James Byers

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James Byers was an American shipowner, merchant and sealer in New York, originally from Springfield, Massachusetts. [1]

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Byers sent a four-vessel sealing fleet to the South Shetland Islands in 1820-21. He also lobbied US Secretary of State John Quincy Adams and President James Monroe to send a warship and take possession of the islands, suggesting that the American sealers were prepared to establish a permanent settlement there.

Honor

Byers Peninsula on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands is named after James Byers.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Shetland Islands</span> Group of islands north of the Antarctic Peninsula

The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands with a total area of 3,687 km2 (1,424 sq mi). They lie about 120 kilometres north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between 430 and 900 km southwest of the nearest point of the South Orkney Islands. By the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, the islands' sovereignty is neither recognized nor disputed by the signatories and they are free for use by any signatory for non-military purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Livingston Island</span> Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica

Livingston Island is an Antarctic island in the Southern Ocean, part of the South Shetlands Archipelago, a group of Antarctic islands north of the Antarctic Peninsula. It was the first land discovered south of 60° south latitude in 1819, a historic event that marked the end of a centuries-long pursuit of the mythical Terra Australis Incognita and the beginning of the exploration and utilization of real Antarctica. The name Livingston, although of unknown derivation, has been well established in international usage since the early 1820s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rugged Island (South Shetland Islands)</span> Antarctic island

Rugged Island is an island 3 miles (4.8 km) long and 1 mile (1.6 km) wide, lying west of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands. Its surface area is 10.4 square kilometres (4.0 sq mi). The island's summit San Stefano Peak rises to 256 metres (840 ft) above sea level. Rugged Island is located at 62°38′S61°15′W. Rugged Island was known to both American and British sealers as early as 1820, and the name has been well established in international usage for over 100 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nikopol Point</span> Ice-free point on the south coast of Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island

Nikopol Point is an ice-free point on the south coast of Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica projecting 650 m east-southeastwards into Bransfield Strait and linked by a spit to Vietor Rock to the south. The area was visited by early 19th century sealers who had dwellings at the foothills of nearby Sealer Hill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Sheffield</span>

Cape Sheffield is a cape forming the northwest extremity of Rugged Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. It was named for Captain James P. Sheffield, Master of the brig Hersilia of Stonington, Connecticut, in 1819–20 and 1820–21, the first American sealer known to have visited the South Shetland Islands. In 1819–20 he took 8,868 sealskins from headquarters at Rugged Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brunow Bay</span>

Brunow Bay is a 2.33 km wide bay indenting for 1.5 km the southeast side of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The bay is entered between Samuel Point and Vazov Point, and has its northwestern coast formed by the terminus of Macy Glacier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Byers Peninsula</span>

Byers Peninsula is a mainly ice-free peninsula forming the west end of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. It occupies 60 km2 (23 sq mi), borders Ivanov Beach to the northeast and is separated from Rotch Dome on the east by the ridge of Urvich Wall. The peninsula features more than 60 meltwater streams and as many lakes, notably Midge Lake, Limnopolar Lake and Basalt Lake. Byers Peninsula has a regime of special environmental protection under the Antarctic Treaty System and requires a permit to enter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barnard Point</span> Headland in Antarctica

Barnard Point is a headland which marks the south-east side of the entrance to False Bay on the south side of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. It is situated on Rozhen Peninsula, 1.5 km (1 mi) north-north-west of Botev Point and 6.6 km (4 mi) south-east of Miers Bluff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hell Gates</span>

Hell Gates is a narrow boat passage between the Vardim Rocks and Devils Point on Byers Peninsula, connecting Raskuporis Cove and Osogovo Bay at the southwest end of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The name dates back to about 1821 and was applied by early sealers in the area because many lives and ships were lost here.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robbery Beaches</span>

Robbery Beaches are beaches extending along the north side of Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica between Essex Point to the west and Nedelya Point to the east. They are crossed by Eridanus Stream and Bedek Stream.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camp Byers</span> Antarctic camp

Camp Byers is a Spanish seasonal base camp on Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The locality is also designated for use as an International Field Camp. When necessary for scientific research purposes, temporary camping is allowed elsewhere on the protected peninsula under certain conditions.

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Benson Point is the ice-free headland forming the southwest extremity of Rugged Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. It is a northwest entrance point for Morton Strait. The area was known to early 19th century sealers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Window Island</span> Island in Antarctica

Window Island is a small ice-free island off the north coast of Ray Promontory in the northwest of Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The island has a surface area of 23 hectares and rises to 72 m (236 ft). It was known to the early 19th century sealers operating on Byers Peninsula.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wasp Hill</span>

Wasp Hill is a hill rising to 72 meters in the southwest part of Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Surmounting Sevar Point to the south-southwest. The area was visited by 19th century sealers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederick Rocks</span> Group of rocks in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica

Frederick Rocks is a group of rocks lying in Barclay Bay on the north side of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The area was visited by early 19th century sealers operating on nearby Byers Peninsula.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vietor Rock</span> Rock in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica

Vietor Rock is a rock linked by a spit to Nikopol Point on the south coast of Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The area was visited by early 19th century sealers operating on Byers Peninsula.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stackpole Rocks</span> Group of rocks in Antarctica

Stackpole Rocks is a group of rocks, the largest of them linked by a spit to the east extremity of South Beaches in Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The area was visited by early 19th century sealers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stewart Stacks</span>

Stewart Stacks is a group of prominent sea stacks, one of them rising to 25 m, lying between Rugged Island and Astor Island in the northeast of Osogovo Bay, western Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The area was visited by early 19th century sealers.

The Hersilia was an American merchant vessel and the first from the United States to visit the South Shetland Islands. During its second voyage it was seized by Vicente Benavides, a Royalist commander in the Chilean War of Independence, who ordered its destruction late in 1821.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivanov Beach</span> South Shetland Islands, Antarctica

Ivanov Beach is a mostly ice-free beach on the Drake Passage stretching 5 km (3.1 mi) in southwest–northeast direction on the southeast coast of Barclay Bay in western Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands in Antarctica. It extends to Nedelya Point and Byers Peninsula on the southwest, Rowe Point and Etar Snowfield on the northeast, and the slopes of Rotch Dome on the southeast. Its ice-free area is ca. 144 hectares.

References

Notes

  1. The First American Discoveries in the Antarctic, 1819, The American Historical Review Vol. 16, No. 4 (Jul., 1911), pp. 794-798, at p. 765. Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Historical Association. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1835710