Queen Charlotte Sound
Feature Type:Sound (1) - Large body of water from which two or more inlets, arms or channels branch off.
Status: Official
Name Authority: BC Geographical Names Office
Relative Location: Between Haida Gwaii and Vancouver Island
Latitude-Longitude: 51°29'59"N, 129°30'00"W at the approximate centre of this feature.
Datum: WGS84
NTS Map: 102P
Related Maps:
Origin Notes and History:

Adopted in the 18th Report of the Geographic Board of Canada, 31 March 1924. See Queen Charlotte Strait.

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

"...the northern boundary is a line from the most southerly point of Aristazabel Island to Cape St. James, the most southerly point of Kunghit Island; the westerly boundary being a line starting at Cape St. James thence southerly passing to westward of Triangle Island to Cape Scott on Vancouver Island. The southerly boundary is from Cape Scott eastward along the northerly coast of Vancouver Island to Cape Sutil, thence to Cape Caution on the mainland, along the line forming the northwesterly boundary of Queen Charlotte Strait. The eastern boundary starts at Cape Caution thence follows northerly the mainland and coastal islands to the most southerly point of Aristazabel Island, the point of commencement." (18th Report of the Geographic Board of Canada, 31 March 1924 (supplement to the Annual Report of the Dept of the Interior, 1924, Ottawa)

Source: included with note

The northern boundary has since been redrawn, being a line from the most southerly point of PRICE ISLAND to Cape St. James... (January 1971 advice from Canadian Hydrographic Service; April 1982 description from Canadian Hydrographic Service, file L.1.59, and as described in Sailing Directions: British Columbia Coast (North Portion), vol 2, ed. 12, 1991, published by Fisheries and Oceans Canada.)

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

Queen Charlotte Sound was named in 1786 by Mr. S. Wedgeborough, to honour Her Majesty Charlotte Sophia, Queen consort to King George III of Great Britain and Ireland. The following year Captain George Dixon named Queen Charlotte Islands after the name of his ship; in 1792 Captain George Vancouver named the Gulph [sic] of Georgia and Queen Charlotte Strait after King George II and his Queen, thus connecting the royal couple on the map. [see Queen Charlotte Strait for additional biographical information.]

Source: Provincial Archives' Place Names File (the "Harvey File") compiled 1945-1950 by A.G. Harvey from various sources, with subsequent additions