History of The Falkland Islands - Early Colonisation

Early Colonisation

France established a colony at Port St. Louis, on East Falkland's Berkeley Sound coast in 1764. The French name Îles Malouines was given to the islands – malouin being the adjective for the Breton port of Saint-Malo. The Spanish name Islas Malvinas is a translation of the French name of Îles Malouines.

In 1765, Capt. John Byron, who was unaware the French had established Port Saint Louis on East Falkand, explored Saunders Island around West Falkand. After discovering a natural harbour, he named the area Port Egmont and claimed the islands for Britain on the grounds of prior discovery. The next year Captain John MacBride established a permanent British settlement at Port Egmont.

However this action nearly caused war to start between Britain and Spain. On discovery of each other presence on these strategically important islands, both countries sent fleets to contest sovereignty. In 1766, France agreed to leave after Spain agreed to compensate Louis de Bougainville, the French admiral and explorer who had established the settlement on East Falkland at his own expense. In 1767, the Spanish formally assumed control of Port St. Louis and renamed it Puerto Soledad (English: Port Solitude).

In early 1770 Spanish commander, Don Juan Ignacio de Madariaga, briefly visited Port Egmont. On June 10 he returned from Argentina with five armed ships and a 1400 soldiers forcing the British to leave Port Egmont. This action sparked the Falkland Crisis between 10 July 1770 to 22 January 1771 when Britain and Spain almost went to war over the islands. However conflict was averted when the colony was re-established by Captain John Stott with the ships HMS Juno, HMS Hound and HMS Florida (a mail ship which had already been at the founding of the original settlement). Egmont quickly became an important port-of-call for British ships sailing around Cape Horn.

However with the growing economic pressures stemming from the upcoming American War of Independence, the British government decided that it should withdraw its presence from many overseas settlements in 1774. On 20 May 1776 the British forces under the command of Royal Naval Lieutenant Clayton formally left Port Egmont, while leaving a plaque asserting Britain's continuing sovereignty over the islands. For the next four years, British sealers used Egmont as a base for their activities in the South Atlantic. This ended in 1780 when they were forced to leave by Spanish authorities who then ordered that the British colony to be destroyed.

Spain, which had a garrison at Puerto Soledad on East Falkands, ruled the islands from Buenos Aires until 1811 when it was forced to withdraw. This was due to the military pressures created by the Peninsular war in Spain and the growing calls for independence by its colonies in South America. On departure, the Spanish also left a plaque proclaiming Spain's sovereignty over the islands like the British had done 35 years before.