05/17/2026
This event is free with museum admission!
Turmoil: The Life & Times of Philip Hankin is the latest work by award-winning author Michael Layland. Layland will give a talk on the many ships of Philip Hankin sailed on during his time on Vancouver Island, followed by a Q & A.
Signed copies of Turmoil will be available for purchase.
About the book: Hankin’s remarkable life brought abuse, hardship, and controversy, adventure, opportunity, and reward. It earned him a place in BC history as acting head of governments at a tumultuous time, and for recording parts of a 19th century Huu-ay-aht language. This list of common phrases and drawings lay misfiled in a British archive for more than a century until the author unearthed it during his research.
About the Author:
Born and educated in England, Michael Layland trained as an officer and mapmaker in the Royal Engineers of the British Army.
His extensive research of the cartographic and exploration history of Vancouver Island fuelled his first two books: The Land of Heart’s Delight: Early Maps and Charts of Vancouver Island, & A Perfect Eden: Encounters by Early Explorers of Vancouver Island . In the third, In Nature’s Realm, he combined his love of exploration history with a deep, life-long interest in the natural world.
