Talk:George Vancouver

Removed Line
I removed the line "Puget Sound was named after Vancouvers good friend peter Puget." by user:66.235.43.27. I'm sort of dubious, and thinking this is nonsense. Zhatt 17:49, 8 December 2005 (UTC)
 * if you glance at the wiki's for peter puget, and the puget sound they both say exactly that.

That it was named after peter puget. Vancouver named everything else around here, why would the second most dominant water feature in the state be any different? I dont want to edit the page, but someone should put that line back in I think. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.18.153.94 (talk) 23:55, 5 June 2006 (UTC)
 * I found plenty of documentation that the sound was indeed named after Puget; see books by Wing & Nash. Curiously, it was only the southern part of the Sound that Vancouver intended, but the name grew to include Admiralty Inlet et cetera. Whether it is proper to call Vancouver & Puget "friends" is hard to say, since they were Captain and Lieutenant, but they seemed to be on good terms and remained so after their five-year mission together ended; when Vancouver died untimely, Puget helped his brother complete his journal. rewinn 07:09, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

I agree that this line needs to be re-inserted, I also will not re-insert it as in the past I have made corrections and substitutions on this page and have been barred for a year by the Hitler Like moderators of Wikipedia. I believe that the origins of wiki's were that the general public be able to edit and correct information on the pages. If anyone is interested in a side note, Mount Baker is named after Doc Baker who was the doctor on one of Vancouvers voyages also Quadra Island in BC is named after the Spanish Captain who signed the area of northwestern USA and British Columbia Canada over to the British Empire after some or another treaty between the two nations. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.55.167.248 (talk) 02:33, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

Related Books, Articles and Links

 * Book: Voyage Of Discovery To The North Pacific Ocean, And Round The World In The Years 1790-95, by George Vancouver (ISBN: 0781251001)

Did you know that george vancouver went on one of his first expeditions with Captain James Cook? Captain Cook is a very popular explorer and you cam learn about him in the Maritime Mueseum in Victoria B,C Canada.

Origins of name
I reverted some comments about the orgins of Vancouver's name. They repeated a link to a web site that is already listed under external links. The tone of the commentary was far from NPOV. Nesbit 03:41, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

Not sure what the source of uncertainty is about the origin of Vancouver's name: he himself clearly regarded it as meaning "from Coevorden", as he finished up his survey by naming the island at the head of the Lynn Canal "Couverden Island" after what he described as the "seat of my ancestors". Since this is in his published expedition journal (1798) I don't see how this idea can be represented as having been first proposed in the 1970s. It's the standard and very well established explanation. Jonathan Dore, 16 October 2006.

If you drop in the quote and reference it we can remove the mention of the alternative theory. Nesbit 05:33, 15 December 2006 (UTC)


 * The section got very muddied again. I copy-edited as best I could to remove duplicated information and to footnote the references rather than have them cited in mid-sentence. It still seems like it's given far too much weight in this article. Canuckle 06:11, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

An anonymous editor has recently been pushing the alternate name theory with the only reference being a website of dubious authority. Without a more credible source, there should be no more than a passing mention of the alternate theory, if even that. Nesbit (talk) 23:33, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

Just getting into this talk page have never seen it before, Nesbit states that the alternative theory deserves "no more than a passing mention" If you have really done your homework you would know that the original 1798 version of Vancouvers Autobiography is lost to the ages and has been copied and edited numerous times, of those different editions the most common one is W Kaye Lambs 1984 version which "IS" based on the 1973 writings of Adrian Mansveld, who as noted in the original writings in regard to the "origins of the family name" section made too many presumptions, suggestions and inserted many possibilities. If you review the family tree of the "van Couwen Family" it makes far more sense than the family tree of the "van Coeverden Family". The section of this page refers to genealogical histories and those are always based on FACTS, neither party has substantially confirmed the origins of the name but neither one should be denied their say. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.55.167.248 (talk) 02:47, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

I don't really understand all this pedantry about the spelling of van Coeverden vs. van Coevorden, etc. Does anybody really think anyone, Dutch or English, was that picky about spelling in the 17th or 18th centuries? This is reminding me a bit of the very first debate I ever got into on Wikipedia, in which some crazy person was insisting that people named "Parrish" were descended from the Parisii (the Iron Age Celtic tribe after whom Paris is named) while people named "Parish" derived their name from the English word "parish". --Saforrest (talk) 00:26, 18 September 2012 (UTC)

Colchester in England had a significant Flemish population, but, it has always been in Essex, not Suffolk, if anyone cares to correct this error. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.123.82.249 (talk) 00:06, 23 November 2016 (UTC)

Australian exploration?
When did he explore part of Australia? I can't find any other references to this. If he did explore Australia, it would be good to expand on this in the article with details. Can anyone add to this? MrsPlum 08:37, 3 December 2006 (UTC)


 * If someone would like to tackle this, here is a biography link relating the Australian portion of his career. I am tagging this article for other Australian editors to work on also. Cheers.
 * George Vancouver bio page

SauliH 03:52, 15 December 2006 (UTC)George Vancouver was a Royal Navy Officer who accompanied James Cook on his second expadition to the Pacific Ocean.

