Port Egmont (Spanish: Puerto de la Cruzada; French: Poil de la Croisade) was the first British settlement in the Falkland Islands, on Saunders Island off West Falkland, and is named after John Perceval, 2nd Earl of Egmont, who was First Lord of the Admiralty at the time of its founding.
The original name for the settlement was Jason's Town and the term Port Egmont referred to the body of water encompassed by Saunders Island, Keppel Island and the main island of West Falkland. [1] Fort George was the small garrison established nearby. [2] The details of the settlement are included on a map drawn by Carrington Bowles and first published in 1770; only one known copy remains.
Port Egmont was established in on 25 January 1765, by an expedition led by Commodore John Byron consisting of the boats HMS Dolphin, HMS Tamar and HMS Florida. The expedition left a watering place and a vegetable garden.
Another expedition arrived around a year later in January 1766, led by Captain John MacBride, with the ships HMS Jason, HMS Carcass and HMS Experiment after which Carcass Island and the Jason Islands are named. This was to secure possession, and McBride ordered one of the ships to stay at Port Egmont, and develop the settlement, resulting in several permanent buildings and a garrison. MacBride, in command of HMS Jason, carried out the first hydrographic survey of the Falklands in 1766 and discovered a number of minor islands including Weddell, Beaver and New Islands off the southwest extremity of the archipelago. The chart based on that survey [4] was one of the most accurate for its time. [5] [6] MacBride also made the first systematic meteorological observations in the Falklands. In January and February the thermometer at Port Egmont rose to 59 °F (15 °C), but no higher; in August, it once fell to 20 °F (−7 °C), but was seldom lower than 32 °F (0 °C). [7]
The next few years resulted in conflicting claims with the French and Spanish, with the British using Port Egmont as a basis for their claim. In early 1770 Spanish commander Don Juan Ignacio de Madariaga briefly visited Port Egmont. He returned from Argentina on 10 June with five armed ships and 1400 soldiers forcing the British to leave Port Egmont.
In 1771, after threats of war with Spain, the colony was re-established by Captain John Stott with the ships HMS Juno, HMS Hound and HMS Florida, the latter being at the founding of the original settlement. The port became an important stop for ships going around Cape Horn
In 1774, Britain abandoned many of its overseas garrisons for economic reasons and Port Egmont was no exception due to the result of the American Revolution. In 1776, the British forces left leaving a lead plate stating that the island was still a British possession. The colony was immediately taken over by sealers but in 1780 the buildings were destroyed under orders from Spanish authorities.
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The history of the Falkland Islands goes back at least five hundred years, with active exploration and colonisation only taking place in the 18th century. Nonetheless, the Falkland Islands have been a matter of controversy, as they have been claimed by the French, British, Spaniards and Argentines at various points.
East Falkland is the largest island of the Falklands in the South Atlantic, having an area of 6,605 km2 or 54% of the total area of the Falklands. The island consists of two main land masses, of which the more southerly is known as Lafonia; it is joined by a narrow isthmus where the settlement of Goose Green is located, and it was the scene of the Battle of Goose Green during the Falklands War.
Weddell Island is one of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic, lying off the southwest extremity of West Falkland. It is situated 1,545 km (960 mi) west-northwest of South Georgia Island, 1,165 km (724 mi) north of Livingston Island, 606 km (377 mi) northeast of Cape Horn, 358 km (222 mi) northeast of Isla de los Estados, and 510 km (320 mi) east of the Atlantic entrance to Magellan Strait.
Carcass Island is the largest of the West Point Island Group of the Falkland Islands.
Saunders Island is the fourth largest of the Falkland Islands, lying north west of West Falkland. The island is run as a sheep farm.
HMS Dolphin was a 24-gun sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. Launched in 1751, she was used as a survey ship from 1764 and made two circumnavigations of the world under the successive commands of John Byron and Samuel Wallis. She was the first ship to circumnavigate the world twice. She remained in service until she was paid off in September 1776. She was broken up in early 1777.
In December 1832, two naval vessels were sent by the United Kingdom to re-assert British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, after the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata ignored British diplomatic protests over the appointment of Luis Vernet as governor of the Falkland Islands and a dispute over fishing rights.
Sovereignty over the Falkland Islands is disputed by Argentina and the United Kingdom. The British claim to sovereignty dates from 1690, when they made the first recorded landing on the islands, and the United Kingdom has exercised de facto sovereignty over the archipelago almost continuously since 1833. Argentina has long disputed this claim, having been in control of the islands for a few years prior to 1833. The dispute escalated in 1982, when Argentina invaded the islands, precipitating the Falklands War.
Puerto Deseado, originally called Port Desire, is a city of about 15,000 inhabitants and a fishing port in Patagonia in Santa Cruz Province of Argentina, on the estuary of the Deseado River.
The Malaspina Expedition (1789–1794) was a five-year maritime scientific exploration commanded by Alessandro Malaspina and José de Bustamante y Guerra. Although the expedition receives its name from Malaspina, he always insisted on giving Bustamante an equal share of command. Bustamante however acknowledged Malaspina as the "head of the expedition" since the beginning.
MacBrideHead is the most northeasterly point of the Falkland Islands, and is on East Falkland. Mount MacBride is just to its south. There is a sea lion colony here.
The Falklands Crisis of 1770 was a diplomatic standoff between Great Britain and Spain over possession of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. These events were nearly the cause of a war between Britain and Spain—backed by France—and all three countries were poised to dispatch armed fleets to defend the rival claims to sovereignty of the barren but strategically important islands.
José de Bustamante y Guerra, sometimes referred to simply as Bustamante, was a Spanish naval officer, explorer, and politician.
The Falkland Islands have a complex history stretching over five hundred years. Active exploration and colonisation began in the 18th century but a self-supporting colony was not established till the latter part of the 19th century. Nonetheless, the islands have been a matter of controversy, as due to their strategic position in the 18th century their sovereignty was claimed by the French, Spaniards, British and Argentines at various points.
HMS Boyne was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Plymouth Dockyard to the draught specified in the 1745 Establishment as amended in 1754, and launched on 31 May 1766. She was first commissioned for the Falkland Crisis of 1770 after which, in 1774, she sailed for North America. From March 1776, she served in the English Channel then, in May 1778, she was sent to the West Indies where she took part in the battles of St Lucia, Grenada and Martinique. In November 1780, Boyne returned home, where she was fitted for ordinary at Plymouth. In May 1783, she was broken up.
Duplicate: List of Falkland Islands–related topics
John MacBride was a British officer of the Royal Navy and a politician who saw service during the Seven Years' War, the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary Wars, eventually rising to the rank of Admiral of the Blue.
The Descubierta and Atrevida were twin corvettes of the Spanish Navy, custom-designed as identical special exploration and scientific research vessels. They were built at the same time for the Malaspina Expedition. Under the command of Alejandro Malaspina (Descubierta) and José de Bustamante y Guerra (Atrevida) the two vessels sailed from Spain to the Pacific Ocean, conducting a thorough examination of the internal politics of the American Spanish Empire and the Philippines. They explored the coast of Alaska and worked to reinforce Spain's claim to the Pacific Northwest in the aftermath of the Nootka Crisis. After crossing the Pacific Ocean, the colonial government in the Philippines was examined. Exploration and diplomatic reconnaissance followed, with stops in Qing dynasty-era China, New Zealand, Australia, and Tonga.
The Capture of Port Egmont on 10 June 1770 was a Spanish expedition that seized the British fort of Port Egmont on the Falkland Islands, garrisoned since 1765. The incident nearly led to war between Great Britain and Spain, known as the Falklands Crisis.
