 Port Cooper had been named after the proprietors of the Sydney whaling and trading firm of Cooper & Levy.Rumours that ports Cooper and Levy bore the names of two transported convicts seemed scandalous to the Canterbury Association.Captain Thomas was instructed to rename them Port Victoria and Port Albert for the Queen and her consort, but he chose the name "Lyttelton" after Lord Lyttelton of Hagley, a member of the Canterbury Association, and Port Levy's name was never changed.