Byng Inlet is a body of water on the eastern shore of
Georgian Bay
Georgian Bay (french: Baie Georgienne) is a large bay of Lake Huron, in the Laurentia bioregion. It is located entirely within the borders of Ontario, Canada. The main body of the bay lies east of the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island. To ...
, between
Parry Sound
Parry Sound is a sound or bay of Georgian Bay on Lake Huron, in Ontario, Canada. It is highly irregularly shaped with many deep bays and islands. Killbear Provincial Park is located on the large peninsula that separates the sound from Georgian B ...
and the mouth of the
French River. It is a widening of the
Magnetawan River
The Magnetawan River is a long river in Parry Sound District, Ontario, Canada. The river flows 175 km from its source of Magnetawan Lake inside Algonquin Provincial Park to empty into Georgian Bay at the community of Britt on Byng Inlet.
...
, near its mouth.
The name of the river "Magnetawan", meaning "long open channel" in the
Ojibwe language
Ojibwe , also known as Ojibwa , Ojibway, Otchipwe,R. R. Bishop Baraga, 1878''A Theoretical and Practical Grammar of the Otchipwe Language''/ref> Ojibwemowin, or Anishinaabemowin, is an indigenous language of North America of the Algonquian lan ...
, refers to this section of the river.
History
Naming of the Inlet
Byng Inlet was named in the honor former British Naval officer
John Byng
Admiral John Byng (baptised 29 October 1704 – 14 March 1757) was a British Royal Navy officer who was court-martialled and executed by firing squad. After joining the navy at the age of thirteen, he participated at the Battle of Cape Passa ...
. It was named by Captain
Henry Wolsey Bayfield
Admiral Henry Wolsey Bayfield (21 January 1795 – 10 February 1885) was a British naval officer and surveyor.
Early life and career
Bayfield was born in Kingston-upon-Hull, to John Wolsey Bayfield and Eliza Petit. His family was an ancien ...
, who
chart
A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...
ed the Canadian shores of lakes
Huron
Huron may refer to:
People
* Wyandot people (or Wendat), indigenous to North America
* Wyandot language, spoken by them
* Huron-Wendat Nation, a Huron-Wendat First Nation with a community in Wendake, Quebec
* Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi ...
and
Superior
Superior may refer to:
*Superior (hierarchy), something which is higher in a hierarchical structure of any kind
Places
*Superior (proposed U.S. state), an unsuccessful proposal for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to form a separate state
*Lake ...
, formerly involved with Admiral
William Fitzwilliam Owen
Vice Admiral William Fitzwilliam Owen (17 September 1774 – 3 November 1857), was a Kingdom of Great Britain, British naval officer and explorer. He is best known for his exploration of the west and east African coasts, discovery of the Sea ...
, while
surveying
Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...
the lower Great Lakes
Erie
Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...
and
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
. For surveying of this region, Bayfield made his headquarters at the Naval Establishment at
Penetanguishene
Penetanguishene , sometimes shortened to Penetang, is a town in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the southeasterly tip of Georgian Bay. Incorporated on February 22, 1882, this bilingual ( French and English) community has a populat ...
in 1819. In 1825, Bayfield returned to
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
to prepare his charts for the
engraver.
Wreck of the Northern Belle
The steamship
''Northern Belle'' was suddenly engulfed in a devastating fire in Byng Inlet, on November 10, 1898.
[ The wreck is a popular site for recreational divers.
]
See also
* Byng Inlet, Ontario
Byng Inlet is a ghost town and community in Unorganized Centre Parry Sound District, Ontario, Canada. For a period in the nineteenth century it was home to one of the largest sawmill operations in Canada. The name of the town came from that of the ...
, the village on the south shore
* Britt, Ontario
Britt is a community in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in the unincorporated township of Wallbridge in the Parry Sound District.
The community is located on the north shore of the Magnetawan River at Byng Inlet, approximately five kil ...
, on the north shore.
References
Bays of Ontario
Georgian Bay
Magnetawan River
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