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Scots in BC Project
Tartan Day, 2013 saw the launch of our new interactive website, "Scots in BC," created with a grant from the Department of English: http://www.sfu.ca/scotsinbc/
Individuals of Scottish descent have played a vital role in the history of British Columbia. Before the province was established, for example, Scots like Simon McTavish and John Fraser commissioned fellow Scots like Alexander MacKenzie and Simon Fraser to explore the west in hopes of finding a route to the Pacific Ocean. The first governor of BC, James Douglas, was of Scottish origin, as was the first mayor of Vancouver, Malcolm Alexander MacLean. Scottish entrepreneurs in lumber, mining, fisheries and canning also left their mark on the province, as did many unrecorded Scottish men and women. The "Scots in BC" website provides an overview of the activities of Scots in BC as well as stories of particular individuals. It also gives community members the opportunity to share their family histories in a public history project.
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| James Buie Leighton and his older sister Margaret Brown Leighton. Margaret later married Robert Burns McMicking. (c. 1855) (Courtesy of BC Archives) |