Street/Place Names

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Click on any letter, above, to visit specific section of Street/Place Names



ROSLYN STREET — c 1920s
Photo courtesy RBCM (F-07730)

R

Radcliffe Lane
Origin unknown.
Originally called Island View Lane but changed to Bold Point Lane* in 1928
* McMicking Point was originally called Bold Point
Information welcomed

Rattenbury Place
Named after Oak Bay resident, F.M. Rattenbury, preeminent architect (Parliament Buildings/Empress Hotel) and Oak Bay councillor and reeve. see Francis Mawson Rattenbury

Redwood Avenue
Origin unknown.
Named by the Hudson's Bay Company

Renfrew Road
Origin unknown, possibly after Renfrew, England, or Renfrew, Scotland.
Named by the Hudson's Bay Company

Repulse Street
Probably named after HMS Repulse, a Renown-class battlecruiser in the Royal Navy that served in both World Wars.
Nearby Marne Street makes reference to the famous Battles of the Marne of World War I.

Ripon Road
Origin uncertain, possibly after Ripon, England, or after Captain Ripon of the C.P.R. Coast Steamship service.
Originally called York Road but renamed in 1928

Robert Street
Origin unknown.
Former name of Allenby Street, west of Henderson Road, but renamed in 1928
Information welcomed

Rosario Street
Named after Rosario Strait, after Gran Canal de Nuestra Señora del Rosario la Marinera, the original Spanish name for the Strait of Georgia.
Originally called Walter Street, then Haro Street until renamed Rosario Street c1928
The Talk On The Street
. Click here to read the recollections of Stewart Rae
— 1930s & 1940s —
* * *
Click here if you have recollections/photos of Rosario Street
in the early years.
Rosario Strait and Haro Strait both run through the Gulf Islands and connect the Strait of Juan de Fuca with the Strait of Georgia. Haro Strait runs north of the San Juan Islands, and Rosario Strait runs to the south. The Oregon Treaty of 1846 established the international boundary between Canada and the United States at the 49th parallel west of the Rockies to the sea. But what was not clearly established at the time was the international boundary through the Gulf Islands, and this turned into an international dispute in 1859 known as the Pig War. After one dead pig and many years of military confrontations between the British and the Americans, the dispute was finally arbitrated by Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany in 1872 in favour of the more-northerly Haro Strait, thereby giving the United States possession of the San Juan Islands. Why Oak Bay decided to change the street name from Haro (the International strait) to Rosario (the American strait) is uncertain, possibly because it was felt that Haro namesake, Spanish navigator Gonzalez Lopez de Haro, had already received enough local recognittion with Gonzales Point, Gonzales Hill and Lopez Island.

Roslyn Road
Origin unknown.
Originally named Pleasant Avenue
Information welcomed

Runnymede Avenue
Named after Runnymede, England.
Runnymede, England is where King John was forced to sign the Magna Carta in 1215
Click on NAMESAKE button to learn history of namesake

Runnymede Place
Named after Runnymede, England.

Rutland Road
Origin uncertain, possibly after Rutland, England.
Information welcomed


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street information, recollections or an old street photo to share!




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