Fanny Bay, British Columbia
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Fanny Bay is an unincorporated community in the
Canadian province Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...
of
British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
. It is located on
Baynes Sound Baynes Sound is the channel between Denman Island and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The sound is a narrow western offshoot of the Strait of Georgia that separates Vancouver Island from the mainland of British Columbia. The area is ...
on the east coast of
Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...
. It has a population of 921. It is best known for its fine
oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but no ...
s. The area is served by the
Island Highway The Island Highway is a series of highways that follows much of the eastern coastline of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. While the Island Highway has no officially designated starting point, it is understood to begin at the BC Ferri ...
.


Origin of the name

There is no consensus on the origin of the name Fanny Bay and none of the various explanations — comical, romantic, local or historical — can be considered without skepticism. The name first appeared on British Columbia maps in 1913 and was officially adopted by the government in 1923. This adoption was based on
British Admiralty The Admiralty was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom that was responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. Historically, its titular head was the Lord High Admiral of the ...
charts of the 1860s, taken from surveys by
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
Captain G.H. Richards. However, if Capt. Richards knew who "Fanny" was, he did not record the information. Geographer A.B. McNeill wrote in his book ''Origin of Station Names, Esquimalt and Nanaimo Division'' that "...Fanny Bay was named after a sea captain who lived in this vicinity"; however, no dates or any other supporting information are provided. A popular and persistent local theory holds that Fanny Bay was named by Captain
George Vancouver Captain (Royal Navy), Captain George Vancouver (; 22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer best known for leading the Vancouver Expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern West Coast of the Uni ...
in 1792. However, Capt. Vancouver's nautical charts and journals only describe the east side of the nearest body of water, the
Strait of Georgia The Strait of Georgia () or the Georgia Strait is an arm of the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the extreme southwestern mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada, and the extreme northwestern mainland coast of Washington, United Stat ...
(including
Texada Island Texada Island is a large island located in the Strait of Georgia of British Columbia, Canada. With an area of , it is the largest island of the Gulf Islands and the third largest island in the Strait of Georgia after Whidbey Island in Washington ...
). There was only a rough outline of the eastern shore of Vancouver Island between
Nanaimo Nanaimo ( ) is a city of about 100,000 on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. "The Harbour City" was previously known as the "Hub City", which was attributed to its original layout design with streets radiating fr ...
and Comox, and his charts omitted several nearby islands and other features. Fanny Bay may have been named after Francis "Fanny" Palmer, the daughter of a popular Victoria family who ran a music and dance studio. Fanny perished in the sinking of the ''Pacific'' off Cape Flattery on November 4, 1875, at the age of 18. The Palmer family had a number of daughters who were accomplished singers, and their home was at the centre of the social circle in early Victoria. Fanny Bay has a fire hall, community school, government wharf. A community located in Fanny Bay called Ships Point also has its own fire department.


History


20th century

Eikichi Kagetsu incorporated the Deep Bay Logging Company, which owned and operated timberlands in Deep Bay as well as at least 3,000 acres in Fanny Bay. There was a settlement that housed the labourers, with split-cedar houses, a water system, and a school. The labourers in this logging company were predominantly Japanese-Canadian, although at the time it was against the law for Japanese people to operate steam machines, so Caucasian workers were hired to operate those. During the
internment of Japanese Canadians From 1942 to 1949, Canada forcibly relocated and Internment, incarcerated over 22,000 Japanese Canadians—comprising over 90% of the total Japanese Canadian population—from British Columbia in the name of "national security". The majority we ...
in
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the Canadian government confiscated all of Kagetsu's property and businesses, eventually selling the logging company to the H.R. MacMillan Export Company at a loss.


21st century

Until 2005, a restaurant operating out of a pulled-ashore barge, named ''Brico'', was located in Fanny Bay.


Shellfish

Fanny Bay is well known as a source of farmed
shellfish Shellfish, in colloquial and fisheries usage, are exoskeleton-bearing Aquatic animal, aquatic invertebrates used as Human food, food, including various species of Mollusca, molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish ...
, specifically
Pacific oyster The Pacific oyster, Japanese oyster, or Miyagi oyster (''Magallana gigas'') is an oyster native to the Pacific coast of Asia. It has become an introduced species in North America, Australia, Europe, and New Zealand. Etymology The genus ''Magal ...
s (
scientific name In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...
''
Crassostrea gigas The Pacific oyster, Japanese oyster, or Miyagi oyster (''Magallana gigas'') is an oyster native to the Pacific coast of Asia. It has become an introduced species in North America, Australia, Europe, and New Zealand. Etymology The genus ''Magal ...
''), manila clams (''
Venerupis philippinarum ''Ruditapes philippinarum'', the Manila clam, is an edible species of saltwater clam in the family Veneridae, the Venus clams. Common names include Manila clam, Japanese littleneck clam, Japanese cockle, and Japanese carpet shell.Cohen, A.N. 2011' ...
''), savoury clams (''
Nuttallia obscurata ''Nuttallia obscurata'', the purple mahogany clam, dark mahogany clam, varnish clam or savory clam, is a species of saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Psammobiidae. It was first described to science by Lovell Augustus Reeve, ...
'') and mussels (''
Mytilus galloprovincialis The Mediterranean mussel (''Mytilus galloprovincialis'') is a species of bivalve, a marine mollusc in the family Mytilidae. It is an invasive species in many parts of the world, and also an object of aquaculture. Systematics ''Mytilus gallopro ...
''), for both domestic and global markets. Oysters were introduced to the area as early as 1912 or 1913, with further seedings around 1925.on GoogleBooks
/ref> As a result of the lack of Pacific oysters from Japan during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, further seeding occurred in 1942 (along with seedings in other parts of the Strait of Georgia). Eikichi Kagetsu introduced 9 crates of oyster seed from Japan around 1926-1927 In the 1930s they received permission from the E&N Railway to use 10 acres along the shore to develop oyster culture. Oyster and clam seeding in Baynes Sound at Fanny Bay occurred about 1947, by Joseph McLellan, a pioneer in oyster aquaculture. McLellan imported his first batch of oyster seed from
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
and seeded the beach areas around Fanny Bay - Mud Bay, Ship Point, Buckley Bay and Denman Island. McLellan's descendants still own and operate the oyster and clam farm located in Fanny Bay, Mac's Oysters Ltd. Manila clam seed was inadvertently included in Joseph McLellan's initial seed shipments from Japan.


Arts and culture


Wacky Woods

Fanny Bay was home to an outdoor art exhibit known as Wacky Woods. It was built in the 1970s by artist George Sawchuk. Many of the artworks in the woods had a political and surrealist nature, with works touching on topics from old-growth logging to the
War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...
. Visitors could tour the outdoor art installation freely. Sawchuk passed away in 2012. Wacky Woods closed in 2018, as the property was sold.


Fanny Bay Inn

The Fanny Bay Inn is a recognizable landmark and popular pub located on the Island Highway in Fanny Bay. It was built in 1938, and for decades has operated as a pub and local gathering spot, hosting music performances and
jam sessions ''Jam Sessions'' is a guitar simulation software title and music game for the Nintendo DS that was originally based on the Japan-only title ''Sing & Play DS Guitar M-06'' (''Hiite Utaeru DS Guitar M-06'') originally developed by Plato and relea ...
. It celebrated its 80th anniversary in 2018.


References


External links

* {{authority control Populated places on the British Columbia Coast Unincorporated settlements in British Columbia Populated places in the Comox Valley Regional District Designated places in British Columbia