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Falkland Islands
 
[Spanish War Ensign (1785-1931)]
              1 Apr 1767 - Feb 1811 
 
[1897 Argentine war flag]
                   1820 - 3 Jan 1833
 
[Flag of the United Kingdom]
                         3 Jan 1833 - 1865
 
[Falklands Flag 1876 - 1937] 
                            1876 - 1937
 
 
[Falkland Islands Flag 1937 - 1948]
                         1937 - 29 Sep 1948
 
 
[Falkland Islands, pre-1999 pattern]
                     29 Sep 1948 - 2 Apr 1982; 
                     14 Jun 1982 - 25 Jan 1999 
 
[Argentine flag]
                   2 Apr 1982 - 14 Jun 1982 
 
[Falkland Islands]
                       Adopted 25 Jan 1999
 

Map of the Falkland Islands
 Hear National Anthem
 "God Save the Queen" 
 Hear Local Anthem
"Song of the Falklands"
(unofficial)
Constitution Order
(3 Oct 1985)
Capital: Stanley
(formerly Port Stanley)
(Puerto Argentino Apr-Jun 1982;
Port Jackson 1843-Jul 1845;
Fort Louis 1833-1843;
Puerto Soledad 1767-1833;
Fort St. Louis 1764-1767)
Currency: Falkland Pound
(FKP) 
National Holiday: 14 Jun (1982)
Liberation Day
Population: 3,105 (2007)
GDP: $75 million (2002) 
Exports: $125 million (2004)
Imports: $90 million (2004)
Ethnic groups: British 95.88%, others (2001)
Total Armed Forces: 1,300 (2002)
Defense is the Responsibility of the U.K.
Merchant marine: None (2006) 
Religions: Christian 82.93% (mainly Anglican, also 
Roman Catholic), Bahai 2.97%, Buddhist 0.20%,
other 13.9% (2000)
International Organizations/Treaties: UPU 
Falkland Islands
Index
Chronology
27 Jan 1600                Discovered by Dutch Capt. Sebald de Weert.
14 Aug 1592                First confirmed sighting of the islands by
                             English Capt. John Davis (Davis' Land).
Feb 1594                   English navigator Richard Hawkins names the 
                             islands Hawkins Maydenlande (Hawkins Maiden Land)
27 Jan 1690                First confirmed landing by English Capt. John 
                             Strong.
23 Dec 1708                Named Falkland's Land by Capt. Woode Rogers.
1763                       French name the islands the Îles Malouines.
 5 Apr 1764                French settlement on East Falkland (Fort St. Louis)
25 Jan 1765                West Falkland Island claimed for Britain.
 8 Jan 1766                British settlement on West Falkland (Port Egmont,
                             Falkland Islands).
 1 Apr 1767                French transfer their settlement to Spain
                             (Puerto de Soledad), named Islas Malvinas.
20 Mar 1774                British withdraw, but continue to claim 
                             sovereignty over all the Falkland Islands.
Feb 1811                   Spanish withdraw.
 6 Nov 1820                Argentina claims sovereignty.
1826                       Settlement at Port Louis re-established by 
                             Frenchman Louis Vernet who obtains a grant to
                             all the Falkland Islands and their resources
                             from the government of Argentina. 
28 Dec 1831                U.S. ship Lexington under Commander Silas Duncan
                             destroyed Soledad, and declared the islands 
                             free of all government. This was in response to
                             Vernet seizing three American sealing ships.
 3 Jan 1833                British depose Argentine governor.
 9 Jan 1834                British occupation.
 2 Jan 1842                British crown colony (Falkland Islands).
1892                       British colony
21 Jul 1908 -  3 Mar 1962  South Shetland Islands, South Orkney Islands and
                             Graham Land in Antarctica a Falklands dependency
21 Jul 1908 -  3 Oct 1985  South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands a
                             dependency of the Falklands.
 2 Apr 1982 - 14 Jun 1982  Occupied by Argentina (Islas Malvinas).
West Falkland
(1765-1774)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Governors (to 1774 of East Falkland only)
 5 Apr 1764 -  1 Apr 1767  Louis Antoine de Bougainville      (b. 1729 - d. 1811)
 2 Apr 1767 - 27 Jan 1773  Felipe Ruíz Puente
27 Jan 1773 -  5 Jan 1774  Domingo Chauri (interim)           (b. 1722 - d. ....)
 5 Jan 1774 -  1 Feb 1777  Francisco Gil de Taboada y Lemos   (b. 1736 - d. 1809)
 1 Feb 1777 - 22 Nov 1779  Ramón de Carassa (interim)
22 Nov 1779 - 1781         Salvador de Medina
1781 -  1 Apr 1783         Jacinto de Altolaguirre            (b. 1754 - d. 1787)
