Lempriere

British Columbia. Railway Point
CNR, S of junction of Albreda and North Thompson Rivers
52°27’00” N 119°08’00” W — Map 83D/6 — GoogleGeoHack
Earliest known reference to this name is 1917
Name officially adopted in 1962
Official in BCCanada
88 miles west of the Yellowhead Pass on the Canadian National Railway
Mile 106 in Albreda Subdivision (Jasper to Blue River)
Lempriere Station, from the late 1970s/early 1980s. Photo by Brian Lempriere

Lempriere Station, from the late 1970s/early 1980s. Photo by Brian Lempriere
Real Royal Engineers

Arthur Reid Lempriere [1835–1927], a lieutenant in the Royal Engineers, arrived in Esquimalt in 1859 with the main body of the Columbia Detachment, the third and largest group of Royal Engineers to come to British Columbia. In 1859 he explored the route from Hope to Lytton via the Coquihalla. Lempriere returned to England in 1863, and retired as Major General in 1882.

The Canadian Northern Pacific Railway laid tracks through the Valemount area in 1915 and Lempriere first appears on a map of 1917. The Lempriere post office was open from 1942 to 1945. Less than ten cancellation marks are known in collections. There was a Japanese internment camp here during World War II.

References:

  • Woodward, Francis M. “Influence of the Royal Engineers in the development of British Columbia.” BC Studies, (1974)
  • Topping, William. A checklist of British Columbia post offices. Vancouver: published by the author, 7430 Angus Drive, 1983
  • Akrigg, Helen B., and Akrigg, George Philip Vernon [1913–2001]. British Columbia Place Names. Vancouver: UBC Press, 1997. Internet Archive
  • Wikipedia. Arthur Reid Lempriere
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