Houston Stewart Channel is a strait in the Queen Charlotte Islands

Queen Charlotte Islands

Haida Gwaii , formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands, is an archipelago on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. Haida Gwaii consists of two main islands: Graham Island in the north, and Moresby Island in the south, along with approximately 150 smaller islands with a total landmass of...

 of British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It separates Moresby Island

Moresby Island

Moresby Island is a large island that forms part of the Haida Gwaii archipelago in British Columbia, Canada, located at . Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site includes Moresby and other islands...

 and Kunghit Island

Kunghit Island

Kunghit Island is an island in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is the southernmost island in the Haida Gwaii archipelago, located to the south of Moresby Island. The southernmost point of Kunghit Island, called Cape St James, is used to delineated the boundary between Hecate Strait...

.

Houston Stewart Channel was given its name by James Charles Prevost

James Charles Prevost

James Charles Prevost was an admiral in the British Royal Navy.He was born in Bedhampton, Hampshire, England and joined the navy in 1823 and by 1850 was a Commander aboard the HMS Portland, flagship of Rear Admiral Sir Fairfax Moresby, whose daughter he married on 18 October 1842, they had five...

 in 1853, in honour of William Houston Stewart

William Houston Stewart

Admiral Sir William Houston Stewart GCB was a British naval officer who was Controller of the Royal Navy from 1872 to 1881.-Personal life:...

, his predecessor aboard HMS Virago

HMS Virago (1842)

HMS Virago was a 1669 ton, Royal Navy 6 gun 1st class paddle sloop launched on 25 July 1842 from Chatham Dockyard.She was sent to the Mediterranean Station arriving in November 1843 serving until 1847. Upon returning to England, she was placed into reserve. In 1851 she was sent to the Pacific Station...

. Maritime fur trade

Maritime Fur Trade

The Maritime Fur Trade was a ship-based fur trade system that focused on acquiring furs of sea otters and other animals from the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast and natives of Alaska. The furs were mostly sold in China in exchange for tea, silks, porcelain, and other Chinese...

r George Dixon called it Ibberston Sound in 1787. American fur traders called it Barrell Sound, so-named by John Kendrick

John Kendrick (American sea captain)

John Kendrick was an American sea captain, both during the American Revolutionary War and the exploration and maritime fur trading of the Pacific Northwest alongside his partner Robert Gray.-Early life:...

 and Robert Gray in 1789, in honour of Joseph Barrell, one of the owners of the ships Columbia Rediviva

Columbia Rediviva

Columbia Rediviva was a privately owned ship under the command of John Kendrick, along with Captain Robert Gray, best known for going to the Pacific Northwest for the maritime fur trade. The "Rediviva" was added to her name upon a rebuilding in 1787...

and Lady Washington

Lady Washington

Lady Washington is a ship name that is shared by at least 4 different small wooden merchant sailing vessels during two different time periods. They should not be confused with USS Lady Washington. The original sailed for about 10 years in the 18th century. A somewhat updated modern replica was...

. It was also known as Koya's Straits, after Chief Koyah

Koyah

Koyah, also Coya, Coyour, Kower, Kouyer Koyah, also Coya, Coyour, Kower, Kouyer Koyah, also Coya, Coyour, Kower, Kouyer (phonetically /xo’ya/, meaning "raven" (b.?-d. c.1795), was the chief of Ninstints or Skungwai, the main village of the Kunghit-Haida during the era of the Maritime Fur Trade in...

 of the Haida.