Adopted 16 June 1946 on 103/SE as submitted by Hydrographic Services.

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

After Charles Edward Pooley, called to the bar 1877; appointed Queen's Counsel 27 May 1887; appointed president of the Executive Council of British Columbia 3 August 1889.

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

Charles Edward Pooley (1845-1912) from England, arrived in Victoria in 1862 and joined the Cariboo gold rush before working as a colonial civil servant in New Westminster. He studied law under Chief Justice Matthew Begbie and was appointed deputy registrar and then registrar of the Supreme Court of BC, 1866-79. Pooley married Elizabeth Wilhelmina Fisher (1849-1932, see Lizzie Rocks) at Victoria in 1869 and was admitted to the bar in 1877. He set up a law practice in Victoria with future BC premier Alexander Davie and went into politics, serving as Esquimalt MLA, 1882-1906, speaker of the legislature, 1887-89 and 1902-6, and president of the executive council, 1889-95. The Pooleys built Fernhill, one of Esquimalt’s finest residences, and became key members of Victoria’s social elite, growing wealthy as Charles tended to the legal and business interests of the Dunsmuir family. His epitaph at Ross Bay Cemetery, which we can only hope he did not write himself, reads, “A Just Man Made Perfect.” Charles Head and Counsel Point on Pooley Island are also named for him. A son, Robert Henry Pooley (1878-1954), who followed his father as Esquimalt MLA, 1912-37, became attorney general in 1928-33; Pooley Creek, which flows into Dease River, is named for him. A daughter, Annie Bickerton Pooley (1875-1962), married Admiral Sir Victor Stanley, son of the 16th Earl of Derby, in 1896. Pooley Island was formally James Island but was renamed in 1946.

Source: Scott, Andrew; "The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names"; Harbour Publishing, Madeira Park, 2009, pp. 467-468.