Abraham Bristow

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Abraham Bristow was a British whaler and captain. He is creditedwith having discoveredthe Auckland Islands south of New Zealand on August 18, 1806.

About the person and history

Very little is known about Abraham Bristow . Where and when he was born is still in the dark. The sources available do not provide any information about his life before he discovered the Auckland Islands.

What is certain, however, is that he was a British citizen and was in the service of Samuel Enderby as captain . Enderby was the owner of Samuel Enderby & Sons , a company that traded in whale and seal oil and carried out the exploration of Antarctica and the South Pacific from the point of view of economic exploitation.

Bristow discovered the Auckland Islands on his third voyage in the southern seas. On his way back to England from Hobart Town via Cape Horn, he noted in the Ocean's logbook on August 18, 1806 :

  • “ Moderate and clear; In daylight, land seen west by compass, expanding to north-east to north, distance from nearest point about 9 leagues (note: 3 nautical miles = 5.6 km). The island or islands, as the first to be explored, I should call "Lord Auckland's" (my friend through my father) and at noon, according to my observations, lies 50 ° 48 'south latitude and 166 ° 42' east longitude with one difference of the sun and moon I had 10:30 in the morning. The land is of moderate elevation, and from the looks of it, I have no doubt that it will provide a good haven at the north end, and I should be lying at around 50 ° 21 'south latitude, and its greatest extent is in a north-west and southeast orientation. This place, I should assume, is teeming with seals, and I am sad that the time and clumsiness of my ship do not allow me to examine. "

A year later, in 1807, Bristow visited the islands again on behalf of Enderby , this time on the Sarah . He anchored on October 20th of that year in Port Ross Bay , which he then called Sarah's Bosom . When he went ashore, he formulated the ownership claims to the islands in the name of the British Crown, named some geographically significant points and released domestic pigs on the island. On October 26, 1809, Bristow returned to England. His documentation of geographical points of the islands was later published in the Oriental Navigator for Seafarers. His sketch of the islands was published by the Hydrographic Office in 1823 under the name Lord Auckland's Groupe. However, for around a quarter of a century the island was known to the crew of sailors as Bristow's Land .

According to a declaration signed by David Lindsay in the office of the Lord High Admiral of the British Empire on December 5, 1812 , Bristow was in command of the Thamse warship and was probably en route to participate in the British-American War of 1812 . After that his tracks were lost.

Geographical points named after Bristow

  • Bristow Point - a cape on the west coast of Auckland Island , a few kilometers north of Cape Lovitt .
  • Bristow - a 527 m high elevation on the west coast of Auckland Island , east of Bristow Point .

literature

  • John J. Shillinglaw : Castaway on the Auckland Isles . Lockwood and Co. , London 1866 (English, online [accessed August 5, 2012] From the private diaries of Captain Thomas Musgrave ).
  • Allan W. Eden : Islands of Despairs - One - Arrival at the Islands . Andrew Melrose Stratford , London 1955 ( online [accessed August 5, 2012]).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ George Enderby Collection . Archives Hub - University of Manchester , accessed March 30, 2018 .
  2. ↑ by a correspondent: The Cortez Of A Continent Biscoe In The Antarctic, Enderby Land . In: The Times . Issue 45919 . London September 4th 1931, p. 11, column G (English).
  3. ↑ Eden : Islands of Despairs . 1955, p.  9 .
  4. ^ Abraham Bristow : A Bristow (1806), Auckland Islands, 1822 . findings.co.nz - Brian Hooker , archived from the original on November 24, 2001 ; accessed on February 8, 2016 (English, original website no longer available).
  5. ^ Abraham Bristow : A sketch of Lord Auckland's Groupe, discovered by Abrm. Bristow . National Library of New Zealand , accessed August 6, 2012 .
  6. ↑ Eden : Islands of Despairs . 1955, p.  10 .
  7. ↑ Declaration . (JPG 914 kB) 1812privateers.org , accessed on August 6, 2012 (English).
personal data
SURNAME Bristow, Abraham
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British captain, whaler and explorer of the Auckland Islands
DATE OF BIRTH 18th century
DATE OF DEATH 19th century