Charles William Barkley

Charles William Barkley (16 May 1832) was an English ship captain and maritime fur trader. He was born in Hertford, England, son of Charles Barkley.

His name is sometimes erroneously spelled Barclay due to the misspelling "Barclay Sound" (in what is now Vancouver Island, British Columbia) on early Admiralty charts, which arose from a mistake from Land District records. The misspelling originated in 1859 with the government agent William Eddy Banfield who issued certificates identifying the "Barclay Land District." The name was corrected to Barkley Sound in 1904. (Banfield's own name was misspelled in the name of the town of Bamfield, also on Vancouver Island.)

Biography

Early life At the age of 11, Charles Barkley went to sea with his father, who was the commander of the East India Company ship Pacific. His father drowned in the Hooghly River, Calcutta, India while Charles was still a boy. Charles went on to sail to the West Indies in the merchantman Bestsy. He made seven voyages to the Far East for the East India Company and rose rapidly in the company's service. Beale had been the purser of, successively, the HC ships Walpole and General Coote on voyages between London and Canton in 1783–1786: in 1783 he joined the Canton partnership of John Henry Cox and John Reid in their mercantile ventures. Beale's brother or cousin, John Beale, sailed in the Imperial Eagle as purser, but was killed in an affray with the natives on the North West Coast. Barkley was among the backers, subscribing £3,000 to the venture.

Merchant career Wynee, a Native of Owyhee, one of the Sandwich Islands, engraving by John Meares depicting the Hawaiian maidservant of the Barkley's. Barkley and his wife, Frances Barkley, left for the Pacific via Cape Horn on 24 November 1786. They stopped in the Hawaiian Islands where a maidservant named Wynee (Winée) was taken aboard. Wynee became the first Native Hawaiian, or "Kanaka", to reach British Columbia. At first Mackay was welcomed and befriended by Maquinna, but after unknowingly breaking a taboo he was exiled from Maquinna's house and forced to survive on his own. Barkley took Mackay on board Imperial Eagle. Mackay's experience helped Barkley gain an edge in the fur trade.

Barkley stayed at Nootka Sound for about a month, acquired 700 prime sea otter skins, and many more of inferior quality. From Nootka he sailed south, trading, exploring, and naming various parts of the coast between Nootka Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca, including Barkley Sound, Loudoun Channel, Cape Beale, and Imperial Eagle Channel. In honour of the indigenous chief Wickaninnish, Barkley gave the name Wickinninish Sound to what is now called Clayoquot Sound. He rediscovered the strait allegedly described by Juan de Fuca and named the strait as such on his chart. Barkley's Imperial Eagle was the first non-indigenous vessel to enter Neah Bay, in July 1787. John Meares, in the Feliz Aventureira, stopped at Neah Bay in June 1788, and Charles Duncan in did so in August 1788. Robert Gray, in the Lady Washington, entered Neah Bay in April 1789, and in July 1789 José María Narváez did so in the Santa Gertrudis la Magna. Within the next few years a number of others visited Neah Bay and it became an important fur trading stop during the maritime fur trading era.

After six members of his crew were killed by indigenous people, on 24 July 1787, near the mouth of the Hoh River, Barkley decided to set sail for Guangzhou (Canton), China, to sell his sea otter pelts. He arrived in Macau in December 1787. His trading venture resulted in a profit of £10,000.

He then left China and sailed with a cargo to Mauritius. While in Mauritius, Barkley learned that the East India Company was taking legal action against the owners of the Imperial Eagle for trading without a license. The owners, including John Meares, decided to avoid the legal problems by selling the Imperial Eagle and breaking their contract with Barkley.

Little is known of his latter years. They were probably not prosperous. Upon his death at the age of 73 he left two sons and two daughters, and was survived by his wife Frances.

Legacy Barkley Sound between Ucluelet and Bamfield on the west coast of Vancouver Island is named for him. The Seamen wrote "Charles Barkley" in 2018, a rap song that has many references to the explorer.