Joseph Trutch

Template:Short description Template:Use Canadian English Template:Use dmy dates Sir Joseph William Trutch, Template:Post-nominals (18 January 1826 – 2 March 1904) was an English-born Canadian civil engineer, land surveyor, and politician who served as first Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia.

Streets, towns and residences in Vancouver, Victoria and Richmond used to be named after him with movements occurring in the 21st century that had his name removed.

Early life and career

Joseph was born in Ashcott, England, the son of William Trutch and his wife, Charlotte Hannah Barnes. William Trutch completed his apprenticeship to qualify as a solicitor in London, after which he moved to Jamaica. In 1822 he married Hannah Barnes daughter of Joseph Barnes, a prominent merchant, politician and slave owner. Trutch's early childhood was spent partly in Jamaica, although his family returned to England in 1831, where he later attended Mount Radford School in Exeter. Following an apprenticeship to civil engineer Sir John Rennie, he travelled to California after hearing news of the California Gold Rush of 1849. He arrived in British Columbia in 1859, following the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush of 1858.

He found employment by working various government contracts as a surveyor, and in 1862 was contracted to construct a portion of the Cariboo Road between Chapmans Bar and Boston Bar along the canyon of the Fraser River. Tolls collected from a suspension bridge along the road, along with prudent land acquisitions, made Trutch a wealthy man.

In 1867 Trutch refused to recognize the legitimacy of the reserves established by the former governor, James Douglas, and had them re-surveyed, reducing their size by 91%.

Province of British Columbia

In 1863 Trutch's sister, Caroline Agnes Trutch, married Peter O'Reilly and in 1870, Trutch's brother John married the sister of the colonial governor Anthony Musgrave. Trutch and Musgrave became close. Following the establishment of the Canadian Confederation in 1867 they worked together to negotiate British Columbia's entry, which occurred in 1871 after they secured a promise for the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR).

Trutch was the first Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia following Confederation, a position he retained from 1871 to 1876. Following his tenure as lieutenant governor, Trutch was appointed a "Dominion agent for British Columbia", and helped to oversee the construction of the CPR in the province.

He left this office in 1890 and returned to England. He died there in 1904 in Somerset, the county of his birth.

Place namesakes and renaming

The locality of Trutch, British Columbia () along the Alaska Highway, is named after Joseph Trutch. The location is now a ghost town.

In 2007, a panel of historians hired by The Beaver (now Canada's History) included Trutch in their list the ten worst Canadians in history.

There are plans to rename a street in Chilliwack bearing his name.

A student residence building named for Trutch at the University of Victoria was renamed to Lansdowne Residence #1 in 2017 because of his actions and words related to Indigenous peoples.

A residential street in the Kitsilano neighborhood of Vancouver was originally named Trutch Street until a decision in 2021 to rename the street with a Musqueam name due to Trutch's anti-indigenous policies. On 30 September 2022, the second annual Day of Truth and Reconciliation, the street was gifted the name "" (a Halkomelem name translating to "Musqueamview") by the Musqueam Indian Band, which was then formally adopted by the city on 17 June 2025.

In May 2022, a residential street in Richmond, British Columbia, was similarly renamed from Trutch Avenue to Point Avenue due to the racism and injustice associated with Trutch, the first lieutenant-governor of British Columbia, and to honour the 28th lieutenant-governor of British Columbia, Steven Point.

On 11 July 2022, Trutch Street in Victoria, British Columbia was renamed to Su'it Street (Lekwungen: ). The name, in the language of the Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations, Lekwungen, means "truth". This was after a unanimous vote in February 2022 by the Victoria City Council to rename the street, to further reconciliation efforts by the city.