The first person to sight South Georgia may have been Antoine de la Roche: sailing from Lima (Peru) to London, he encountered bad weather whilst rounding Cape Horn in April 1675 and was blown far to the south of his intended course. He spotted a mountainous island with deeply indented bays which could have been South Georgia, and spent two weeks anchored in a bay at the south eastern end. The weather was awful, and he did not land.
Supporters of Argentina's claims to the Falkland Islands and South Georgia believe de la Roche had sighted Beauchene Island, which lies some 800 miles further west. However, Beauchene Island is relatively flat and unindented, giving little credence to this theory.
The island was also sighted in 1700 by Edmund Halley aboard the Paramour, but again landing was not possible.
Supporters of Argentina's claim claim that the Spanish ship Leon (bound for Cadiz from Lima) discovered the island. Again blown off course off Cape Horn, an island "of frightening aspect" was sighted on June 29th 1756. The island was named by the ship's master 'Isla de San Pedro' (St. Peter's Island) after the Feast Day of St Peter, which fell on July 1st.
The first person to land on South Georgia was was Captain James Cook, RN, aboard HMS Resolution 0n 17th January 1775. Cook made his approach to South Georgia between Bird and Willis Islands. He landed at three locations around Possession Bay and mapped parts of the coastline. Cook's party discovered Tussock Grass, wild burnet and a teeming bird and seal population, but no trees.
Describing his first approach to Possession Bay, and surprise at an icefall:
The head of the bay ... was terminated by a huge mass of snow and ice of vast extent ... just like the side or face of an ice isle ... pieces were continually breaking from them and floating out to sea. A great fall happened while we were in the bay: it made a noise like a cannon ..... I landed in three different places, displayed our Colours and took possession of the Country in His Majesty's name under a discharge of small arms.
This was the first claim to possession in any part of the Antarctic, though Cook did not appear to be very taken with South Georgia, describing it thus:
The inner parts of the country were not less savage and horrible. The wild rocks raised their lofty summits, till they were lost in the clouds, and the valleys lay covered with everlasting snow. Not a tree was to be seen, nor a shrub even big enough to make a toothpick.
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| Captain Cook |
After sailing along the northern coast of South Georgia, mapping conspicuous bays and promontories, Cook arrived at the southern tip of the island on 20th January, naming it Cape Disappointment when it was proved that South Georgia was not part of the fabled Antarctic Continent he was seeking. He named the island 'The Isle of Georgia' after King George.
The Resolution carried a party of Royal Marines - and one of the participants was Corporal Alexander Mills. In 1982, two hundred and seven years later, another Royal Marine by the name of Mills took part in a further display of firepower when he defended the island against Argentine invasion.
Cook also mentioned that the island teemed with seals, which soon attracted sealing expeditions. The Lord Hawkesbury is believed to have initiated the trade on South Georgia, visiting in 1787.
