Bonwick Island is an

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

in the

Broughton Archipelago Broughton Archipelago is a group of islands located at the eastern end of Queen Charlotte Strait in Mount Waddington Regional District, British Columbia. The archipelago is the traditional territory of the Musgamagw Dzawada'enuxw, Namgis, Ma'amt ...

in Central Coast region of the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. The

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...

is on the northeast side of

Queen Charlotte Strait , image = Canadian pilot, near Port Hardy BC.jpg , alt = , caption = A pilot boat plies Queen Charlotte Strait near Port Hardy , image_bathymetry = Locmap-QCS-Hecate-Dixon.png , alt_bathymetry = ...

and lies northwest of the village of

Alert Bay Alert Bay is a village on Cormorant Island (British Columbia), Cormorant Island, near the town of Port McNeill on northeast Vancouver Island, in the Regional District of Mount Waddington, British Columbia, Canada. Demographics In the 2021 Can ...

and immediately to the west of

Gilford Island Gilford Island is an island in British Columbia, Canada, located between Tribune Channel and Knight Inlet. The island has an area of . Turnour Island is to the south across Tribune Channel, the entrance to Thompson Sound to the east. Port Eliz ...

, separated from it by

Retreat Pass Retreat Passage is a short strait and marine waterway between Gilford Island (E) and Bonwick Island (W) in the Broughton Archipelago of the eastern Queen Charlotte Strait region of the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada Canada is a ...

. Arrow Passage is to its northwest, separating it from Mars Island.

Features

On the island's northeast side is Waddington Bay (), named after entrepreneur

Alfred Waddington Alfred Penderell Waddington (October 2, 1801 – February 26, 1872), during his later years, was actively involved in the Colony of Vancouver Island in what later became the province of British Columbia, Canada. From 1860 to 1861 he was a re ...

whose ill-fated attempt to build a wagon road from

Bute Inlet , image = Bute Inlet.jpg , image_size = 260px , alt = , caption = , image_bathymetry = , alt_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Strathcona RD, British Col ...

to the

Cariboo The Cariboo is an intermontane region of British Columbia, Canada, centered on a plateau stretching from Fraser Canyon to the Cariboo Mountains. The name is a reference to the caribou that were once abundant in the region. The Cariboo was the ...

became the flashpoint of the

Chilcotin War The Chilcotin War, the Chilcotin Uprising or the Bute Inlet Massacre was a confrontation in 1864 between members of the Tsilhqot'in (Chilcotin) people in British Columbia and white road construction workers. Fourteen men employed by Alfred Waddi ...

of 1864. Waddington Harbour at the head of Bute Inlet is also named for him. South of Waddington Bay is Grebe Cove (), and south of that is Carrie Bay (). On the island's northwest side is Betty Cove (), and to the south of it is Dusky Cove ().

Name origin

Bonwick Island was named by Captain Pender after Charles Bonwick, acting assistant engineer above the gunboat HMS ''Grappler in 1860, then as acting chief engineer on the survey ship ''Beaver'' from 1863. He retired and was living in England by 1906. The Bonwick Islands, now the Augustine Islands, Bonwick Point and Mount Bonwick were also named for him.BC Names/GeoBC entry "Bonwick Island}
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References

Islands of British Columbia Central Coast of British Columbia {{BritishColumbiaCoast-geo-stub

Features

Name origin

See also

References