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
John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham He continued to hold various ceremonial positions: he had been appointed Lieutenant Governor of Jersey and High Steward of Colchester in 1807, and in 1820 succeeded the Duke of Kent as Governor of Gibraltar. He died at his house in Charles Street, London, on 24 September 1835, aged 78. Chatham married The Hon. Mary Elizabeth Townshend, daughter of the 1st Baron Sydney, on 10 July 1783. The couple had no children. Lady Chatham died on 21 May 1821. Chatham did not remarry and, following his death, the Earldom of Chatham became extinct. John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham General John