Not absolutely positive but I believe he was on the Australian voyages with Captain Cook —Preceding unsigned comment added by Daddyr69 (talk • contribs) 03:17, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

Probable Portrait
Image of George Vancouver in the National Portrait Gallery in London only states "Probably George Vancouver by unknown artist".

Issue has been widely reported in newsmedia.
 * Mystery Man
 * Stamp image

NevilleDNZ 22:36, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Did someone delete the portrait? It adds value to the article even if it is flagged as uncertain if it's him. At least the absence of any confirmed portrait should be mentioned in the article....Canuckle 06:15, 12 June 2007 (UTC)


 * I agree that the portrait needs to be dropped. A reconstruction of a cast of George Vancouver's skull needs to be done so the likeness can be verified properly; this is also the case for Queen Elizabeth I, whose portraits differ greatly from each other.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Glammazon (talk • contribs) 19:58, 8 April 2010 (UTC)

Problem with the text
This version has a paragraph in the early career section: ''Vancouver was the first European to enter Burrard Inlet (beyond Stanley Park), the main harbour area of the present day City of Vancouver. This was on June 13, 1792. He named it after his friend Sir Harry Burrard. He surveyed Howe Sound and Jervis Inlet over the next nine days, befor command and Whidbey as sailing master. A new vessel was purchased for this expedition and named HMS Discovery after Cook's ship.''

Which of course makes no sense ('befor command and Whidbey) This earlier version  has some of the para in the Early career section and some further down in the 3rd para of the 91-95 expeditions section. Can someone who knows more about the subject please fix the current version? Thanks. dougweller (talk) 13:21, 21 January 2009 (UTC)

Date of death
There are different dates of death floating around among local Wikipedia versions: May 10 (eg. dewiki) and May 12 (here). Encyclopedia Britannica and NNDB confirm the 10th of May. If nobody objects within the next few days or beats me to it I will apply changes to all related pages. --Stargaming (talk) 06:42, 12 May 2009 (UTC)


 * Applied. Local Wikipedia versions still diverge slightly, needs to propagate. --Stargaming (talk) 11:32, 14 May 2009 (UTC)

How can it be claimed he died in obscurity if he was involved ongoing and very public dispute with prominent members of British society at the time of his death? (29 Oct 2013) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.80.84.247 (talk) 19:53, 29 October 2013 (UTC)

Early Career
Whoever wrote the article failed to identify who Roberts and Whidbey are.

''Roberts and Vancouver joined Britain's more warlike vessels. Vancouver went with Whidbey to HMS Courageux.'' — Preceding unsigned comment added by MissingNO123 (talk • contribs) 23:29, 10 February 2011 (UTC)

Hawaii, Vancouver
The Captain's involvement in introducing cattle to Hawaii deserves mention, as well as his other contributions to the islands' development of a commercial economy. These are freely discussed (as I recall) by Mark Twain in "Following the Equator". For many years, Hawaii led the US in beef production. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.213.150.140 (talk) 16:59, 7 December 2011 (UTC)

Columbia River
The discussion of Vancouver's failure to discover the Columbia River is at odds with the claim that "he sent Lieutenant William Robert Broughton" to ascend it by boat. --Smack (talk) 14:01, 22 July 2012 (UTC)
 * It did point out that Vancouver acquired Robert Gray's chart of the lower Columbia--while at Nootka Sound--and then sent Broughton to survey the river. I added a bit more about this, with a source, to make it more clear. Pfly (talk) 09:51, 23 July 2012 (UTC)


 * FWIW the relevant region may have been fog-bound when Vancouver passed by. If he had a schedule to keep he would not have been able to wait for the fog to clear, which, being unfamiliar with the area, for all he knew, may have taken days. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.150.18.173 (talk) 11:18, 25 March 2018 (UTC)

Date of death
made 2009-05-14T11:13:23 with no reason or source supplied change the subject's date of death from 12 May to 10 May. It has stayed at that date since. ,, and  all support 12 May only  claims 10 May. It should be referenced. Walter Görlitz (talk) 04:52, 7 April 2014 (UTC)

External links modified
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Facts about George Vancouver
Captain George Vancouver is awesome and you can learn about him whenever you want. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Nicoley10 (talk • contribs) 21:29, 10 January 2018 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the. —Community Tech bot (talk) 07:51, 28 November 2019 (UTC)
 * Gold covered George Vancouver statue.png