Colonial Despatches

Halkett Island is located in the north end of Victoria Harbour.1 Henry Kellett, captain of the HMS Herald, named the island in 1846 after the Halkett family, who had a number of members prominant in the Royal Navy throughout the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.2 Several other British Columbia features are named after various members of the Halkett family.3

Halkett Island, which at one point was called Deadman’s Island, was once a First Nation burial ground.4 The July 1, 1867 edition of the British Colonist states that a fire damaged much of Halkett Island, including First Nations remains. Police later arrested two young men who had lost control of their small fire.5

• 1. Halkett Island, BC Geographical Names Information System.
• 2. Andrew Scott, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Placenames (Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing, 2009), 244.
• 3. Ibid.
• 4. Ibid.
• 5. Halkett Island, BC Geographical Names Information System.