East Falkland
Encyclopedia
East Falkland the largest of the Falkland Islands
in the South Atlantic, has an area of 6605 square kilometres (2,550.2 sq mi) and a coastline 1668.7 kilometres (1,036.9 mi) long. Most of the population of the Falklands live in East Falkland, almost all of them living in the northern half of the island. The isthmus
that links the southern half of the island, (Lafonia
) to the northern half was the scene of the Battle of Goose Green
during the Falklands War
.
, 705 m (2,313 ft) in the Wickham Heights
. The remainder of the island consists chiefly of low undulating ground, a mixture of pasture and morass, with many shallow freshwater tarns, and small streams running in the valleys. The geology is mostly sandstone
, with some quartzite
and slate
, and the soil often poor and acidic. Two fine inlets, Berkeley Sound and Port William, run far into the land at the north-eastern extremity of the island.
The island is almost bisected by two deep fjord
s, Choiseul Sound
and Brenton Loch
-Grantham Sound
which leaves the northern portion and Lafonia
in the south, connected only by an isthmus just under 1.5 miles (2.4 km) wide. The island contains many smaller bays, inlets and headland.
Other scenery includes stone run
s, heathland, and bog
s. Gypsy Cove
is noted as a beauty spot.
Stanley
, the capital of the islands and the main seaport is in East Falkland. The islands' (Anglican) Christchurch cathedral
is also in Stanley.
Port Louis, at the head of Berkeley Sound, was once the seat of government. However, the anchorage there was found to be rather too exposed and about 1844 a town was laid out, and the necessary public buildings were erected on Stanley Harbour, a sheltered recess within Port William.
Other settlements include Port Louis
, Darwin
, Port San Carlos
, San Carlos
, Salvador, Johnson's Harbour
, Fitzroy
, Mare Harbour
, and Goose Green
.
East Falkland also has two airports with paved runways, Port Stanley Airport
and RAF Mount Pleasant
. There is a lighthouse at Cape Pembroke near Stanley. East Falkland contains most of the archipelago's few roads.
The main industries on the island are fishing, sheep farming, government, and tourism. Some oats are also grown, but due to high humidity and acidic soil, the land is mainly used for grazing.
As Stanley is the capital, and East Falkland is the most populous island, it performs an economic role as the hub of the archipelago. Many cruise ship
s now stop there.
A large economic role is also played by RAF Mount Pleasant
, which has a number of British military personnel based there. Although these number a few hundred, their economic role in a population of under two thousand cannot be underestimated.
Smaller industries include horse and cattle farming, and there is also recent evidence to suggest possible valuable mineral deposits on the island.
Due to more intensive human settlement, East Falkland has the corresponding conservation problems. The warrah was one of the first casualties, as Darwin
says in The Voyage of the Beagle
:
Rats have also been introduced, but despite this, the island has a great deal of marine life, including penguin
s of various kinds.
Guanacos were unsuccessfully introduced in 1862 to East Falkland south of Mt Pleasant where Prince Alfred
hunted them in 1871 http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=16712001. They have since become extinct, but are still on Staats Island
Charles Darwin
surveyed the area's wildlife, while on HMS Beagle
.
The first permanent settlement on East Falkland began with Louis de Bougainville establishing Port Louis
on Berkeley Sound
in 1764. The French settlement included a number of Bretons
, and the islands became known as "Îles Malouines" (the islands of St Malo), later hispanicised as "Islas Malvinas". For years, Port Louis was the main settlement, not only on East Falkland, but the entire archipelago and a subject of controversy.
In October 1820, Colonel David Jewett
, sought shelter in the islands after his ship, the frigate Heroina
, was damaged in a storm. Jewett was an American privateer employed as captain by the Buenos Aires businessman Patrick Lynch who had obtained a corsair license for the ship from the Buenos Aires Supreme Director Jose Rondeau. On 6 November 1820 he raised the flag of the United Provinces of the River Plate at Port Louis and claimed possession of the entire archipelago in the name of the United Provinces of the South (which later became the United Provinces of The River Plate and ultimately Argentina). Eye witnesses present, such as James Weddell
, opined that the ceremony was designed to establish a salvage claim over a French wreck.
In 1823, Argentina granted fishing rights to Jorge Pacheco and Luis Vernet
. Their first expedition to the islands ended in failure and Pacheco abandoned the venture. Vernet persisted with a second expedition in 1826 also ending in failure due to the combination of the Brazilian blockade of Argentina and the conditions encountered. Vernet finally succeeded on establishing a permanent settlement at Puerto Soledad
in 1828. Prior to both expeditions, Vernet had approached the British consulate in Buenos Aires
seeking permission for his venture in the islands. Subsequently Vernet furnished the consulate with progress reports and urged the establishment of a permanent British garrison in the islands.
