Gabriola Island Feature

Gabriola Island adopted as labelled on British Admiralty Chart 579, 1863 et seq, and as identified in the 6th Report of the Geographic Board of Canada, 30 June 1906.

The Spherical Chart of 1795, by Galiano & Valdes, identifies "Punta de Gaviola"

"The name seems to be a corruption of the Spanish name for it, "Gaviola", which in turn I consider to be an error for Gaviota."

"An adaptation of the Spanish name Gaviola or Gabiola (Punta de Gaviola) which was given to the east end of the island in 1791 by Jose Maria Narvaez while making an examination of these waters in command of the small exploring schooner Saturnina, under the orders of Lieutenant Eliza." [note that the Spanish "v" is pronounced like the English "b", hence Gaviola is heard as Gabiola, thence further corrupted to Gabriola ]

...The name originally given by the Spaniards in 1791 to the southeastern part of the island was Punta de Gaviota (Cape Seagull) but... was corrupted first into 'Gaviola' by the Spaniards themselves and then into 'Gabriola.'

"Gabriola [Island's] name is derived from the Spanish 'Punta de Gaviola' (Point Gaviola), which, at the time, was frequently written without distinction as 'Punta de Gabiola' (with a "b"). There was originally no "r"; this addition was a careless copying error made by a British cartographer in the mid-19th century.... There is not a scrap of evidence in the historical records to support the notion that the word gaviola was a corruption of gaviota, meaning "seagull". This idea is a 20th-century myth.... Gaviola is the family name of aristocrats who originally came from the Mendaro Valley in the Basque province of Guipúzcoa in Spain.... Simón de Gaviola y Zabala, after whom the island is probably named... [was] paymaster (treasurer) of the fleet protecting the trade routes to the Americas [thus] well qualified for the honour of having a geographical feature named after him... ". Jose Narvaez is often said to have given Gabriola/Gaviola/Gaviota its name, [but] it is more likely that Juan Francisco Bodega y Quadra named the island. (See further discussion of Spanish exploration and naming practices on this coast, comparison of Spanish & modern place names, Basque traditions, etymology of 'gaviola', and Gaviola geneologies in "The origin of Gabriola's name" by Nick Doe, published in SHALE, the Journal of the Gabriola Historical & Museum Society, No.13, June 2006, pp.9-37. Earlier discussion in the article "Seagull Island?" by Nick Doe, published in SHALE Vol.1, No.1, November 2000, p.42.) See also "Gaviola, Camino and Romay:18th century placenames in the Strait of Georgia" www.nickdoe.ca/pdfs/Webp511c.pdf (link provided April 2011.)