queen charlotte sound was named by james strange on august 5, 1786, in honour of queen charlotte, the consort of king george iii. strange was the leader of a fur trading expedition of two vessels, the "captain cook", under captain henry lawrie, and the "experiment", under captain john guise. during a boat excursion up goletas channel, strange saw an opening ahead and named it queen charlotte sound. the body of water he named was what is today known as queen charlotte strait. for some time queen charlotte strait was also called queen charlotte sound, until 1920 when the bcgnis and hydrographic service distinguished between queen charlotte sound and queen charlotte strait. george vancouver, who used the name in his maps and writings, wrote that the sound was named by mr. s. wedgeborough, in command of the "experiment" under james strange, but this is probably a mistake.