Malvineros

Lying three hundred miles east of South America, the remote islands now known as the Falklands or Las Malvinas were first discovered by European navigators in the sixteenth century. In the eighteenth and early nineteenth century the Falklands grew in importance as a landfall with the commercial exploitation of the South Atlantic and the development of shipping routes into the Pacific via Cape Horn. Diverse claims to sovereignty were made, by Britain, France, Spain and the newly-created Provinces of the River Plate; however, in 1833 Britain took possession, appointing a Governor in 1841 and a colonial administration in 1845, with a capital at Port Stanley.

Initially, the commercial value of the Islands lay in the great herds of wild cattle on East Falkland, and Samuel Lafone, a merchant in Montevideo, obtained a government contract in 1846 to hunt the cattle, using gauchos. However, within a few years the cattle had been hunted to virtual extinction, and the Falkland Islands Company, created in 1851, with Lafone as one of its directors, turned its attention to sheep farming.

It was as shepherds on contract that most Scots were to live in the Falklands. For, by the 1860’s the lands of East and West Falklands were largely in the hands of the FIC and other major ranching enterprises which needed shepherds to tend the huge flocks of sheep and process wool for the British textile industry. For these Scots and other British shepherds there were few prospects other than to renew contracts or move on. Much later, in 1891, in a letter home to his father in Innerleithen, George Anderson wrote:

“I am leaving here on the 23^rd June for Patagonia.”

Emigration to Patagonia by people from Britain was already established in the 1860s. Some entered through the port of Carmen de Patagones on the Rio Negro, the frontier between Buenos Aires province and Patagonia. The wide and fertile valley of the river and its good climate were excellent for rearing animals and growing crops. Among the settlers were the Kincaid brothers from Scotland and Charles Morrison, the only one listed below known to have come via the Falklands. And further south a Welsh colony had been established by the Rio Chubut. However, the development of Southern Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego in the 1880s and 90s was separate and distinctive.

George Anderson was not the first of the Scottish Malvineros to move to Southern Patagonia, for William Halliday and others had preceded him, settling either in Santa Cruz territory in Argentina or entering Magallanes, Chilean Patagonia, through the port of Punta Arenas. These Malvineros, as they were known, faced many hardships, but frequently prospered as ranchers, achieving their ambitions to own their own properties. William Halliday, for example, leased land by the Rio Gallegos for twenty pesos a square league, some thirty thousand acres, becoming one of the best known and prosperous members of the community in Santa Cruz. Although they were relatively few in number, they made a pioneering contribution to the sheep industry and the community in Patagonia.

The pioneering Scots and their families who left the Falkland Islands for Patagonia in the 1880s were remarkable people. In the Falklands they had secure contracts, mostly with the Falkland Islands Company, reasonable accommodation and a familiar English-speaking community. In stark contrast, Patagonia was vast, remote and for the most part empty of people.apart from Tehuelche Indians. They were thrown almost entirely upon their own resources: to build primitive houses, stock their land with sheep, ward off predators and deal with an often hostile climate. Neighbours were far distant, supplies were precarious, there were no schools or medical services, they initially had to lease their properties and they had no secure income. But, mostly importantly, they were now their own masters. For many on this list the gamble paid off in the long term. They eventually owned their estancias, built good homes and, as coastal settlements, especially Punta Arenas and Rio Gallegos, grew, had access to schools, churches, community associations, medical services and abundant supplies of imported goods. Some became very wealthy, some returned to Britain, but most settled in their new homeland, their children following them. In contrast, however, there were others who by choice or otherwise did not become landowners. William Blain, for example, was content to work for others, was comfortably off, and eventually returned to Dalry in Scotland to marry.

