Editing George Vancouver (section)

==Origins of the family name==
There has been some debate about the origins of the Vancouver name. It is now commonly accepted that the name Vancouver derives from the expression ''[[Van (Dutch)|van]] Coevorden'', meaning "(originating) from [[Coevorden]]", a city in the northeast of the Netherlands. This city is apparently named after the "Coeverden" family of the 13th–15th century.<ref>{{cite book|author1=G.H. Anderson|title=Vancouver and his Great Voyage – The Story of a Norfolk Sailor |date=1923|publisher=Thew & Son|location=[[King's Lynn]]|url=http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/182291|via=[[State Library of Victoria]]}}</ref>

In the 16th century, a number of businessmen from the Coevorden area (and the rest of the Netherlands) moved to England. Some of them were known as ''[[Van Coeverden]]''. Others adopted the surname [[Oxford]], as in [[ford (crossing)|oxen fording (a river)]], which is approximately the English translation of ''Coevorden''. However, it is not the exact name of the noble family mentioned in the history books that claim Vancouver's noble lineage: that name was Coeverden not Coevorden.

In the 1970s, Adrien Mansvelt, a former consul-general of the Netherlands based in Vancouver, published a collation of information in both historical and genealogical journals and in the ''Vancouver Sun'' newspaper.<ref>Mansvelt, Adrien (February 1975) "The Vancouver – Van Coeverden Controversy". ''The British Columbia Genealogist'' Vol 4 No. 1,2,3</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Mansvelt|first1=Adrien|title=Vancouver: A lost branch of the van Coeverden Family|journal=BC Historical News|publisher=British Columbia Historical Association|volume=6|issue=2|date=February 1973|url=http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/pdfs/bchf/bchn_1973_02.pdf|pages=20–23|access-date=8 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160823011043/http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/pdfs/bchf/bchn_1973_02.pdf|archive-date=23 August 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Mansvelt, Adrien (1 September 1973) "Solving the Captain Vancouver mystery" and "The Original Vancouver in Old Holland", ''The Vancouver Sun''</ref> Mansvelt's theory was later presented by the city during the [[Expo 86]] [[World's Fair]], as historical fact. The information was then used by historian [[W. Kaye Lamb]] in his book ''A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean and Round the World, 1791–1795'' (1984).<ref>Lamb, W. Kaye [https://archive.org/details/voyageofdiscover01vanc ''A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean and Round the World, 1791–1795''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180731094157/https://archive.org/details/voyageofdiscover01vanc |date=31 July 2018 }}.  London, Printed for G.G. and J. Robinson</ref>

W. Kaye Lamb, in summarising Mansvelt's 1973 research, observes evidence of close family ties between the Vancouver family of Britain and the Van Coeverden family of the Netherlands as well as George Vancouver's own words from his diaries in referring to his Dutch ancestry:

{{blockquote|text=As the name Vancouver suggests, the Vancouvers were of Dutch origin. They were descended from the titled van Coeverden family, one of the oldest in the Netherlands. By the twelfth century, and for many years thereafter, their castle at [[Coevorden]], in the Province of [[Drenthe]], was an important fortress on the eastern frontier. George Vancouver was aware of this. In July 1794, he named the [[Lynn Canal]] "after the place of my nativity" and Point Couverden (which he spelt incorrectly) "after the seat of my ancestors". Vancouver's great grandfather, Reint Wolter van Couverden, was probably the first of the line to establish an English connection. While serving as a squire at one of the German courts he met Johanna (Jane) Lilingston, an English girl who was one of the ladies in waiting. They were married in 1699. Their son, Lucas Hendrik van Couverden, married Vancouver's grandmother, Sarah. In his later years he ''probably'' anglicized his name and spent most of his time in England. By the eighteenth century, the estates of the van Couverdens were mostly in the Province of [[Overijssel]], and some of the family were living in [[Vollenhove]], on the [[Zuider Zee]]. The English and Dutch branches kept in touch, and in 1798 (the date of Vancouver's death) George Vancouver's brother Charles would marry a kinswoman, Louise Josephine van Couverden, of [[Vollenhove]]. Both were great-grandchildren of Reint Wolter van Couverden."<ref>''The Voyage of George Vancouver 1791–1795, Volume 1''. W. Kaye Lamb (ed.). Hakluyt Society. 1984. {{ISBN|978-0-904180-17-6}}. p. 3</ref>}}

In 2006 John Robson, a librarian at the [[University of Waikato]], conducted his own research into George Vancouver's ancestry, which he published in an article in the ''British Columbia History'' journal.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Robson|first1=John|title=Origins of the Vancouver Name|journal=British Columbia History|year=2006|volume=39|issue=4|pages=23–24|url=http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/pdfs/bchf/bch_2006_04.pdf|publisher=British Columbia Historical Federation|issn=1710-7881|access-date=7 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160804011713/http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/pdfs/bchf/bch_2006_04.pdf|archive-date=4 August 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Robson theorises that Vancouver's forebears may have been [[Flemish people|Flemish]] rather than Dutch; he believes that Vancouver is descended from the Vangover family of [[Ipswich]] in Suffolk and [[Colchester]] in Essex. Those towns had a significant Flemish population in the 16th and 17th centuries.<ref>Baecklandt, David, "Was George Vancouver Flemish?", ''The Brussels Journal'', 21 February 2010.</ref>

George Vancouver named the south point of what is now [[Couverden Island]], Alaska, ''Point Couverden'' during his exploration of the North American Pacific coast, in honour of his family's hometown of Coevorden.<ref>[http://www.chuckdavis.ca/archives_coevorden.htm History of Metropolitan Vancouver] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928104823/http://www.chuckdavis.ca/archives_coevorden.htm |date=28 September 2007 }}; chuckdavis.ca</ref> It is located at the western point of entry to [[Lynn Canal]] in southeastern Alaska.<ref>[http://www.dnr.state.ak.us/mlw/planning/areaplans/nseap/maps/13_haines_couverden.pdf Couverden Island] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703233733/http://www.dnr.state.ak.us/mlw/planning/areaplans/nseap/maps/13_haines_couverden.pdf |date=3 July 2007 }}. dnr.state.ak.us</ref>