Adopted 18 November 1935 on BC map 1A and on Ottawa files OBF 0732 & 0836, as first submitted in 1928 by R.P. Bishop, BCLS (file B.1.34).

Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office

After Sir Francis Drake, the first to sail an English ship into the Pacific Ocean, where he took possession of 'Nova Albion that is to say New Englande' in 1579, for Queen Elizabeth I. (quoted portion from Blundeville's Exercises, 1594). See also R.P. Bishop's discussion of Drake's presence on the BC coast, "Drake's Course in the North Pacific," (published in BC Historical Quarterly, Vol III, July 1939, pages 151-82; copy in toponymy library). See also Sam Bawlf's discussion of Drake's presence as far north as the mouth of the Stikine River, exploration of Strait of Georgia, Puget Sound & BC's Inside Passage, and location of Drake's 'Nova Albion' on the east coast of Vancouver Island rather than in San Fransisco Bay (published as a series of articles in the Vancouver Sun, 5 August 2000 et seq, file O.1.76). See also "The Secret Voyage of Sir Francis Drake, 1577-1580" by Samuel Bawlff; Douglas & McIntyre, April 2003, ISBN 1550549774.

Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office

After the famous Elizabethan navigator who in 1579 sailed up the Pacific coast, perhaps as far a Cape Blanco on the Oregon coast.

Source: Akrigg, Helen B. and Akrigg, G.P.V; British Columbia Place Names; Sono Nis Press, Victoria 1986 /or University of British Columbia Press 1997