Adopted 10 August 1944 on C.3565, as labelled on Admiralty Chart A580, published in 1862 from surveys by Capt. Richards, RN, in 1860, and as labeled on numerous subsequent charts and maps. Altered application 7 May 1959 on 92 F/13, defining the source as Upper Campbell Lake.

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

Named in 1860 by Captain Richards, HMS Plumper, after Samuel Campbell MD, surgeon aboard Plumper 1857-61 (L.I. 28 October 1997). The previous year Richards had named Campbell Bay on Mayne Island, and Samuel Island after the surgeon. See Provincial Archives place names file for lengthy biography and discussion of family crest. See also Bruce McKelvie's article "Where the Campbell Meets the Sea", Vancouver Province 23 August 1947, p.7.

Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office, file S.3.44 #2.

Kwak'wala name (for the mouth of the river, or the adjacent village ?) is Tla'mataxw

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

Samuel Campbell (1832-1910), a native of Ireland and graduate of the University of Glasgow, was assistant surgeon abroad Royal Navy (RN) survey vessels Plumper and Hecate, under Captain George Richards, on the BC coast, 1857-62. He was also in charge of Esquimalt's rudimentary naval hospital. Campbell accompanied fellow officer Lieutenant Richard Mayne on an overland journey from Jervis Inlet to Lillooet in 1859 to investigate potential access routes to the goldfields. He was appointed to the Royal Marine Infirmary at Woolwich in 1864 and went on to serve in other survey vessels: Her Majesty's Ship (HMS) Nassau, which charted the Straits of Magellan, 1867-69 (Mayne was the ship's captain), and Her Majesty's Ship (HMS) Sylvia, employed off the coast of China, 1870-72. He retired from the Royal Navy (RN) in 1877 with the rank of fleet surgeon. Samuel Island in the Gulf Island is also named for him, and is probable that Campbell Island, Campbell Lake, Campbell Point, and Campbell River are as well. Campbell River has grown to become Vancouver Island's third largest centre, with a large pulp mill, a mine and extensive hydroelectric and forestry operations nearby. It is known as BC's sport-fishing capital.

Source: Scott, Andrew; "The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names"; Harbour Publishing, Madeira Park, 2009, pp. 101-102.