 1 Apr 1783 - 28 Jun 1784  Fulgencio Montemayor
1784 - 1786                Agustín Figueroa
1786 - 1787                Pedro de Mesa y Castro (1st time)
1787 - 1788                Ramón Clairac (1st time)
1788 - 1789                Pedro de Mesa y Castro (2nd time)
1789 - 1790                Ramón Clairac (2nd time)
20 May 1790 - May 1791     Juan José de Elizalde (1st time)
1791 - 1792                Pedro Pablo Sanguineto (1st time)
1792 - 1793                Juan José de Elizalde (2nd time)
1793 - 1794                Pedro Pablo Sanguineto (2nd time)
1794 - 1795                José de Aldana y Ortega (1st time)
1795 - 1796                Pedro Pablo Sanguineto (3rd time)
1796 - 1797                José de Aldana y Ortega (2nd time)
1797 - 1798                Luis de Medina y Torres (1st time)
1798 - 1799                Francisco Xavier de Viana          (b. 1764 - d. 1820) 
                             (1st time)
1799 - 1800                Luis de Medina y Torres (2nd time)
May 1800 - 1801            Francisco Xavier de Viana          (s.a.) 
                             (2nd time)
1801 - 1802                Ramón Fernández de Villegas
1802 - 1803                Bernardo Bonavía (1st time)
1803 - 1804                Antonio Leal de Ibarra (1st time)
1804 - 1805                Bernardo Bonavía (2nd time)
1805 - 1806                Antonio Leal de Ibarra (2nd time)
1806 - Jun 1806            Juan Crisostomo Martinez
1806 - 1809                Bernardo Bonavía (3rd time)
1809 - 1810                Gerardo Bordas
1810 - Feb 1811            Pablo Guillén
Feb 1811 - 1820            Vacant
1820 - 1821                Daniel Jewitt
1821 - 1822                Guillermo Mason
1823 - 1828                Pablo Areguati -Commandant
30 Aug 1829 - 1831         Louis Vernet                       (b. 1792 - d. 1871)
1831 - 28 Dec 1831         Matthew Brisbane (acting)          (d. 1833)
28 Dec 1831                Silas Duncan -U.S.Commander
Dec 1831 - Nov 1832        William Dickinson (acting)         (d. 1833)
Nov 1832 - 30 Nov 1832     Juan Esteban Francisco Mestivier   (d. 1832)
1832 -  3 Jan 1833         José María Pinedo                  (b. 1795 - d. 1885)
Naval officers-in-charge
 2 Jan 1833 -  3 Jan 1833  John James Onslow
 3 Jan 1833 - Apr 1833     William Dickinson (acting)         (s.a.)
                             (administrator)
Apr 1833 - Aug 1833        Matthew Brisbane (acting)          (s.a.)
                             (administrator)
Oct 1833 - Jan 1834        Rea (acting)
 9 Jan 1834 - 1838         Henry Smith
1838 - 1839                Robert Lowcay
1839                       Robinson
1839 - Oct 1841            John Tyssen
Lieutenant governor
Oct 1841 - 28 Nov 1843     Richard Clement Moody              (b. 1813 - d. 1887)
Governors (from 1962-1990 also High Commissioners of British Antarctic Territory;
and from 1985 also Commissioners for South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands)
28 Nov 1843 - 1848         Richard Clement Moody              (s.a.)
1848 - 1855                George Rennie                      (b. 1802 - d. 1860)
1855 - 1862                Thomas Edward Laws Moore           (b. 1819 - d. 1872)
1862 - 1866                James George Mackenzie
1866 - 1870                William Cleaver Francis Robinson   (b. 1834 - d. 1897)
1870 - 1876                George Abbas Kooli D'Arcy          (b. 1818? - d. 1885)
15 May 1876 - 1880         Jeremiah Thomas Fitzgerald         (b. c.1830 - d. 1881)
                             Callaghan
1880 - 1886                Thomas Kerr (1st time)             (b. 1818 - d. 1907)
1886 - 1887                Arthur Cecil Stuart Barkly         (b. 1843 - d. 1890)
1887 - 1891                Thomas Kerr (2nd time)             (s.a.)
1891 - 1897                Sir Roger Tuckfield Goldsworthy    (b. 1839 - d. 1900)
1897 - 1904                Sir William Grey-Wilson            (b. 1852 - d. 1926)
1904 - 1915                Sir William Lamond Allardyce       (b. 1861 - d. 1930)
May 1915 - 1919            William Douglas Young              (b. 1859 - d. 1943)
                             (from 1919, Sir William Douglas Young) 
Sep 1919 - Apr 1920        Thomas Reginald St. Johnston       (b. 1881 - d. 1950)
                             (acting)
1920 - 1926                John Middleton                     (b. 1870 - d. 1954) 

                             (from 1924, Sir John Middleton)
May 1926 - Apr 1927        Alexander Elder Beattie (acting)   (b. 1888 - d. 1951)
1927 - 1931                Sir Arnold Weinholt Hodson         (b. 1881 - d. 1944)