In 1829, Vernet approached the Government of Buenos Aires requesting that the settlement be supported by a naval vessel. That request was refused, instead Vernet was proclaimed to be Governor and authorised to act using his own resources. The British consul lodged a formal protest over the proclamation, which went unanswered, whilst Vernet assured the British consul that his interest was purely commercial and once more urged the British to establish a permanent presence in the islands. Vernet was the first person to be proclaimed Governor, although modern Argentine texts claim the Captains of the Heroina and Pachego as "governors".
"Puerto Luis" as it was renamed became a seal hunting base and small fishing port. Vernet later seized the American ship, Harriet, for breaking the monopoly he claimed on seal hunting; one that had not been recognised by the American or British Governments (both formally disputed the restrictions through their consuls in Buenos Aires). Property on board the ship was seized and the captain was returned to Buenos Aires to stand trial. Vernet also returned for the trial. The American Consul in Argentina protested the actions by Vernet, stating that the United States did not recognise Argentine sovereignty in the Falklands.
Therefore, the American consul dispatched the USS Lexington warship to the Puerto Luis to retake the confiscated property, as well as the "Superior" and "Breakwater" which had also been seized. As a result, the USS Lexington
attacked Puerto Luis in 1832, an act which was later condoned by the American ambassador in Buenos Aires, who declared the Falkland Islands
free from any power. There is some dispute as to the outcome of the attack, modern Argentina claims the settlement was destroyed whilst Duncan's log describes spiking the guns of the settelement and destroying the powder store. Duncan arrested the seven senior members of Vernet's settlement for piracy and provided transport to Montevideo for any member of the settlement who wished to leave. The majority of the population chose to leave claiming Vernet had misled them about the miserable conditions in the islands. Following these events Vernet resigned as Governor, in 1832 the Argentine Government appointed as governor, Esteban José Francisco Mestivier, and sought to establish a penal colony
in the islands (Mestivier's appointment was in fact the only Argentine appointment to follow the norms of the time and was properly gazetted). Shortly after his arrival in the islands Mestivier was murdered by his own men and the settlement was in chaos.
These events provided the spur for Britain to return to the islands, (See Re-establishment of British rule on the Falklands (1833)), requesting that the Argentine
military presence leave on 3 January 1833 (although members of the settlement were encouraged to remain). "Puerto Luis" was initially renamed "Ansons Harbour" before reverting to "Port Louis" in line with the original French name of the settlement Port Saint Louis, and became a naval garrison and civilian settlement.
Shortly after this, the second voyage of HMS Beagle
surveyed the island. The names of two settlements on East Falkland, Darwin
and Fitzroy
, commemorate Charles Darwin
and Robert FitzRoy
respectively. On the 15 March 1833, an unimpressed Darwin commented that
In 1836, the island was surveyed by Admiral George Grey, and further in 1837 by Lowcay. Admiral George Grey, conducting the geographic survey in November 1836 had the following to say about their first view of East Falkland –
In 1845 Mr Samuel Fisher Lafone, a wealthy cattle and hide merchant from Montevideo
on the River Plate
, obtained a grant of the southern portion of the East Falkland from the British government, He purchased this peninsula, 600000 acres (2,428.1 km²) in extent, together with possession of all the wild cattle on East Falkland for a period of six years, for a payment of £10,000 down, and £20,000 in ten years from 1 January 1852. In 1851 the Falkland Islands Company, which had been incorporated by charter in the same year, bought Mr Lafone's interest in Lafonia
, as the peninsula came to be called, for £30,000. Lafone himself never visited the islands. The remnants of this endeavour are the ruins at Hope Place
and the stone corral at Darwin.
In 1859, Darwin
was founded.
Although used for sheep farming since the early nineteenth century, East Falkland was dominated by cattle farming until the 1850s.
In 1925 the Bodie Suspension Bridge
was built across a creek in Lafonia, and is said to be the southernmost in the world, and is still in pedestrian use today.
In April 1982, East Falkland was invaded by Argentina
. Governor Sir Rex Hunt was informed by the British Government of a possible Argentine invasion on Wednesday 31 March. The Governor summoned the two senior Royal Marines
officers of Naval Party 8901 to Government House in Stanley to discuss the options for defending the Falklands. Major Mike Norman RM was given overall command of the Marines due to his seniority, while Major Gary Noott RM became the military advisor to Governor Hunt. The total strength was 68 Marines and 11 sailors, which was greater than would normally have been available because the garrison was in the process of changing over. But their numbers were reinforced by 25 Falkland Islands Defence Force
(FIDF) members. Their commanding officer, Major Phil Sommers, tasked the volunteer militiamen with guarding such key points as the telephone exchange
, the radio station and the power station
. Skipper Jack Solis, onboard the civilian coastal ship Forrest operated his boat as an improvised radar screen station off Stanley.
East Falkland was also the location of the bulk of the action in the Falklands War
. As a result, some areas of the "Camp"
in East Falkland are still heavily mined. Areas that saw intensive action included Goose Green
, San Carlos
, Mount Longdon
and the Two Sisters ridge.
. Most of the improvements in the islands have taken place on East Falkland.
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
in the South Atlantic, has an area of 6605 square kilometres (2,550.2 sq mi) and a coastline 1668.7 kilometres (1,036.9 mi) long. Most of the population of the Falklands live in East Falkland, almost all of them living in the northern half of the island. The isthmus
Isthmus
An isthmus is a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas usually with waterforms on either side.Canals are often built through isthmuses where they may be particularly advantageous to create a shortcut for marine transportation...
that links the southern half of the island, (Lafonia
Lafonia
Lafonia is a peninsula forming the southern part of East Falkland, the largest of the Falkland Islands.-Geography and geology:Shaped like the letter "E", it is joined to the northern part of the island by a 1.5-mile narrow isthmus; were this isthmus to be severed, Lafonia would be the third...
) to the northern half was the scene of the Battle of Goose Green
Battle of Goose Green
The Battle of Goose Green was an engagement of the Falklands War between British and Argentine forces. Goose Green and its neighbour Darwin are settlements on East Falkland in the Falkland Islands. They lie on Choiseul Sound on the east side of the island's central isthmus...
during the Falklands War
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
.
Geography
The northern part of the island is hilly, and is crossed by a rugged range, the Wickham Heights, running east and west, and rising in some places to a height of just over 600 metres (1,968.5 ft). The highest point, and the highest point in the whole island group, is Mount UsborneMount Usborne
Mount Usborne is a mountain on East Falkland. At above sea level, it is the highest point in the Falkland Islands.The mountain is referenced by Charles Darwin in Chapter 9 of the Zoology of the Voyage of the Beagle and is named after , Master's Assistant on HMS Beagle, the ship that took Darwin...
, 705 m (2,313 ft) in the Wickham Heights
Wickham Heights
The Wickham Heights are a rugged chain of mountains on East Falkland in the Falkland Islands. They include the island group's highest peak, Mount Usborne, Mount Wickham and are partly contiguous with No Man's Land...
. The remainder of the island consists chiefly of low undulating ground, a mixture of pasture and morass, with many shallow freshwater tarns, and small streams running in the valleys. The geology is mostly sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
, with some quartzite
Quartzite
Quartzite is a hard metamorphic rock which was originally sandstone. Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tectonic compression within orogenic belts. Pure quartzite is usually white to gray, though quartzites often occur in various shades of pink...
and slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
, and the soil often poor and acidic. Two fine inlets, Berkeley Sound and Port William, run far into the land at the north-eastern extremity of the island.
The island is almost bisected by two deep fjord
Fjord
Geologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.-Formation:A fjord is formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Glacial melting is accompanied by rebound of Earth's crust as the ice...
s, Choiseul Sound
Choiseul Sound
Choiseul Sound is a stretch of sea in the Falkland Islands. It runs parallel to Eagle Passage and is between Lafonia and the north of East Falkland. Lively Island is in its mouth....
and Brenton Loch
Brenton Loch
Brenton Loch is an inlet-cum-small fjord in the Falkland Islands. It is one of a handful of so-called sea lochs outside Scotland. It is sometimes known as "Brenton Sound". "Loch" is normally pronounced as "lock" in the English rather than Scottish manner, i.e. without a fricative "ch"...
-Grantham Sound
Grantham Sound
Grantham Sound is a bay on East Falkland, Falkland Islands, which opens out into the Falkland Sound. At its landward end, it narrows and becomes Brenton Loch . Mount Usborne overlooks it....
which leaves the northern portion and Lafonia
Lafonia
Lafonia is a peninsula forming the southern part of East Falkland, the largest of the Falkland Islands.-Geography and geology:Shaped like the letter "E", it is joined to the northern part of the island by a 1.5-mile narrow isthmus; were this isthmus to be severed, Lafonia would be the third...
in the south, connected only by an isthmus just under 1.5 miles (2.4 km) wide. The island contains many smaller bays, inlets and headland.
Other scenery includes stone run
Stone run
A stone run is a conspicuous rock landform, result of the erosion of particular rock varieties caused by myriad freezing-thawing cycles taking place in periglacial conditions during the last Ice Age.The actual formation of stone runs involved no less than five processes: weathering, solifluction,...
s, heathland, and bog
Bog
A bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens....
s. Gypsy Cove
Gypsy Cove
Gypsy Cove and Yorke Bay are a pair of small bays in the Falkland Islands. They are on East Falkland. Gypsy Cove is four miles from Stanley, and can be reached by local bus which runs every hour....
is noted as a beauty spot.
Population and infrastructure
Stanley, Falkland Islands
Stanley is the capital and only true cityin the Falkland Islands. It is located on the isle of East Falkland, on a north-facing slope in one of the wettest parts of the islands. At the 2006 census, the city had a population of 2,115...
, the capital of the islands and the main seaport is in East Falkland. The islands' (Anglican) Christchurch cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
is also in Stanley.
Port Louis, at the head of Berkeley Sound, was once the seat of government. However, the anchorage there was found to be rather too exposed and about 1844 a town was laid out, and the necessary public buildings were erected on Stanley Harbour, a sheltered recess within Port William.
Other settlements include Port Louis
Port Louis, Falkland Islands
Port Louis is a settlement on northeastern East Falkland. It was established by Louis de Bougainville in 1764 as the first French settlement on the islands, but was then transferred to Spain in 1767 and renamed Puerto Soledad .-History:The settlement has seen several name changes...
, Darwin
Darwin, Falkland Islands
Darwin is a settlement in Lafonia on East Falkland, lying on Choiseul Sound, on the east side of the island's central isthmus, north of Goose Green...
, Port San Carlos
Port San Carlos
Port San Carlos is located on the northern bank of the inlet known as Port San Carlos, off San Carlos Water on the Western coast of East Falkland, in the Falkland Islands...
, San Carlos
San Carlos, Falkland Islands
San Carlos is a settlement in northwestern East Falkland, lying south of Port San Carlos on San Carlos Water. It is sometimes nicknamed "JB" after a former owner, Jack Bonner.-History:...
, Salvador, Johnson's Harbour
Johnson's Harbour
Johnson's Harbour is a settlement on the north east coast of East Falkland in the Falkland Islands. It is on the shore of Berkeley Sound at the head of Chabot Creek on a bay also named Johnson's Harbour. It has a small store but the FIGAS only lands there for emergencies...
, Fitzroy
Fitzroy, Falkland Islands
Fitzroy is a settlement on East Falkland. It is divided into Fitzroy North and Fitzroy South.It is named after Robert FitzRoy who sailed with Charles Darwin on HMS Beagle, andis on the inlet known as Port Pleasant....
, Mare Harbour
Mare Harbour
Mare Harbour Mare Harbour Mare Harbour (Spanish: Puerto Yegua is a small settlement on East Falkland, on Choiseul Sound. It is mostly used as a port facility and depot for RAF Mount Pleasant, as well as a deepwater port used by the Royal Navy ships patrolling the South Atlantic and Antarctica,...
, and Goose Green
Goose Green
Goose Green is a settlement in Lafonia on East Falkland in the Falkland Islands. It lies on Choiseul Sound, on the east side of the island's central isthmus, south-southwest of Darwin. With a population of about 70, it is the second largest settlement of the Falkland Islands.Goose Green has a shop...
.
East Falkland also has two airports with paved runways, Port Stanley Airport
Port Stanley Airport
Port Stanley Airport is a STOLport in the Falkland Islands, two miles outside the capital, Stanley. The airport is the only civilian airport in the islands with a paved runway...
and RAF Mount Pleasant
RAF Mount Pleasant
RAF Mount Pleasant is a military base for the Royal Air Force in the British Overseas Territory of the Falkland Islands. The facility is part of the British Forces South Atlantic Islands...
. There is a lighthouse at Cape Pembroke near Stanley. East Falkland contains most of the archipelago's few roads.
Economy
As Stanley is the capital, and East Falkland is the most populous island, it performs an economic role as the hub of the archipelago. Many cruise ship
Cruise ship
A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...
s now stop there.
A large economic role is also played by RAF Mount Pleasant
RAF Mount Pleasant
RAF Mount Pleasant is a military base for the Royal Air Force in the British Overseas Territory of the Falkland Islands. The facility is part of the British Forces South Atlantic Islands...
, which has a number of British military personnel based there. Although these number a few hundred, their economic role in a population of under two thousand cannot be underestimated.
Smaller industries include horse and cattle farming, and there is also recent evidence to suggest possible valuable mineral deposits on the island.
Wildlife
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
says in The Voyage of the Beagle
The Voyage of the Beagle
The Voyage of the Beagle is a title commonly given to the book written by Charles Darwin and published in 1839 as his Journal and Remarks, bringing him considerable fame and respect...
:
- "The only quadruped native to the island is a large wolf-like fox (Canis antarcticus), which is common to both East and West FalklandWest FalklandWest Falkland is the second largest of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. It is a hilly island, separated from East Falkland by Falkland Sound. Its area is and its coastline is long. Including the adjacent small islands the land area is .-Population:The island has fewer than 200...
. I have no doubt it is a peculiar species... Their numbers have rapidly decreased; they are already banished from that half of the island which lies to the eastward of the neck of land between St. Salvador Bay and Berkeley SoundBerkeley SoundBerkeley Sound is an inlet, or fjord in the north east of East Falkland in the Falkland Islands. The inlet was the site of the first attempts at colonisation of the islands, at Port Louis, by the French....
. Within a very few years after these islands shall have become regularly settled, in all probability this fox will be classed with the dodoDodoThe dodo was a flightless bird endemic to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. Related to pigeons and doves, it stood about a meter tall, weighing about , living on fruit, and nesting on the ground....
, as an animal which has perished from the face of the earth."
Rats have also been introduced, but despite this, the island has a great deal of marine life, including penguin
Penguin
Penguins are a group of aquatic, flightless birds living almost exclusively in the southern hemisphere, especially in Antarctica. Highly adapted for life in the water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage, and their wings have become flippers...
s of various kinds.
Guanacos were unsuccessfully introduced in 1862 to East Falkland south of Mt Pleasant where Prince Alfred
Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was the third Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and reigned from 1893 to 1900. He was also a member of the British Royal Family, the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha...
hunted them in 1871 http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=16712001. They have since become extinct, but are still on Staats Island
Staats Island
Staats Island is one of the Beaver Island Group in the Falkland Islands. It lies between Beaver Island and Weddell Island, parallel to Tea Island and is in area. It is known for its Patagonian foxes and guanacos, both introduced species; the former is not to be confused with the closely related...
Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
surveyed the area's wildlife, while on HMS Beagle
HMS Beagle
HMS Beagle was a Cherokee-class 10-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 11 May 1820 from the Woolwich Dockyard on the River Thames, at a cost of £7,803. In July of that year she took part in a fleet review celebrating the coronation of King George IV of the United Kingdom in which...
.
History
Port Louis, Falkland Islands
Port Louis is a settlement on northeastern East Falkland. It was established by Louis de Bougainville in 1764 as the first French settlement on the islands, but was then transferred to Spain in 1767 and renamed Puerto Soledad .-History:The settlement has seen several name changes...
on Berkeley Sound
Berkeley Sound
Berkeley Sound is an inlet, or fjord in the north east of East Falkland in the Falkland Islands. The inlet was the site of the first attempts at colonisation of the islands, at Port Louis, by the French....
in 1764. The French settlement included a number of Bretons
Breton people
The Bretons are an ethnic group located in the region of Brittany in France. They trace much of their heritage to groups of Brythonic speakers who emigrated from southwestern Great Britain in waves from the 3rd to 6th century into the Armorican peninsula, subsequently named Brittany after them.The...
, and the islands became known as "Îles Malouines" (the islands of St Malo), later hispanicised as "Islas Malvinas". For years, Port Louis was the main settlement, not only on East Falkland, but the entire archipelago and a subject of controversy.
In October 1820, Colonel David Jewett
David Jewett
Colonel David Jewett is a notable figure in the history of the sovereignty dispute between Great Britain and Argentina as he commanded the Frigate Heroína that visited the Falkland Islands in 1820 and raised the first Argentine flag on the islands....
, sought shelter in the islands after his ship, the frigate Heroina
Heroina
The Heroína was a privately owned frigate that was operated as a privateer under a license issued by the United Provinces of the River Plate . It was under the command of American-born Colonel David Jewett and has become linked with the Argentine claim to sovereignty of the Falkland Islands...
, was damaged in a storm. Jewett was an American privateer employed as captain by the Buenos Aires businessman Patrick Lynch who had obtained a corsair license for the ship from the Buenos Aires Supreme Director Jose Rondeau. On 6 November 1820 he raised the flag of the United Provinces of the River Plate at Port Louis and claimed possession of the entire archipelago in the name of the United Provinces of the South (which later became the United Provinces of The River Plate and ultimately Argentina). Eye witnesses present, such as James Weddell
James Weddell
James Weddell was a British sailor, navigator and seal hunter who in the early Spring of 1823 sailed to latitude of 74°15' S and into a region of the Southern Ocean that later became known as the Weddell Sea.-Early life:He entered the merchant service very...
