"North Island" adopted 5 December 1933 on OBF 1420. Name changed to Trutch Island 3 February 1950 on Hydrographic Chart #3724, “Caamano Sound and Approaches, British Columbia," as recommended by Hydrographic Service.

Source: BC place name cards, files, correspondence and/or research by BC Chief Geographer/Geographical Names Office.

Renamed after Joseph W. Trutch, first Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia.

Source: BC place name cards, files, correspondence and/or research by BC Chief Geographer/Geographical Names Office.

(Part of the Estevan Group southeast of Banks Island). Joseph William Trutch (1826-1904) was born and educated in England but spent his childhood on his father’s Jamaican estates. Trained as an engineer, he immigrated in 1849 to San Francisco and later worked as an assistant to John Preston, Oregon’s first surveyor gen. In 1855 he married Julia Elizabeth Hyde (1827-95), Preston’s sister-in-law, who was originally from New York. The Trutches moved first to Illinois and Michigan Canal, and then, in 1858, to BC. Trutch found steady employment in the new colony as an engineer, building sections of the Cariboo Road bridge. He bought land on Vancouver Island and entered politics, winning election to the Vancouver Island legislative assembly, 1861-63. In 1864 he replaced Colonel Richard Moody as BC’s chief commissioner of Lands and Works, in which capacity he was responsible for First Nation reserves. Trutch was noted for his racist and contemptuous attitudes toward BC’s aboriginal population. He refused to negotiate land claims or recognize title, arguing that Native people had no valid rights to land and should simply make room for white colonizers. The reserves he did set aside were minimal, and many existing reserves were reduced in size, with arable lands being offered to settlers. Trutch’s dismissal of First Nation concerns left a bitter legacy for future generations to deal with, but he was popular at the time, a member of BC’s legislative council form 1866, a strong supporter of Confederation and one of three officials named to arrange the terms of union with Ottawa. After serving as BC’s first lieutenant governor, 1871-76, Trutch returned to England until appointed dominion agent for BC, 1880-89, with special responsibility for the transcontinental railway. He was knighted in 1889 and retired “home” (which for Trutch was always England). Mount Trutch on the BC-Alberta border north of Golden is also named for him, as are Trutch Creek and the community of Trutch in the Peace River district. Julia Trutch died in Victoria BC. Hyde Point and Lady Trutch Passage (qv) are named for her. Trutch Island, formerly known as North Island, was home to a radar and radio communications facility for many years; its massive antennas were perched on the higher of the two Musgrave Peaks. The station was supplied via a dock and helipad Ethelda Bay on nearby Barnard Island.

Source: Scott, Andrew; "The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names"; Harbour Publishing, Madeira Park, 2009, pp. 605.