William Thomas Pritchard

William Thomas Pritchard (13 October 1829 - 1 November 1907) was a British consul and adventurer.

Pritchard was born in Papeete, Tahiti, the son of George Pritchard. He was educated in Britain before returning to join his father, the British consul in Samoa. In Samoa, he acquired an exceptional knowledge of the Polynesian language and traditions. In 1858 he was appointed the first British consul at Fiji, and in the same year traveled to England with an offer from Seru Epenisa Cakobau to cede Fiji to the British crown. He was dismissed from his post in 1863.

He is commemorated in the name of the Polynesian Megapode Megapodius pritchardii and the plant genus Pritchardia.

External links

Pritchard, William Thomas (1829-1907), consul and adventurer by Andrew E. Robson in Dictionary of National Biography.
Andrew E. Robson, Prelude to Empire. Consuls, Missionary Kingdoms, and the Pre-Colonial South Seas Seen Through the Life of William Thomas Pritchard, Vienna : Lit Verlag, 2004
Pritchard, William Thomas, Polynesian Remniscences, or Life in the South Pacific Islands, London : Chapman and Hall, 1866

Persondata
Name	Pritchard, William Thomas
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Date of birth	13 October 1829
Place of birth
Date of death	1 November 1907
Place of death