Tumbo Island Feature

Island - Land area surrounded by water or marsh. Just N of E end of Saturna Island, at S end of Strait of Georgia, Cowichan Land District

Mapped Location

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

 

Information

General information on Tumbo Island

  • Feature Type: Feature

 

Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for Tumbo Island

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

Name Description
Tumbo Island Official

 

Origin Notes and History of Tumbo Island

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

Adopted 12 December 1930 on 92SE, as labelled on British Admiralty Chart A2840, 1860 et seq, and as labelled on BC map 2A, 1913.

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office  |  Province of British Columbia

"Decision in the 18th Report, 1924." [Note: this feature is not listed in the 18th Report of the Geographic Board of Canada]

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

This feature is labelled "Tumbow Island" on US hydrographic chart compiled by Lieut. Charles Wilkes, 1841, likely after the village of Tumbou on the eastern Fijian island of Lakemba, where Wilkes had done extensive surveys in 1840. (Other features in the San Juan Islands were labelled with names of Fijian origin on Wilkes' 1841 chart, but have long since been changed). In 1860 British Admiralty hydrographer Captain Richards, RN, changed several of Wilkes' names, and possibly is responsible for the change from Tumbow to Tumbo. Researched and name origin theory suggested by Peter Murray. (See also Times-Colonist 11 August 1991, p.M3)

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office  |  Province of British Columbia

 

Last updated: 2026-10-14