| Feature Type: | Bay - Water area in an indentation of the shoreline of a sea, lake, or large river. |
| Status: | Official |
| Name Authority: | BC Geographical Names Office |
| Relative Location: | W. of head of Holberg Inlet, Rupert Land District |
| Latitude-Longitude: | 50°39'33"N, 128°18'40"W at the approximate centre of this feature. |
| Datum: | WGS84 |
| NTS Map: | 102I/9 |
| Related Maps: |
102I/8 102I/9 |
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Origin Notes and History:
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Adopted 30 June 1910 in the 9th Report. Confirmed 19 May 1938 on 102I/9, passed by G.B. of C. Confirmed 13 March 1947 on C. 3688, 6 May 1947 on 102I/9 and 6 November 1952 on 102I. Source: BC place name cards & correspondence, and/or research by BC Chief Geographer & Geographical Names Office staff. |
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The name initially appears on the 1793 chart of Spanish naval officer Dionisio Alcala-Galiano. Captain James Hanna, who made the first fur-trading visit to the PNW in 1785, called it St. Patrick’s Bay on his second trip, in 1786. On his chart, Hanna also labelled the river that flows into San Josef Bay – known today as the San Josef River – as the Parry River. James Strange, another British fur trader who visited the area in 1786, named this feature Scott’s Bay, after his friend and patron David Scott (who is commemorated by nearby Cape Scott and Scott Island). In 1860 the RN gunboat Forward made a daring rescue of the crew and passengers of the US brig Consort in San Josef Bay. A pioneer settlement formed there in the early 1900s, centred around Henry Ohlsen’s store, and included many members from the failed Danish colony at Cape Scott. Most residents had left, however, by WWI. The RCAF base at the foot of nearby Mount Hansen, which served for many years as home to those who manned the radar facilities on Mount Brandes, was also known as San Josef. Saint Joseph was the husband of Mary, mother of Jesus, and is the patron saint of workers, San Josef Mountain, east of Frederick Arm and North of Campbell River, is named after the San Josef, a Spanish ship of the line captured by Horatio Nelson at the Battle of Cape Saint Vincent in 1797. E W. Source: Scott, Andrew; "The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names"; Harbour Publishing, Madeira Park, 2009, pp. 523. |
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Apparently unaware that in 1786 Captain Hanna had named this St. Patrick’s Bay, Francisco de Eliza gave it its present name in 1791. Source: Akrigg, Helen B. and Akrigg, G.P.V; "British Columbia Place Names"; Sono Nis Press, Victoria 1986 /or University of British Columbia Press 1997, pp. 235 |