The British Presence
in Southern Patagonia
+ + Site Foreword + +
 English |
 Site map |
 Databases |
 News |
 E-mail |
 Search |
 Orientation |
Español |
Goals
This site is designed to assemble and share information on the British Presence in Southern Patagonia. Like the land it describes, this task is immense in scope; and, at the same time difficult, owing to the shortage of published materials. Still, I hope that armchair genealogists and historians alike will find something useful here. To register your research interests with this site, please visit the Special Interests page.
Scope
Who are "The British" that are included in this site? They may have been born in the British Isles (Scots, Irish, English and Welsh) or in the former British Empire; or they may be descended from British emigrants, but born in some other part of the world, including Southern Patagonia itself. In a general sense, the term describes a cultural affiliation with the British Isles.
Location
Where in South America is "Southern Patagonia"? For my purpose, it is located partly in Chile (Pacific coast) and partly in Argentina (Atlantic); comprising all that land between 56º South (Cape Horn) and 46º South (roughly, the latitude of Puerto Aysén in the west and Comodoro Rivadavia in the east). The territory is sub-divided politically, as follows: (Argentina) provinces of Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego; (Chile) regions of Aysén (part) and Magallanes.
To the north-east lies the Argentine province of Chubut; to the east (in the Atlantic Ocean) are the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas). Although both these regions have significant historical connections with Britain, I have felt it necessary to draw my boundary line more tightly: therefore, they appear here only incidentally.
To locate these places, and others mentioned in the site, see the online maps and old maps.
Acknowledgments
I am grateful to the numerous people who have shared with me
their knowledge, research findings and advice — all have been used freely.
Photographs and private material are acknowledged explicitly. This site is
enriched by the contributions of others: the Families page
shows how every little piece helps.
Invitation and Apology
You are welcome to send me a message. However, I am unable to respond to individual enquiries.
Duncan Campbell