Minstrel Island Regional District of Mount Waddington, British Columbia

Community - An unincorporated populated place, generally with a population of 50 or more, and having a recognized central area that might contain a post office, store and/or community hall, etc, intended for the use of the general public in the region. E. side of Minstrel I., Range 1 Coast Land District

Mapped Location

Minstrel Island: The mapped location is an approximation and should not be used for navigation or wayfinding.

 

Information

General information on Minstrel Island

  • Feature Type: Place

 

Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for Minstrel Island

A brief list of names that this geographic feature has been named

Name Description
Minstrel Island Official

 

Origin Notes and History of Minstrel Island

References to Minstrel Island that document the origin of its place name

Decision in the 1966 BC Gazetteer.

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
Canadian Geographical Names Database, Ottawa  |  Province of British Columbia

Local tradition has it that a "minstrel boat" arrived here when a survey crew was working in the area. That boat was almost certainly HMS Amethyst, which in 1876 took the Governor-General (Lord Dufferin) and his lady on a cruise upcoast to Metlakatla. A member of her crew (Patrick Riley, Memories of a Bluejacket, p.87) mentions that Amethyst had an amateur troupe of 'n***er minstrels' - these entertainers were generally white and made up with black faces - who provided entertainment for their shipmates and, presumably, any visitors, so it seems highly probable that Minstrel Island commemorates a performance in these waters. Nearby are Bones Bay and Sambo Point. Both 'Mr. Bones' and 'Sambo' were stock characters in the minstrel shows that were so popular in the late nineteenth century.

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
Akrigg, Helen B. and Akrigg, G.P.V; British Columbia Place Names; Sono Nis Press, Victoria 1986 /or University of British Columbia Press 1997  |  Province of British Columbia

 

Regional District of Mount Waddington

Political Boundaries

Last updated: 2023-10-01