Compton 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

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 = ...

Johnstone Strait , image = Pacific Ranges over Johnstone Strait.jpg , image_size = 250px , alt = , caption = Johnstone Strait backdropped by the Vancouver Island Ranges , image_bathymetry = Carte baie Knight ...

region of the

Central Coast of British Columbia , settlement_type = Region of British Columbia , image_skyline = , nickname = "The Coast" , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = British ...

, Canada, located in

Blackfish Sound Blackfish is a common name for the following species of fish, dolphins, and whales: Fish * Alaska blackfish, (''Dallia pectoralis''), an Esocidae from Alaska, Siberia and the Bering Sea islands * Black fish (''Carassioides acuminatus'') a cyprin ...

to the east of

Port McNeill Port McNeill is a town in the North Island region of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada with a population of 2,356 (2021). Located on Vancouver Island's north-east shore on Queen Charlotte Strait, it was originally a base camp for logger ...

All of Compton Island and three small islands offshore comprise Compton Island Indian Reserve No. 6, a.k.a. Compton 6.

Name origin

Compton Island was named about 1866 by Captain Pender for Pym Nevin Compton of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

. From a Quaker family, she came to Victoria in the employ of the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

, working as a clerk. He was serving as a trading clerk on the ''Labouchere'' when he was taken captive by natives in Alaska in August 1862. He was stationed at Port Simpson (

Lax Kw'alaams Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...

today) and at

Fort Rupert Fort Rupert is the site of a former Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) fort on the east coast near the northern tip of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The unincorporated community on Beaver Harbour is about by road southeast of Port Hardy. Coal & fo ...

where he was in charge. He returned to England in 1866 on the Hudson's Bay's ''Prince of Wales, but a few years later was in California, returning to Victoria afterwards, where he dies in 1879.

Compton Point Compton Point is a headland in the Queen Charlotte Strait region of the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada, forming the northwest entrance point to Wells Passage opposite North Broughton Island. Name origin Compton Point, like Compton Islan ...

at the entrance to Wells Passage was also named for him.BC Names/GeoBC entry "Compton Point"
/ref>

References

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

Name origin

See also

References