The oldest yacht club in B.C. Its current location on Cadboro Bay had been the location of the Hudson’s Bay Company cattle wharf.
A public university located on site of Hatley Castle, the estate built west of Esquimalt by James Dunsmuir in the early in 20th century. The property was acquired by the Canadian government in 1940 and became a training establishment to train officers for the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve and subsequently the Royal Canadian Navy College to train officers for the permanent force. After WWII, it initially became a college to give naval and air force officers academic training and subsequently a tri-service college. It ceased being a military college in 1995 and is now a public university.
A permanent “Navy Royal” emerged during the reign of Henry VIII (1509-1547). In the 19th century, Royal Navy ships were heavily involved in the colonial phase in the development of what became British Columbia in carrying out the hydrographic surveys that opened coastal waters to navigation, in a constabulary role, and in providing a presence that backed British and subsequently Canadian sovereignty.
Created in 1903 as a reserve force made up of people from civilian occupations, the RNVR and the Royal Naval Reserve (whose members were recruited from civilians with seagoing experience) were combined in 1958.