Compton Point is a headland in the

Queen Charlotte Strait Queen Charlotte Strait is a strait between Vancouver Island and the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It connects Queen Charlotte Sound with Johnstone Strait and Discovery Passage and via them to the Strait of Georgia and Puget Sound. It for ...

region of the

Central Coast of British Columbia The British Columbia Coast, popularly referred to as the BC Coast or simply the Coast, is a geographic region of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia. As the entire western continental coastline of Canada ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, forming the northwest entrance point to

Wells Passage Wells Passage is a strait and marine waterway in the northeastern Queen Charlotte Strait region of the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada, on the west side of North Broughton Island North Broughton Island () is an island in the Broughton ...

opposite

North Broughton Island North Broughton Island () is an island in the Broughton Archipelago, located as its name suggests to the north of Broughton Island in the Queen Charlotte Strait region of the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada Canada is a count ...

Name origin

Compton Point, like Compton Island at the southeast end of Queen Charlotte Strait, was named about 1866 by

Captain Pender Daniel Pender was a Royal Navy Staff Commander, later captain, who surveyed the Coast of British Columbia aboard , and from 1857 to 1870. Pender was recorded as the second master of the admiralty survey vessel, HMS ''Plumper'', in 1857 when h ...

for Pym Nevin Compton of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. From a Quaker family, she came to Victoria in the employ of the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

, working as a clerk. He was serving as a trading clerk on the ''Labouchere'' when he was taken captive by natives in Alaska in August 1862. He was stationed at Port Simpson (

Lax Kw'alaams A lax is a salmon. LAX as an acronym most commonly refers to Los Angeles International Airport in Southern California, United States. LAX or Lax may also refer to: Places Within Los Angeles * Union Station (Los Angeles), Los Angeles' main tr ...

today) and at

Fort Rupert Fort Rupert is the site of a former Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) fort on the east coast near the northern tip of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The unincorporated community on Beaver Harbour is about by road southeast of Port Hardy. Coal & ...

where he was in charge. He returned to England in 1866 on the Hudson's Bay's ''Prince of Wales'', but a few years later was in California, returning to Victoria afterwards, where he dies in 1879. Compton Point at the entrance to Wells Passage was also named for him.BC Names/GeoBC entry "Compton Point"
/ref>

References

Headlands of British Columbia Central Coast of British Columbia {{BritishColumbiaCentralCoast-geo-stub