Brentwood Bay is a community within Central Saanich, located on the eastern shore of Saanich Inlet, about 11 miles (18 km) north-northwest of the city of Victoria and 6 miles (10 km) south-southwest of Sidney, British Columbia. Named in 1925 for Brentwood, Essex, England, the hometown of Robert M. Horne-Payne, president of the British Columbia Electric Company, it was originally called Sluggett after John Sluggett, a pioneer from Devonshire, England, who settled there in 1876. Central Saanich is one of 13 municipalities in Greater Victoria on Vancouver Island‘s southern tip. Saanich Inlet is a temperate marine fjord, the estuary of the Goldstream River, lying between the Saanich Peninsula and the Malahat Highlands. The inlet is about 16 miles (25 km) long, with a maximum depth of 741 feet (226 m). Due to limited circulation, the water near the bottom is anoxic for much of the year, with hydrogen sulfide often present. The Goldstream River drains a watershed of 98,842 acres (40,000 ha), flowing southeast from the Malahat Highlands for 14 miles (22 km) and then north for 2.5 miles (4 km) to the inlet’s head. The mountainous terrain of Vancouver Island is composed almost entirely of rocks from the Wrangellia terrane, which accreted to the North American continental margin in the Late Jurassic or Early Cretaceous period. Wrangellia consists of Devonian-age volcanic arc and sedimentary rocks, with granitic intrusive rocks from the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous period. These granitic intrusions appear on the island as small batholiths, dikes, and plutons, such as those underlying the Malahat Highlands and the Saanich Peninsula. The bedrock at Brentwood Bay is part of mid-Paleozoic volcanic arc rocks associated with the Sicker Group, including quartz diorite and quartz–feldspar that formed about 365 million years ago. Overlying the granitic rocks on the eastern coast is the Nanaimo Group, a thick series of Cretaceous sedimentary rocks. The Nanaimo Group consists mainly of conglomerates, sandstone, shale, and coal near the base. These rocks are weaker than the plutonic rocks and more easily eroded, as evident in the low coastal plains and valleys on the southeastern coast.

The Coast Salish people have inhabited Vancouver Island for thousands of years, establishing settlements based on resource availability such as food and building materials. During summer, they lived in fish camps, and in winter, they resided in permanent villages of plank houses. While northern tribes like the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian were matrilineal, kinship in the southern Wakashan and Coast Salish tribes prevailed through both parents, resulting in extensive relationships. The Coast Salish first encountered Europeans in the 1700s but lost many to smallpox and other diseases. In the mid-19th century, the Hudson’s Bay Company, chartered by the British government, began colonizing Vancouver Island. Governor James Douglas negotiated fourteen land purchases from the Coast Salish, known as the Douglas Treaties, over four years. These treaties covered approximately 230,399 acres (93,240 ha) in exchange for cash, clothing, and blankets. The treaties allowed the Coast Salish to retain existing village lands and fields, and permitted them to hunt and fish on the surrendered lands. The Saanich Peninsula and the area around Saanich Inlet are within the traditional territory of the Saanich First Nation. For generations, the Tseycum and Pauquachin bands of North Saanich, the Tsartlip and Tsawout bands of South Saanich, and the Malahat on the west shore of Saanich Inlet have fished for coho, Chinook, and chum salmon in the Goldstream River, Saanich Inlet, and adjacent straits. Chum salmon, the most abundant species returning to the Goldstream River, are a major food resource, harvested each year from mid-October to early December. Until the 1950s, the Saanich people obtained much of their food from the waters of Saanich Inlet, either by fishing for family subsistence or working as wage laborers in commercial fisheries. However, once the fisheries became licensed and opened to non-indigenous commercial and recreational fishers, the Saanich First Nation community could no longer compete. In addition to direct losses of salmon due to overfishing, increased pollution in Saanich Inlet threatens migrating Goldstream River salmon and the health of the Saanich people. Salmon, herring, and eelgrass have all significantly declined as pollution has increased, damaging the marine ecosystem where these interdependent species once thrived.

Streetcar and interurban rail services began in southwestern British Columbia in 1890-91. In 1890, the National Electric Tramway and Lighting Company Limited launched streetcar service in Victoria but went into receivership during the global depression. In 1895, it was amalgamated into the Consolidated Railway and Light Company, which also faced receivership after the Point Ellice streetcar accident. It was reorganized as the British Columbia Electric Railway Company Limited in April 1897. This company operated electric trains in southwestern British Columbia, including an interurban rail line on Vancouver Island between Victoria and Deep Cove at the north end of the Saanich Peninsula, which was one of three passenger railways serving the area. In 1897, the Esquimalt Waterworks Company and the British Columbia Electric Railway agreed to generate electricity using water from high-elevation reservoirs on the Goldstream River. This power supplied Victoria and the interurban railway system. Water was run through Pelton waterwheels and then flowed into the Japan Gulch Reservoir for domestic use. In 1912, BC Electric completed a hydroelectric dam and power plant on the Jordan River, about 32 miles (51 km) west of Victoria, and built a high-tension transmission line to the city. The transmission line between Jordan River and the substation in Victoria was vulnerable to damage, so a secondary power source was established at Brentwood Bay. BC Electric built a steam-powered plant there as an auxiliary. The site was chosen for its tidewater frontage, allowing direct fuel oil delivery by sea and ample water for condensing. Initially, the plant was to operate only when power from Jordan River was unavailable. However, the storage capacity of the Jordan River dams could not meet the urban area’s hydroelectric demands, making the Brentwood Bay plant a full-time component of power development on Vancouver Island. The Victoria–Deep Cove rail line closed in 1924 due to low ridership, and the last interurban rail service ended in 1958. In 1961, the provincial government took over BC Electric, making the railway a division of the Crown corporation BC Hydro. Today, there is no rail service on the Saanich Peninsula and the last train service on Vancouver Island was discontinued in 2011. Brentwood Bay is now a residential community with a ferry link across Saanich Inlet to Mill Bay via the MV Klitsa and is home to the famous Butchart Gardens. Read more here and here. Explore more of Brentwood Bay and Saanich Inlet here: