Port Egmont

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Port Egmont was the first British settlement in the Falkland Islands, on Saunders Island.

[edit] History

Port Egmont was established in on 25 January 1765, by an expedition led by Commodore John Byron consisting of the boats Dolphin, Tamar and Florida. The expedition left a watering place and a vegetable garden.

Another expedition arrived around a year later in January 1766, led by Capt. John McBride, with the ships Jason, Carcass and 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.

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 visited Port Egmont briefly, returning on 14th July, with five warships and a thousand men, evicting the British.

In 1771, after threats of war with Spain, the colony was re-established by Captain Stott with the ships Juno, Hound and 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, and in 1776, the British forces left. In the next few years, the colony was taken over by sealers, until in 1780 it was finally destroyed under orders from Madrid.