Other Scottish Malvineros are certainly missing from the following list because they did not own property or were not prominent in the community, shepherds working for the companies which had huge estates on the mainland and on Tierra del Fuego.. William Blain in his journal mentions meeting an old friend from the Falklands in Punta Arenas and to judge solely on Scottish surnames there were others, such as William Campbell, Kenneth John Morrison, Enrique King McHattie, Roderick McPhee, William McDaid, William D. Stewart, Roderick McAskill and Donald Macdonald. So, by the turn of the century and thereafter, Scots, including some from the Falklands, were more likely to come as shepherds on contracts, estate managers, workers in industrial plants - frigorificos - processing sheep or in commerce and trade. The years of the pioneering ranchers who came in the eighties and nineties to transform the empty plains of Southern Patagonia were past.

Acknowledgements

In compiling the following list, I am particularly indebted to Duncan Campbell, whose excellent website at < Patbrit. Org > contains listings and other information on British subjects who emigrated to Southern Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, among them the list of Malvineros compiled by Professor Mateo Martinic, names on the plaque in the British Club in Rio Gallegos, ranchers and their estancias, consular records, notes on families and a map of the territories of Santa Cruz and Magellanes, identifying the locations of estancias. Other sources are listed below.

The Scottish Malvineros.

Anderson, George

Born in Innerleithen, Scotland and went to work as shepherd in the Falklands for the Falkland Islands Company. In 1891 left the Falklands with William Reid from Stirlingshire and settled in San Julian, Santa Cruz where he became a rancher. At Mata Grande in 1893 and in 1898 settled at Cape Watchtower.

Blain, William.

Born c.1852 in Galloway in Scotland and became a shepherd. In 1878 he went to work for the Falkland Islands Company, then moved in 1884 to work for Mr. Greenshields at Monte Dinero, Patagonia. From 1889 to 1898 he established and managed a sheep station on Tierra del Fuego, working for Mr. Wales of the Tierra del Fuego Sheep Farming Company. He returned in 1898 to Dalry in Scotland, where he married in 1899 a Jane Riddle. He died in Dalry in 1924. Blain wrote a fascinating journal of his time as a pioneering sub- manager on one of the great estates on Tierra del Fuego.

Cameron, Mary Ann.

Born in 1875 at Black Rock in the Falklands. Married, c.1894, John Maclean, born 1863 in Scotland, who went to Monte Video in 1883 before bring sheep from the Falklands to San Julian and Rio Gallegos. Between 1887 and 1904 bought various properties in Chile and Argentina. Died in Puerto Natales in 1940. Thirteen children.

Coutts, Fell

Born in 1888 in the Falkland Islands, son of William Coutts and Ann Fell, from Banffshire, Scotland. Emigrated to Punta Arenas c.1918. Settled at Morro Chico Married 1919 Theodora Gladys Williams, three children.

Dickie, William

Born 1861 in Old Meldrum, Aberdeenshire. Arrived in the Falklands on contract to Falkland Islands Company in 1885, he and his wife, Elizabeth Murray, had four children. Moved to Patagonia, where he founded with George Drew the Estancia Bon Accord, Largo Argentino. His wife died in 1899, he in 1923.

Douglas, Thomas

Born 1846, Scotland. Emigrated c.1880 to the Falklands with his wife, Ann Tennant, born 1850, and son Thomas. Moved to Punta Arenas in 1885. Children, Thomas, William, Margaret, Walter, Jessie, Mary Annm John, Annie and James Magellan. His wife is thought to have been the first qualified nurse to practise in Magallanes.

Douglas, William

Arrived from the Falklands at Punta Arenas in 1883. In 1885 settled at Morros Grande, near Rio Gallegos. Married Jane Greenshields, born in the Falklands, and had a son and daughter.

Fell, James.

Born in 1852 in Ardersier, Inverness-shire, Scotland, son of William Fell and Ann Fraser.Taken with family as a child to the Falklands, where he worked for the Falkland Islands Company, then emigrated to Patagonia in 1901. Married to Agnes McCall, a Scot, and had children, William, Anne, James, John and Agnes. He leased 16,000 hectares at North Arm Station, named after his father’s birthplace in the Falklands. His father-in-law, William McCall died in 1901 and James himself a short time later. His son, William, then worked the farm, in 1910 marrying his cousin, Agnes Rudd, a grand-daughter of William McCall.

