History of Tristan Da Cunha - 18th Century

18th Century

Later in the 17th century ships were sent from Saint Helena by the English East India Company to Tristan to report on a proposed settlement there, but that project also came to naught. A British naval officer who visited the group in 1760 gave his name to Nightingale Island. John Patten, the master of an English merchant ship, and part of his crew lived on Tristan from August 1790 to April 1791, during which time they captured 3600 seals.