Chatham Strait face; Xhaak, Center. The southern part of the strait was named Ensenada del Principe in 1775 by Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra. In 1786 La Perouse gave it the name Tschirikow Bay, and in 1789 the fur trader James Colnett named it Christian Sound. Other early fur traders called it Menzies Strait. It received its present name in 1794 when George Vancouver named it Chatham Strait in honor of William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham. Chatham Sound, farther south in British Columbia, was named by Vancouver for his son John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham, whose brother William
Chatham Township, New Jersey that had taken its name and adopted the village form of government established in the United States for the new state of New Jersey. Shortly thereafter, Chatham adopted the borough form of government on March 1, 1897. Florham Park was formed from portions of the township on March 20, 1899. Most of Green Village has always been within the township's jurisdiction. In 1773, the village "John Day's Bridge", a community governed by the English township of Morris since its settlement in 1710, was renamed as, "Chatham", in honor of Sir William Pitt, a British prime minister and the first Earl