Forbes George Vernon
Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia for Yale
In office
1875–1882
In office
1886–1894
Personal details
Born(1843-08-21)21 August 1843
Died20 January 1911(1911-01-20) (aged 67)

Forbes George Vernon (21 August 1843 – 20 January 1911), Lieutenant (ret.) British Army, was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Canadian province of British Columbia from 1875 to 1882, and from 1886 to 1894, representing the riding of Yale. He ran for the constituency of Yale-East in 1894 following a redistribution, but was defeated by Donald Graham.

Forbes George was the third of five sons born to John Edward Venables Vernon of Clontarf Castle in the north of Dublin, by his first wife Louisa Catherine Bowles.[1] On 4 March 1863 Vernon wrote to the Colonial Office enquiring about land regulations in British Columbia, where free grants of up to 1,440 acres (6 km2) were available 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. Vernon's original homestead of 160 acres (0.6 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.

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 from 1895 to 1899.[2]

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.[3]

Vernon died in London in 1911. The northern Okanagan city of Vernon was named after him.

References

  1. ↑ "Vernon of Clontarf". Burke's Landed Gentry of Ireland, 1912.
  2. ↑ Gosnell, R. Edward (1906). A history; British Columbia. Lewis Publishing Co. p. 694. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
  3. ↑ "Vernon of Coldstream". Burke's Colonial Gentry, 1891; "Vernon of Clontarf". Landed Gentry of Ireland, 1912.


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