David Jewett - Declaration of Possession of The Islands

Declaration of Possession of The Islands

On November 1820, Col Jewett raised the flag of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata and certainly claimed possession of the islands. Weddell reports the letter he received from Jewett as:

Sir, I have the honour to inform you of the circumstance of my arrival at this port, commissioned by the supreme government of the United Provinces of South America to take possession of these islands in the name of the country to which they naturally appertain. In the performance of this duty, it is my desire to act towards all friendly flags with the most distinguished justice and politeness. A principal object is to prevent the wanton destruction of the sources of supply to those whose necessities compel or invite them to visit the islands, and to aid and assist such as require it to obtain a supply with the least trouble and expense. As your views do not enter into contravention or competition with these orders, and as I think mutual advantage may result from a personal interview, I invite you to pay me a visit on board my ship, where I shall be happy to accommodate you during your pleasure. I would also beg you, so far as comes within your sphere, to communicate this information to other British subjects in this vicinity. I have the honour to be, Sir Your most obedient humble Servant, Signed, Jewett, Colonel of the Navy of the United Provinces of South America and commander of the frigate Heroína.

Many modern authors report this letter as the declaration issued by Jewett. Captain William Orne of the American Schooner General Knox seems to have missed Jewett’s possession ceremony, and Jewett gave him a letter informing him of the claim. On returning to his home port, Salem, Massachusetts, Captain Orne gave Jewett’s letter to the local paper, the Salem Gazette, which published it on 8 June 1821, and it was reprinted by The Times in London on 3 August 1821. If it had not been for the publication of that letter, and an account in a book by James Weddell five years later, the Jewett claim would be unknown today. The Times reprint of the Orne letter was then repeated in a Gibraltar paper and was picked up by the Spanish paper Redactor de Cádiz. It was only when the Cadiz report reached Buenos Aires, as a foreign news story, that Jewett’s claim to the Falklands became known in Argentina. It was published in the Buenos Aires Argos on 10 November 1821, over a year after the event.

Weddell did not believe that Jewett was acting with the interests of the United Provinces of South America in mind, rather that he had merely put into the harbour in order to obtain refreshments for his crew, and that the assumption of possession was chiefly intended for the purpose of securing an exclusive claim to the wreck of the French ship Uranie that had a few months previously foundered at the entrance of Berkeley Sound. Weddell left the islands on 20 November 1820 noting that Jewett had not completed repairs to the Heroína.