1931 - 1934                Sir James O'Grady                  (b. 1866 - d. 1934)
1935 - 1941                Sir Herbert Henniker-Heaton        (b. 1880 - d. 1961)
1941 - 1946                Allan Wolsey Cardinall             (b. 1887 - d. 1956) 
                             (from 1943, Sir Allan Wolsey Cardinall)
1946 - 1954                Geoffrey Miles Clifford            (b. 1897 - d. 1986) 
                             (from 1949, Sir Geoffrey Miles Clifford)
1954 - 28 Feb 1957         Sir Oswald Raynor Arthur           (b. 1905 - d. 1973)
28 Feb 1957 - 1964         Edwin Porter Arrowsmith            (b. 1909 - d. 1992)
                             (from 1959, Sir Edwin Porter Arrowsmith)
1964 - 1970                Cosmo Dugal Patrick Thomas Haskard (b. 1916)
                             (from 1965, Sir Cosmo Dugal Patrick Thomas Haskard)
1971 - 1975                Sir Ernest Gordon Lewis            (b. 1918)
1975 - 1977                Sir Neville Arthur Irwin French    (b. 1920)
1977 - 1980                Sir James Roland Walter Parker     (b. 1919)
1980 -  2 Apr 1982         Rex Masterman Hunt                 (b. 1926)
Argentine Military Governors
 2 Apr 1982                Oswaldo Jorge García (interim)
 3 Apr 1982 - 14 Jun 1982  Mario Benjamín Menéndez            (b. 1930)
British Military Commander 
14 Jun 1982 - 25 Jun 1982  John Jeremy Moore                  (b. 1928)
Civil Commissioner
25 Jun 1982 - 16 Oct 1985  Rex Masterman Hunt                 (s.a.) 
                             (from 11 Oct 1982, Sir Rex Masterman Hunt) 
Governors
16 Oct 1985 - 1988         Gordon Wesley Jewkes               (b. 1931)
Nov 1988 - 1992            William Hugh Fullerton             (b. 1939)
Aug 1992 - Dec 1995        David Everard Tatham               (b. 1939)
 8 Jan 1996 - 1999         Richard Peter Ralph                (b. 1946)
12 May 1999 - 23 Nov 2002  Donald Alexander Lamont            (b. 1947)
23 Nov 2002 -  3 Dec 2002  Russ Jarvis (acting)
 3 Dec 2002 -  5 Aug 2006  Howard John Stredder Pearce        (b. 1949)
 5 Aug 2006 - 28 Aug 2006  Harriet Hall (f) (acting)
28 Aug 2006 -              Alan Edden Huckle                  (b. 1948)
 

Chief Executives 
Dec 1983 - Apr 1987        David George Pendleton Taylor      (b. 1933 - d. 2007)  Non-party
                             (1st time)
Apr 1987 - May 1988        Brian Cummings                                          Non-party
Jun 1988 - Aug 1988        Colin Redston (acting)                                  Non-party
Aug 1988 - Sep 1988        Rex Browning (acting)                                   Non-party
Sep 1988 - Apr 1989        
David George Pendleton Taylor      (s.a.)               Non-party
                             (2nd time)(interim)
Apr 1989 - Sep 1994        Ronald Sampson                                          Non-party
Sep 1994 - Nov 1999        Andrew Murray Gurr                                      Non-party
Jan 2000 - Mar 2003        Michael Dennis Blanch (1st time)                        Non-party
Mar 2003 - 12 Sep 2007     Chris John Simpkins                (b. 1950?)           Non-party
12 Sep 2007 -  3 Jan 2008 
Michael Dennis Blanch (2nd time)                        Non-party
                             (interim)
 3 Jan 2008 -              Timothy "Tim" Rupert Thorogood     (b. 1962)            Non-party

Territorial Dispute: Claimed by Argentina (as Islas Malvinas) whose forces briefly occupied 
it in 1982, agreed in 1995 to no longer seek settlement by force; UK continues to reject Argentine requests for sovereignty talks. 

No Political Parties Exist


West Falkland

[Flag of the United Kingdom]

25 Jan 1765                West island claimed for Britain.
 8 Jan 1766                British settlement on West Falkland (Port Egmont).
 1 Jun 1770 - 15 Sep 1771  Spanish force British to withdraw.
20 Mar 1774                British withdraw, but continue to claim sovereignty 
                             over Falklands.

Naval Officers-in-charge
25 Jan 1765                John Byron
 8 Jan 1766 - 1768         John McBride                       (d. 1800)
1768 - 1769                Rayner
1769 - 1770                Anthony Hunt
1770 -  1 Jun 1770         George Farmer
 1 Jun 1770 - 15 Sep 1771  Vacant
15 Sep 1771 - 1771         Scott
1771 - 1773                John Burr
1773 - 30 Mar 1774         Samuel Wittewrong Clayton




©2000  Ben Cahoon