Forbes George Vernon
Encyclopedia
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
, was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Canadian province of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
from 1875 to 1882, and from 1886 to 1894, representing the riding of Yale
Yale (provincial electoral district)
Yale was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia from the province's joining Confederation in 1871. It was a 3-member constituency and retained the name Yale until the 1894 election, at which time it was split into three ridings, Yale-East, Yale-North and...
. He ran for the constituency of Yale-East
Yale-East
Yale-East was a provincial electoral district in the British Columbia legislature that appeared only in the 1894, 1898 and 1900 elections. It and its sister ridings Yale-West and Yale-North were created from the older three-member Yale , which was one of the province's first twelve ridings as of...
in 1894 following a redistribution, but was defeated by Donald Graham
Donald Graham (politician)
Donald Graham was a Scottish-born farmer and political figure in British Columbia. He represented Yale-East in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1894 to 1898....
.
Forbes George was the third of five sons born to John Edward Venables Vernon of Clontarf Castle
Clontarf Castle
Clontarf Castle is a much-modernised castle, dating to 1837, in Clontarf, Dublin, Ireland, an area famous as a key location of the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. There has been a castle on the site since 1172...
in the north of Dublin, by his first wife Louisa Catherine Bowles. On 4 March 1863 Vernon wrote to the Colonial Office enquiring about land regulations in British Columbia, where free grants of up to 1440 acres (6 km²) were available free grants to military settlers with at least the rank of captain. He arrived in British Columbia the following September, with his elder brother Charles Albert Vernon (1840–1906) and their friend Charles Frederick Houghton
Charles Frederick Houghton
Charles Frederick Houghton was a Canadian rancher, justice of the peace, politician and soldier.-Military career:Born in County Kilkenny, Ireland, he was commissioned into the 57th Foot without purchase in 1855...
. Vernon's original homestead of 160 acre (0.6474976 km²), near the city which bears his name, grew to become the 13,000 acre (53 km²) Coldstream Ranch, which he sold in 1891 to Lord Aberdeen
John Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair
John Campbell Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair, KT, GCMG, GCVO, PC , known as The Earl of Aberdeen from 1870 to 1916, was a Scottish politician...
.
In 1876, he was named Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works in the provincial cabinet and served until 1878. He later served in the same cabinet post from 1887 to 1894. After retiring from politics, Vernon served as Agent General for the province of British Columbia in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
from 1895 to 1899.
He was married at Victoria 11 September 1877 to Katie Alma Branks of California; she died 31 March 1885 and was buried at Victoria. They had two daughters: Gladys Louise (1878–1892); and Beatrice Alma Ashley (1881–????), who went on to marry Captain Montague Furber.
Vernon died in London in 1911. The northern Okanagan
Okanagan
The Okanagan , also known as the Okanagan Valley and sometimes as Okanagan Country is a region located in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. As of 2009, the region's population is approximately 350,927. The...
city of Vernon
Vernon, British Columbia
Vernon is a city in the south-central region of British Columbia, Canada. Named after Forbes George Vernon, a former MLA of British Columbia who helped found the famed Coldstream Ranch, the City of Vernon was incorporated on December 30, 1892. The City of Vernon has a population of 35,944 , while...
was named after him.