, opined that the ceremony was designed to establish a salvage claim over a French wreck.
In 1823, Argentina granted fishing rights to Jorge Pacheco and Luis Vernet
Luis Vernet
Luis Vernet was a merchant from Hamburg of Huguenot descent. Vernet established a settlement on East Falkland in 1828, after first seeking approval from both the British and Argentine authorities. As such, Vernet is a controversial figure in the history of the Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute...
. Their first expedition to the islands ended in failure and Pacheco abandoned the venture. Vernet persisted with a second expedition in 1826 also ending in failure due to the combination of the Brazilian blockade of Argentina and the conditions encountered. Vernet finally succeeded on establishing a permanent settlement at Puerto Soledad
Puerto Soledad
Puerto Soledad was a Spanish military outpost and penal colony on the Falkland Islands, situated at an inner cove of Berkeley Sound .-Port St...
in 1828. Prior to both expeditions, Vernet had approached the British consulate in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
seeking permission for his venture in the islands. Subsequently Vernet furnished the consulate with progress reports and urged the establishment of a permanent British garrison in the islands.
In 1829, Vernet approached the Government of Buenos Aires requesting that the settlement be supported by a naval vessel. That request was refused, instead Vernet was proclaimed to be Governor and authorised to act using his own resources. The British consul lodged a formal protest over the proclamation, which went unanswered, whilst Vernet assured the British consul that his interest was purely commercial and once more urged the British to establish a permanent presence in the islands. Vernet was the first person to be proclaimed Governor, although modern Argentine texts claim the Captains of the Heroina and Pachego as "governors".
"Puerto Luis" as it was renamed became a seal hunting base and small fishing port. Vernet later seized the American ship, Harriet, for breaking the monopoly he claimed on seal hunting; one that had not been recognised by the American or British Governments (both formally disputed the restrictions through their consuls in Buenos Aires). Property on board the ship was seized and the captain was returned to Buenos Aires to stand trial. Vernet also returned for the trial. The American Consul in Argentina protested the actions by Vernet, stating that the United States did not recognise Argentine sovereignty in the Falklands.
Therefore, the American consul dispatched the USS Lexington warship to the Puerto Luis to retake the confiscated property, as well as the "Superior" and "Breakwater" which had also been seized. As a result, the USS Lexington
USS Lexington (1825)
The second USS Lexington was a sloop in the United States Navy built at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn, New York, in 1825; and commissioned on 11 June 1826, Master Commandant William B. Shubrick in command....
attacked Puerto Luis in 1832, an act which was later condoned by the American ambassador in Buenos Aires, who declared the Falkland Islands
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
free from any power. There is some dispute as to the outcome of the attack, modern Argentina claims the settlement was destroyed whilst Duncan's log describes spiking the guns of the settelement and destroying the powder store. Duncan arrested the seven senior members of Vernet's settlement for piracy and provided transport to Montevideo for any member of the settlement who wished to leave. The majority of the population chose to leave claiming Vernet had misled them about the miserable conditions in the islands. Following these events Vernet resigned as Governor, in 1832 the Argentine Government appointed as governor, Esteban José Francisco Mestivier, and sought to establish a penal colony
Penal colony
A penal colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general populace by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory...
in the islands (Mestivier's appointment was in fact the only Argentine appointment to follow the norms of the time and was properly gazetted). Shortly after his arrival in the islands Mestivier was murdered by his own men and the settlement was in chaos.
These events provided the spur for Britain to return to the islands, (See Re-establishment of British rule on the Falklands (1833)), requesting that the Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
military presence leave on 3 January 1833 (although members of the settlement were encouraged to remain). "Puerto Luis" was initially renamed "Ansons Harbour" before reverting to "Port Louis" in line with the original French name of the settlement Port Saint Louis, and became a naval garrison and civilian settlement.
Shortly after this, the second voyage of HMS Beagle
Second voyage of HMS Beagle
The second voyage of HMS Beagle, from 27 December 1831 to 2 October 1836, was the second survey expedition of HMS Beagle, under captain Robert FitzRoy who had taken over command of the ship on its first voyage after her previous captain committed suicide...
surveyed the island. The names of two settlements on East Falkland, Darwin
Darwin, Falkland Islands
Darwin is a settlement in Lafonia on East Falkland, lying on Choiseul Sound, on the east side of the island's central isthmus, north of Goose Green...
and Fitzroy
Fitzroy, Falkland Islands
Fitzroy is a settlement on East Falkland. It is divided into Fitzroy North and Fitzroy South.It is named after Robert FitzRoy who sailed with Charles Darwin on HMS Beagle, andis on the inlet known as Port Pleasant....
