Whonnock at Rivers Inlet and the Fraser River -- not related

In the early 1880s, when a rail station and a post office had to be named, the white immigrant community on the Fraser River adopted the name Whonnock, an Anglicised version of name of the tribe that lived there. It is a Downriver Halkomelem name related to pink or humpback salmon. "Place where there are (always) humpback salmon" or "Place of the humpback salmon," are the most common interpretations of meaning of the name Whonnock. This Halkomelem name was also given to Whonnock Lake and Whonnock Creek.

Not everyone knows that there is another place in British Columbia called Whonnock and that there is a Whonnock River. This Whonnock and the river are at Rivers Inlet. In Kwakwakawakw (Kwakiutl) the name means "the owner of the river." Aside from the similar modern spelling of the name there is nothing that connects these two places or the First Nations peoples who lived there.

"Whonnock" was not used as a surname at the Fraser River, but it is well-known family name at and around Alert Bay and Rivers Inlet. As Shanon Whonnock explained it her great-great grandfather started using the name John Wanuwk and church records show a variety of spellings until, as from around 1828, the writing settled at Whonnock. Shanon's great-great grandfather acquired the name Wanukw through marriage. "It comes from his wife's grandmother who was a princess of a Chief from Rivers Inlet."

Port Coquitlam

Looking into Port Coquitlam's history I came across three books:

History of Port Coquitlam by Edith D. Chambers, B.A. Thompson, 1973.

Port Coquitlam: City of Rivers and Mountains, Debbie Caron, Beth McWilliam, Dhorea Ryon and Diane Rogers, City of Port Coquitlam,1988

Port Coquitlam: Where Rails Meets Rivers, by Chuck Davis, Harbour Publish,2000.

For historians the 1988 publication by the City of Port Coquitlam is the best choice.

Brodie (work notes) IV

Headstone inscription Shoal Lake (MN)

S270 Brodie Janet (Dickson) (Beattie) BRODIE / March 15, 1842-December 21, 191(5)?/ Born in Gattonside Scotland / Died Whonnock, BC / Wife of John BRODIE / Mother of John J. D. Beattie. Note: Janet died in 1914

S270 John James Dickson BEATTIE / Killed in Shoal Lake / March 7, 1907 / 23 years. Question: What killed him? ANSWER: John Beattie, "assistant station agent" was run over while coupling cars. (Manitoba Free Press, 8 March 1907)

James Beattie, aged 60, died Rapid City, Manitoba (fairly close to Shoal Lake) dated 12th June 1886. Question: is this Janet's first husband?

Cheer family

Unfortunately the name of the Hawaiian ancestor of the Cheer (or Chier)family is still unknown. At one point I felt that it could be Keea (also Keea, Kia or Kea) or perhaps also Ohier. But that is all just guessing. I thought Keea, because the ancestor of the Whonnock Cheers and perhaps all Cheer descendants is mentioned as named: "Keaho" Cheer; he was married to Catherine or Katherine Cheer (1831-1888).

Many Cheers lived on the Whonnock Reserve and on the reserves at the Stave River, a few miles east from here. Charles Miller writes extensively about Harry and "Rose" Cheer.

My notes show three sons of Keaho and Katherine Cheer: Daniel (b.1851-1929), Joseph (b. Abt 1858) and Thomas (b. 1863). Of course there may have been other children, including daughters.

I think that the settling of Cheers on the Whonnock Reserve started with son Daniel, who was enumerated in 1891 at the Whonnock Reserve with his wife Mary Samiate and their children: William, Henry (Harry), John, Alex and Ida. Absent according to one informant was perhaps another son called Jack, but he could also be the same as John.

In the 1901 Census Daniel and Mary are still listed with all the children mentioned in 1891 with the exception of Alex. John, William and Henry were then married: William with two children: William and Phillip.

Henry (alias Harry) Cheer married Anny Harry from Nooksack WA in 1898. She died in 1930. Cheers at Whonnock Reserve in 1930 shown in a Census Book of the Indian Agent are Edith, Ray, Clarence, Katherine, Johnny, Peter and Angeline -- all children of Henry. Since the 1950s none of the Cheer descendants lives on the Whonnock Reserve.

Unravelling the Cheer family is not easy. The 1911 Census enumeration of the Whonnock Reserve shows more complexities and confusion with yet other Cheers.

Brodie (work notes) III

Certification of Registration of Death 1918-09-398458 Microfilm B13133
James Hugh Brodie 15 August 1928, Cancer
Vancouver BC: 2576 2nd Avenue West
Married - Scotch -
Birthplace Paris, Ontario - b. 1856.
At place of death 2 years, in province 5 years.
Father John Brodie, b. Scotland
Mother: Mary Waterson, b. Beith, Scotland
Informant: John Brodie, Whonnock BC, brother.
Burial: Ocean View, 17 August 1928

Equidistant

The photo shows a standard station house at an unknown location somewhere on the north-shore of the Fraser between Port Moody and Hope. The first station buildings at Hammond and Whonnock looked just like this one. Stations were built at “at points about equidistant from each other,” a distance of about ten miles. A 1884 time card shows the distances between the stations: Port Moody 0, Port Hammond 12, Wharnock 20, Mission 30, Nicomen 40, Harrison River 49, etc. In the initial stage of the construction of the railroad Onderdonk gratefully used the existing private wharfs at Port Haney, but he made clear that he did not intend to build a station there. It would not have fitted in the scheme. Photo source

Streetnames in Hammond

City Plan for "Port Hammond Junction" drawn up by Edward Mohun in 1882 and presented in 1883 by Emmeline Mohun, William Hammond and John Hammond. It subdivided a large parts of the lands of Emmeline Mohun and William Hammond.

Plan included street names some of which have been identified:

Chigweel Street (should have been Chigwell Street) Edward Mohun was born in Chigwell, England Chigwell is a civil parish in the Epping Forest district of Essex. It is located 11.6 miles (18.7 km) north east of Charing Cross in London and near the boundary with the London Borough of Redbridge. It is served by a London Underground station and has a London (020) area code.

Stenton Street William Hammond was born in Fen Stanton.Fen Stanton lies on the Cambridge border of the old county of Huntingdonshire, on the south side of the River Ouse

Waugh Street Emmeline was the only child of HBC Chief Trader John Tod and Eliza Waugh.

Bromley Street Emmeline Mohun's first husband was William Henry, who died in 1878. Newton took charge of Fort Langley a few month after they married in September 1856. Newton was a native of Bromley, Kent.

Ospringe Street In the 1600s there are two William Hammond here: one William Hammond esq. of St. Albans, and later a William Hammond, esq. of Canterbury. Is this just a coincidence?

From: 'Parishes: Ospringe', The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 6 (1798), pp. 499-531. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=62988. Date accessed: 12 February 2008.

Lorne Road This is the only "road." It is named after he Marquess of Lorne, governor general of Canada,married to Princess Louise, daughter of Queen Victoria. The vice-regal couple visited British Columbia in 1882, when the plan for Hammond was drawn up.

Princess Avenue This only "avenue" and it honours Princess Louise.