William Owen (British naval officer)

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William Owen, (1737 – 1778), born in Wales, was a member of the Royal Navy and lost an arm from a wound suffered during the Seven Years' War. Not content with the half pension he was receiving, he contacted a former fellow officer, Lord William Campbell, who had recently been appointed governor of Nova Scotia. Late in 1766, Owen travelled with Campbell to Halifax. The following year, as payment for his work in aide of Campbell, he was awarded a large parcel of land. The grant, which included three of his nephews as grantees, was Passamaquoddy Outer Island in Passamaquoddy Bay. In 1770, Owen renamed the island Campobello Island after Lord Campbell; he also took into account the Italian meaning, "fair field", of the new name. Owen was killed in Madras, India while carrying dispatches from India to England.