Sir James Smith Islands
| Sir James Smith Islands | ||
|---|---|---|
| Waters | Coral sea | |
| archipelago | Cumberland Islands | |
| Geographical location | 20 ° 41 ′ S , 149 ° 10 ′ E | |
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The Sir James Smith Islands , also known as the Sir James Smith Group , are located off the coast of Queensland , Australia , not far from Mackay . The archipelago was discovered by James Cook and explored and named in 1820 by Lieutenant P. P. King on his second voyage with the HMS Mermaid to the area of the Cumberland Islands .
The archipelago was named after Sir James Edward Smith (1759-1828), a botanist and at that time President of the Linnean Society in London . King only named the island group and only Commander EP Bedwell gave the island names in the period from 1878/1879: Anchorsmith, Anvil, Bellows, Blacksmith, Bullion, Cash (now Farrier), Forge, Goldsmith, Hammer, Ingot, Silversmith, Specie and Tinsmith .
Lieutenant Commander H. T. Bennett of HMS Geranium, who sailed the island area in 1925/1926, later gave a rocky island the name Coopersmith because he discovered that it did not belong to Silversmith Island, but that it was an island in its own right.