User:PrestonBishop

Richard Preston Bishop (1884-1954) aka R. P. BISHOP aka Dick BISHOP

He is remembered in B.C. as the surveyor who in 1912 located the landmark described by Sir Alexander Mackenzie who reached the Pacific by land from the east in 1793.

Also, he was involved with the re-naming of one of the highest mountains on Vancouver Island, now named Golden Hind. Mr. BISHOP also produced a brochure in 1928 titled "Lessons of the Gilbert Map" including a copy of the Ortelius Map of 1564 which shows the island shaped like present day Nfld. named Isle de Labrador and Cape Breton was called Terra Nova.

The copy of the 1584 Gilbert map bears the signature of Humphrey Gylbert, Knight.

Quotes from the British Columbia archived document prepared by Mrs. Vivian Oonah deBlois (nee GREEN) BISHOP:


 * 1) 1. R.P.B. was the 2nd son of Richard Preston Bishop, (Solicitor of Exeter) and Mary Eales Alice of Dartmouth (nee Cook).

http://www.dartmouth-history.org.uk/content_images/upload/Residential/The%20Keep/the-keep.htm in the Parish church at Paignton since the year 1500. of Robert Newman
 * 1) 2. His mother descended from the Hoyles registered
 * 1) 3. William Hoyles settled in Newfoundland and married the daughter

"Parford" and Starcross. Newfoundland his mother was born in Figuera, Portugal.
 * 1) 4. The Bishop family were for 800 years in Exeter
 * 1) 5. R.P.B.'s maternal grandfather owned ships and traded wine and codfish between Portugal and

(Victoria) by way of the straits of Magellan.
 * 1) 6. In 1902 R.P.B. boarded the HMS "Flora" for the Pacific Station

Gilbert Staplehill of Dartmouth had some dealings with Drake"
 * 1) 7. In 1920 RPB's hope and ambition was to write a book himself and call it  "Drake's New England"... with the dedication to "all who love old and New England and to their mutual understanding"....."an ancestor,

Chronology:

he was educated at Westcliff house school, Dawlish and passed the Royal Navy exam http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawlish "DAWLISH" Newfoundland http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=%22DAWLISH%22+Newfoundland&ygmasrchbtn=web+search&fr=ush1-mail

1902..arrived in Victoria, British Columbia a paymaster in the HMS Flora

1902-1907..served HM ships, "Grafton", "Shearwater" and "Egeria"

1906...went ashore to hunt in the area of the Kemano River where he met two Americans, MORGAN brothers who had settled near "Ootsa Lake" http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=%22ootsA+LAKE%22+Henry+MORGAN&ygmasrchbtn=web+search&fr=ush1-mail

1911...British Columbia Land Surveyors Commission, his employer was the firm of F. C. SWANNELL and Allistair ROBERTSON http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0oGkkHngnJJPh4AcdZXNyoA?p=%22F.+C.+SWANNELL%22&y=Search&fr=ush1-mail

1911-1914...did B.C. Government work in the area of Chilcotin and Qucanel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilcotin_District

1914-1918...service during WWI with Royal Engineers and Royal Artillery attaining the rank of Captain with a 'mention'. http://www.1914-1918.net/cre.htm

1920-1923...renewed exploratory services for the British Columbia Government

1923, 1924, 1925 and 1930...he was a member of the board of Management of the Corp. of British Columbia Land Surveyors http://www.notaries.bc.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=422&Itemid=1174

1929-1930 ...he did two years of departmental work in the Toba Inlet - Chilco region http://www.canadianmysteries.ca/sites/klatsassin/archives/chapterinbook/373en.html

1935...he was honoured with the 'MURCHISON Award' of the Royal Geographical Society http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murchison_Award

1937...excerpt taken from a letter written May 22nd from his office at 1118 Langley Street, Victoria, B. C.

"It can, in my opinion, be proved that he did so. but to deal fully with this question it as necessary to reproduce several maps and charts and to weigh a variety of evidence, local, historical, and geographical. It is best, perhaps, to pave the way by showing that the abridged ac- counts, which limit the Golden Hind to the latitude of Oregon, are incorrect. I hope to do this by an article in the " British Col- umbia Historical Quarterly," it possible, in July. " http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=%221118+Langley+Street%22&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

quote from Mr. Bishop's biography which was published in the British Columbia Land Surveyors' Annual Report 1955...

" Mr. BISHOP will also be remembered for his early advocary of triangulation for extension of survey control in British Columbia, for his historical researches pertaining to Sir Alexander MacKENZIE and Sir FRANCIS DRAKE and for his erudite knowledge on least squares adjustments and map projections....He was the 2nd son of a solicitor of Exeter after whom he was identically named."

...while serving in the "EGERIA" in 1906 he was given permission to go ashore at Kemano River to hunt and reconnoitre while his ship proceeded to the head of GARDNER Canal.

Sources:

(a) Victoria, British Columbia Archives holds  a 17 page biographical report by his wife, Oonah de BLOIS GREEN ALLEN BISHOP http://www.anglicanfoundation.org/about/documents/2008report.pdf

(b) Biography published in 1955 by British Columbia Land Surveyors Association

(c) p60 of "Early Land Surveyors of British Columbia" 1990 by John Arthur WHITTAKER ...ISBN 1-55056-09-5