| Feature Type: | Bay - Water area in an indentation of the shoreline of a sea, lake, or large river. |
| Status: | Official |
| Name Authority: | BC Geographical Names Office |
| Relative Location: | S. side of Oak Bay District Municipality, Victoria Land District |
| Latitude-Longitude: | 48°24'42"N, 123°18'47"W at the approximate centre of this feature. |
| Datum: | WGS84 |
| NTS Map: | 92B/6 |
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Origin Notes and History:
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"McNeill Bay (not McNeil Bay)" adopted in the 18th Report of the Geographic Board of Canada, 31 March 1924, as labelled on BC map 2A, 1913. Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office |
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Mis-spelled "McNeil" Bay on Captain Richards' British Admiralty Chart A2689, 1865, after Captain William Henry McNeill (1803-1875), of the HBC's maritime service who settled near this bay on 200 acres of land. In 1837 McNeill made a report to Governor Simpson recommending Camosun (now Victoria) as a suitable place for a settlement or trading establishment. Captain McNeill married a Kaigani Haida woman named Matilda, and their son, William McNeill Jr, married Mary Macaulay. Capt. McNeill is also the namesake of Port McNeill on northern Vancouver Island. See also Walbran's "British Columbia Coast Names" for a description of Captain McNeill's HBC service. Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office |