, commemorate Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
and Robert FitzRoy
Robert FitzRoy
Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy RN achieved lasting fame as the captain of HMS Beagle during Charles Darwin's famous voyage, and as a pioneering meteorologist who made accurate weather forecasting a reality...
respectively. On the 15 March 1833, an unimpressed Darwin commented that
- After the possession of these miserable islands had been contested by France, Spain, and England, they were left uninhabited. The government of Buenos Aires then sold them to a private individual, but likewise used them, as old Spain had done before, for a penal settlement. England claimed her right and seized them. The Englishman who was left in charge of the flag was consequently murdered. A British officer was next sent, unsupported by any power: and when we arrived, we found him in charge of a population, of which rather more than half were runaway rebels and murderers. (The Voyage of the BeagleThe Voyage of the BeagleThe Voyage of the Beagle is a title commonly given to the book written by Charles Darwin and published in 1839 as his Journal and Remarks, bringing him considerable fame and respect...
.)
In 1836, the island was surveyed by Admiral George Grey, and further in 1837 by Lowcay. Admiral George Grey, conducting the geographic survey in November 1836 had the following to say about their first view of East Falkland –
- We anchored a little after sunset off a creek called 'Johnson's HarbourJohnson's HarbourJohnson's Harbour is a settlement on the north east coast of East Falkland in the Falkland Islands. It is on the shore of Berkeley Sound at the head of Chabot Creek on a bay also named Johnson's Harbour. It has a small store but the FIGAS only lands there for emergencies...
'. The day having been cloudy with occasional showers, these islands at all times dreary enough, looked particularly so on our first view of them, the shores of soundBerkeley SoundBerkeley Sound is an inlet, or fjord in the north east of East Falkland in the Falkland Islands. The inlet was the site of the first attempts at colonisation of the islands, at Port Louis, by the French....
, steep, with bare hills intersected with ravines rising from them, these hills without a tree and the clouds hanging low, gave them exactly the appearance of the Cheviots or a ScotchScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
moor on a winter's day and considering we were in the May of these latitudes, the first impression of the climate was not favourable, the weather however, was not called, the thermometer was 63 degrees which is HowickHowick, NorthumberlandHowick is a village in Northumberland, between Boulmer and Craster. It is just inland from the North Sea, into which Howick burn flows, from Howick Hall...
mid-summer temperature.
In 1845 Mr Samuel Fisher Lafone, a wealthy cattle and hide merchant from Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
on the River Plate
Río de la Plata
The Río de la Plata —sometimes rendered River Plate in British English and the Commonwealth, and occasionally rendered [La] Plata River in other English-speaking countries—is the river and estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River on the border between Argentina and...
, obtained a grant of the southern portion of the East Falkland from the British government, He purchased this peninsula, 600000 acres (2,428.1 km²) in extent, together with possession of all the wild cattle on East Falkland for a period of six years, for a payment of £10,000 down, and £20,000 in ten years from 1 January 1852. In 1851 the Falkland Islands Company, which had been incorporated by charter in the same year, bought Mr Lafone's interest in Lafonia
Lafonia
Lafonia is a peninsula forming the southern part of East Falkland, the largest of the Falkland Islands.-Geography and geology:Shaped like the letter "E", it is joined to the northern part of the island by a 1.5-mile narrow isthmus; were this isthmus to be severed, Lafonia would be the third...
, as the peninsula came to be called, for £30,000. Lafone himself never visited the islands. The remnants of this endeavour are the ruins at Hope Place
Hope Place
Hope Place was a small settlement in Lafonia in East Falkland. It was set up in 1846, by Samuel Lafone, a Montevideo merchant, on the south shores of Brenton Loch. It was mainly populated by gauchos brought in from continental South America. The area is now abandoned.- See also :* Lafonia* History...
and the stone corral at Darwin.
In 1859, Darwin
Darwin, Falkland Islands
Darwin is a settlement in Lafonia on East Falkland, lying on Choiseul Sound, on the east side of the island's central isthmus, north of Goose Green...
was founded.
Although used for sheep farming since the early nineteenth century, East Falkland was dominated by cattle farming until the 1850s.
In 1925 the Bodie Suspension Bridge
Bodie Suspension Bridge
The Bodie Creek Suspension Bridge in the Falkland Islands is said to be the southernmost suspension bridge in the world. It was built in 1925, from a kit fabricated in England by David Rowell & Co., in order to shorten the distance sheep needed to be driven from southern Lafonia to the shearing...
was built across a creek in Lafonia, and is said to be the southernmost in the world, and is still in pedestrian use today.
