Mist Islets adopted 5 April 1938 on 92L, as identified in BC Pilot, vol 1, 1923, p.282; not "Mist Islands" as labelled on British Admiralty Chart #634,1860, and on BA #581, 1867 et seq, and on BC Lands' map 2C, 1919.

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

Named in 1860 by Captain Richards, RN, in association with other nearby names Port Harvey, Havannah Channel, etc; officers of HMS Havannah (which vessel had been stationed at Esquimalt 1855-59, under Captain Harvey) had assisted Richards in his hydrographic surveys of this section of Johnstone Strait in May of that year.

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

"Mist Islands [sic] - named by Captain Richards, RN, after Henry Wentworth Mist (1833-1895), 2nd lieutenant of HMS Havannah, 19 guns, under Captain Thomas Harvey. Entered the navy as a midshipman in 1847; on this station 1855-1858, returning to this station in command of the gun vessel HMS Sparrowhawk, succeeding Captain Porcher, from July 1868 - September 1872, the vessel being sold out of the service the following November. Retired with the rank of captain, 1872. During his commission on this coast in the Sparrowhawk, Mist made several important cruises, and on one of them, in 1869, Governor Seymour died on his vessel at Bela Kula [sic]."

Source: Walbran, John T; "British Columbia Coast Names, 1592-1906: Their Origin and History"; published for the Geographic Board of Canada, Ottawa, 1909 (republished for the Vancouver Public Library by J.J. Douglas Ltd, Vancouver, 1971)

Born at Fulham near London 10 June 1833. He served on the HMS Asia, returning to England in 1851 when he was transferred to the HMS Rodney and was present at the Crimea in the Russian war, 1854, taking part on shore in the naval brigade at the siege of Sebastopol, and was present during the Charge of the Light Brigade. Married Jane McKibbin in Honolulu, 28 July 1863. In command of HMS Sparrowhawk from July 1868 - September 1872, while serving as Justice of the Peace in British Columbia, stationed at Esquimalt. Retired in 1872 to Honolulu. There he was involved in government and newspaper activities, and served for a time as the Secretary of the Foreign office under King Kamehameha IV. Captain Mist died in Honolulu, 25 October 1895. (biographical details provided May 2012 by great-great-grandson Erik Kiaer, Portland, Oregon.)

Source: included with note