by William J. Fraser
Daniel McIntyre High School, Winnipeg
Manitoba History, Number 3, 1982
|
The combined research efforts of the author and Dr. Aileen Garland have produced a wealth of information in this handy reference book. Communities large and small, rivers, lakes and other geographical features are presented alphabetically Indian reserves and provincial and national parks follow in an appendix. Locations are designated by township, section and range. Name origins in only a few instances are classified as “unknown”. Entries varying in length from a few words to a few paragraphs give one or more explanations and sometimes additional information as well. Regrettably the crediting of sources is not consistently included with the text. The reader can only surmise the origin of much of the information from the appendix lists of books and other sources.
Almost 1800 place names appear in this volume. However, some rather obscure names are included while others important enough to be on the Manitoba Highway Map are missing. Middlebro, Oakburn, Rorketon, St. Ambroise, St. Eustache, San Clara, Beaconia, Miami and even Pinawa are not mentioned. In spite of these omissions the general reader will find Place Names of Manitoba an interesting and useful book. Everyone will appreciate the attractive layout and the author’s lucid writing style.
Penny Ham’s book joins two earlier recognized works in the field, Place Names of Manitoba prepared by the Geographic Board of Canada in 1933 and J. B. Rudnyckyj’s Manitoba Mosaic of Place Names published in 1970.
Page revised: 23 April 2010