1982 invasion and Falklands War
1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands
On 2 April 1982, Argentine forces mounted amphibious landings of the Falkland Islands . The invasion involved an initial defence force organised by the Falkland Islands' Governor Sir Rex Hunt giving command to Major Mike Norman of the Royal Marines, the landing of Lieutenant-Commander Guillermo...
. Governor Sir Rex Hunt was informed by the British Government of a possible Argentine invasion on Wednesday 31 March. The Governor summoned the two senior Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
officers of Naval Party 8901 to Government House in Stanley to discuss the options for defending the Falklands. Major Mike Norman RM was given overall command of the Marines due to his seniority, while Major Gary Noott RM became the military advisor to Governor Hunt. The total strength was 68 Marines and 11 sailors, which was greater than would normally have been available because the garrison was in the process of changing over. But their numbers were reinforced by 25 Falkland Islands Defence Force
Falkland Islands Defence Force
The Falkland Islands Defence Force is the locally maintained volunteer defence unit in the Falkland Islands. The FIDF works alongside the military units supplied by the United Kingdom to ensure the security of the islands.-History:...
(FIDF) members. Their commanding officer, Major Phil Sommers, tasked the volunteer militiamen with guarding such key points as the telephone exchange
Telephone exchange
In the field of telecommunications, a telephone exchange or telephone switch is a system of electronic components that connects telephone calls...
, the radio station and the power station
Power station
A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....
. Skipper Jack Solis, onboard the civilian coastal ship Forrest operated his boat as an improvised radar screen station off Stanley.
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
. As a result, some areas of the "Camp"
Camp (Falkland Islands)
The camp is the term used in the Falkland Islands to refer to any part of the islands outside of the islands' only significant town, Stanley, and often the large RAF base at Mount Pleasant...
in East Falkland are still heavily mined. Areas that saw intensive action included Goose Green
Goose Green
Goose Green is a settlement in Lafonia on East Falkland in the Falkland Islands. It lies on Choiseul Sound, on the east side of the island's central isthmus, south-southwest of Darwin. With a population of about 70, it is the second largest settlement of the Falkland Islands.Goose Green has a shop...
, San Carlos
San Carlos, Falkland Islands
San Carlos is a settlement in northwestern East Falkland, lying south of Port San Carlos on San Carlos Water. It is sometimes nicknamed "JB" after a former owner, Jack Bonner.-History:...
, Mount Longdon
Mount Longdon
Mount Longdon is a mountain in the east of East Falkland in the Falkland Islands. It is best known as the site of the Battle of Mount Longdon, and overlooks Stanley, the islands' capital....
and the Two Sisters ridge.
List of East Falkland battles
- Battle of Goose GreenBattle of Goose GreenThe Battle of Goose Green was an engagement of the Falklands War between British and Argentine forces. Goose Green and its neighbour Darwin are settlements on East Falkland in the Falkland Islands. They lie on Choiseul Sound on the east side of the island's central isthmus...
- Battle of Mount HarrietBattle of Mount HarrietThe Battle of Mount Harriet was an engagement of the Falklands War, which took place on the night of 11/12 June 1982 between British and Argentine forces. It was one of three battles in a brigade-size operation on the same night.-Forces:...
- Battle of Two SistersBattle of Two SistersThe Battle of Two Sisters was an engagement of the Falklands War during the British advance towards the capital Stanley that took place from 11 to 12 June 1982.-Composition of forces:...
- Battle of Mount LongdonBattle of Mount LongdonThe Battle of Mount Longdon was an engagement of the Falklands War between British and Argentine forces, which took place on 11–12 June 1982, resulting in the British victory and their occupation of a key position around the besieged Argentine garrison....
- Battle of Mount TumbledownBattle of Mount TumbledownThe Battle of Mount Tumbledown was an engagement in the Falklands War, one of a series of battles that took place during the British advance towards Stanley.-Overview:...
- Battle of Wireless RidgeBattle of Wireless RidgeThe Battle of Wireless Ridge was an engagement of the Falklands War which took place on the night of 13 June and 14 June 1982, between British and Argentine forces during the advance towards the Argentine-occupied capital of the Falklands Stanley. Wireless Ridge was one of seven strategic hills...
Present day
Following the Falkland War, Britain increased its military presence on the East Falkland and invested heavily in improving facilities in Stanley and transportation around the islands, tarmacking many roads. The population has risen, due to the growth of Stanley, but has declined in the CampCamp (Falkland Islands)
The camp is the term used in the Falkland Islands to refer to any part of the islands outside of the islands' only significant town, Stanley, and often the large RAF base at Mount Pleasant...
. Most of the improvements in the islands have taken place on East Falkland.