Balch Islands
Feature Type:Islands - Land area surrounded by water or marsh. Plural of Island.
Status: Official
Name Authority: BC Geographical Names Office
Relative Location: N of Maude Island, Skidegate Inlet, Queen Charlotte Land District
Latitude-Longitude: 53°13'37"N, 132°04'54"W at the approximate centre of this feature.
Datum: WGS84
NTS Map: 103F/1
Origin Notes and History:

Channel Islands adopted in the 1930 BC Gazetteer, as labelled on BC map 3L, 1919. Name changed to Balch Islands 10 December 1945 on C.306, as recommended by Hydrographic Service to avoid duplication (file Q.2.45).

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

Named by H.D. Parizeau, Hydrographic Service, after Captain Balch of the schooner "Damaris Cove", who rescued the passengers and crew of the schooner "Georgina" after they had been captured and made slaves by the Haida Indians, 1851-52.

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