 7 October 1948 on 92F/11.

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

After the Harmston family, pioneers of the Comox District. William Harmston, his wife Mary Sophia, and their 6-year old daughter Florence Mary, set sail from Liverpool in July 1862 (a younger child, William Jr., was left with relatives in Lincolnshire, as it was feared he would not survive the long voyage). The family arrived at Esquimalt in mid-November 1862 and came to the Comox valley 2 or 3 weeks later, settling on a 200+acre preemption. William Sr. died in 1866 and the son, William Jr., arrived from England soon thereafter. Florence married Samuel Cliffe in 1872 and together they operated the Lorne Hotel at Comox for many years. Descendants of William Harmston Jr. and Florence Harmston Cliffe still live in the Comox valley. Descendants of Florence Harmston Cliffe (1856-1929) and of William Edward Harmston's son, Toynbee Harmston (1893-1972), still live in the Comox Valley. See also Comox Valley Record, 15 June 2004, and Comox Valley Echo, 20 July 2004.

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

Note: two William Harmstons are buried on Mission Hill: William Toynbee Harmston (1824-1866), born in Lincolnshire, England, the first settler to stay in the Comox Valley, arriving in the spring of 1862; and his son William Edward Harmston (1857-1910) who joined his family in the Comox valley in 1866.

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