Adopted 3 December 1946 on Chart #3587, as established map 2C, 1919. Named after H.M.S steam frigate, Topaze, run under Captain John Spencer.

Source: BC place name cards & correspondence, and/or research by BC Chief Geographer & Geographical Names Office staff, file S.3.44.

Her Majesty's Ship (HMS) Topaze, a steam frigate of 51 guns and 3,551 tonnes, was launched at Devonport dockyard in 1858 and served on the BC coast from 1859 to 1863, under Captain John Spencer. In 1863, when the Lamalcha, a First Nation group from Kuper Island accused of killing two Gulf Island settlers, were tracked down and captured (see Lamalchi Bay), Spencer, as one of the region's senior officers, played a major role. The Topaze was too large to participate in the hunt directly, but its launches and seamen provided substantial support. In the early 1860s, Royal Navy (RN) surveyor Captain George Richards named a number of features in the vicinity of Topaze Harbour after Spencer and his family. The vessel, reduced to 31 guns, was back on the Pacific Station in 1866-69, under Captain Richard Powell. One of the duties the crew undertook was to place a plaque on a peak in the remote Juan Fernandez Island, off the coast of Chile, in 1868. The commemorated the lonely vigil of Alexander Selkirk who lived there in solitude, 1704-9, and was probably the inspiration for Daneil Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719. Between 1871 and 1877 the Topaze served on detached or "flying" squadrons, an Royal Navy (RN) innovation designed to reduce the number of ships on remote stations and thus save money. Detached squadrons, under the command of a rear Admiral, undertook long worldwide cruises designed for training and for showing the flag at foreign ports and far-flung colonies. The frigate's last commission was in 1878, for Coast Guard duty; it was broken up in 1884.

Source: Scott, Andrew; "The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names"; Harbour Publishing, Madeira Park, 2009, pp 597-598.