Gribbell Island is an island on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada, located on the east side of the entrance to Douglas Channel[1] at Wright Sound. Gribble Island Indian Reserve No. 10 is on its west coast, between Verney Passage and Ursula Channel at 53°21′00″N 129°08′00″W / 53.35000°N 129.13333°W.[2] The small Wimbledon Range is on the south side of the island, facing the northern extremities of Princess Royal Island to the south,[3] at 53°21′00″N 129°02′00″W / 53.35000°N 129.03333°W
Name origin
edit"Named in 1867 by Capt. Daniel Pender, RN, after his brother-in-law, the Rev. Francis Barrow Gribbell, a clergyman of the Church of England. Arrived in Victoria, 1865; in charge of St. John's, Victoria, 1868; Rector of St. Paul's, Esquimalt, 1869; Principal of the collegiate school, Victoria, 1870-1875, when he returned to England. Vicar of Erith, Kent 1881; Vicar of Ringmer, Kent, 1891, where he now resides, 1906."[4]
The Valhalla Wilderness Society has dubbed Gribbell Island the "Mother Island of the White Bear"[5] The "white bear" referenced is the Kermode bear.
References
edit- ^ "Gribbell Island". BC Geographical Names.
- ^ "Gribble Island IR No. 10". BC Geographical Names.
- ^ BC Names/GeoBC entry "Wimbledon Range"
- ^ Walbran, John T; British Columbia Coast Names, 1592-1906: their origin and history; Ottawa, 1909 (republished for the Vancouver Public Library by J.J. Douglas Ltd, Vancouver, 1971)
- ^ The Case for the Protection of Gribbell Island, Mother Island of the White Bear, Valhalla Wilderness Society report, September 2012
53°24′15″N 129°01′30″W / 53.40417°N 129.02500°W
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