- William Smith (mariner)
William Smith (born c. 1775 in
Blyth, Northumberland ) was the Englishcaptain who discovered theSouth Shetland Islands , anarchipelago nearAntarctica .In 1819, while sailing cargo on the "Williams" from
Buenos Aires toValparaíso , he sailed further south roundCape Horn in an attempt of catching the right winds. On19 February 1819 he spotted the new land at 62° West but did not land on it. The naval authorities did not believe his discovery, but on a subsequent trip on16 October he landed on the largest of the islands. He named the islandKing George Island and the archipelagoSouth Shetland Islands in honour of theShetland Islands which are to the north ofScotland . At the beginning of the following year, 1820, the "Williams" was chartered by theRoyal Navy , and dispatched with Smith and LieutenantEdward Bransfield onboard to survey the newly discovered islands, discovering also theAntarctic Peninsula in the process.See also
* Livingston Island
Sources
* [http://www.antarctic-circle.org/rosove.htm Antarctic Voyages and Expeditions] , retrieved on
March 2 2005
* Glasgow Digital Library: [http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/scotia/vserm/vserm0202.htm Scotland and the Antarctic: Nineteenth Century] , retrieved onMarch 2 2005
* Ashgate Publishing: [http://www.history.ac.uk/ihr/Resources/Books/ashgate1.html The Discovery of the South Shetland Islands, 1819-1820: The Journal of Midshipman C. W. Poynter] , summary of the book retrieved onMarch 2 2005
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