Finlayson, Alexander.

Born in 1886 in the Falklands, then moved to San Julian c. 1905, Landowner. Married Betsy Ann Fraser McLeod, issue. Recorded on the Rio Gallegos.

Finlayson, Murdo(ck).

Born in the Falklands, brother of Alexander Finlayson. Landowner. Moved to San Julian c. 1905. Married Mary Patterson, issue. Recorded on the Rio Gallegos Memorial Plaque. Died in 1963 and buried in San Julian cemetery.

Forbes, David.

Born in Dundee c.1883. Went to the Falklands in 1904 before moving on to Patagonia in 1909. Employed by the Sociedad Explotadora del Tierra del Fuego until his death in 1915. Buried in Punta Arenas.

Frazer, John

Born in Scotland, an Inverness schoolmaster, married to Annie Herald. Four children, the first born in Scotland. Emigrated to Port Darwin, Falklands in 1879, then moved to Port Julian, Santa Cruz, where he became a highly successful wool trader. Bought the Estancia Colmena and others.

Frazer, John MacLean

Born in Ross-shire in 1864, he emigrated to the Falkland Islands. Then in 1883, aged 19, he went to Punta Arenas, and in 1887, in association with Merrick MacLean, he obtained land in Santa Cruz, Argentina. He joined the famous arreo of Saunders and others, then fixing his attention on land in central Magallanes he obtained 10,000 hectares in Punta del Monte, following that with lands at El Zurdo in Argentina. In 1894 he married Mary Ann Cameron McCall. At the turn of the century he decided to add another farm to what he had already, obtaining land in the district of Ultima Esperanza in partnership with his brother, Murdo. However, legal and other problems lead to the loss of properties and he finally settled on the Estancia San Juan. There, again, he was threatened with dispossession, but had his claim confirmed by the government. He continued there until his death in 1940, when his sons followed him for some years

Greenshields, Thomas

Member of a Scottish family which owned 42,000 acres in the Falklands. He arrived in Patagonia in 1884, where he had a ranch at Monte Dinero on the south-east tip of Santa Cruz. He married Ann McMunn in 1889 but he died a few months later aged 29, leaving no children. He was buried in Punta Arenas Public Cemetery, leaving a will bequeathing William Douglas half of Useful Hill, the other half to his brother George Greeshields and a share in Douglas Station in the Falklands to his brother James.

Halliday, William.

Born in 1845 at Durisdeer, Dumfriesshire in Scotland. Emigrated to the Falkland Islands in 1862 to work as a shepherd for the Falkland Islands Company. In 1869 second manager to Mr. Armstrong, Hillside House. Moved to the Rio Gallegos, Santa Cruz, Patagonia, in 1885 where he leased and later bought 30,000 acres of land. Married Mary McCall in 1874, seven children. Father-in-Law of William McCall. Lived at Hill Station, Rio Gallegos, Argentina. Died 1917 and buried in British cemetery, Buenos Aires.

Hamilton, John.

Born 1860, Wick, Scotland. Arrived in the Falklands c.1880,.then moved on with his partner, Thomas Saunders, to Magallanes, Chile, in 1885 then in 1887 to a rented property at Pale Aike, Santa Cruz, Argentina. Member of the famous 1886-8 1000 miles “arreo”, sheep drive, with Henry Jamieson, Thomas Saunders and John Maclean. Married Oliva Heap in 1904, two children, Oliva and Penelope. Lived at Estancia Loyola until 1940, and died in Buenos Aires in 1945. In their partnership, Hamilton and Saunders had estancias at Otway Station, Morro Deslinde and La Portada, a total of 40,000 hectares.

Hope, William.

Born 1860. Married to Ann Kyle. Property on the Rio Negro then San Julian. Recorded on the Rio Gallegos Memorial Plaque. Died in 1923 and buried in San Julian cemetery.

Kyle, Andrew

Left Cobb’s farm. Lafonia, East Falklands, in 1891, together with Morrison and the Pattersons. Settled in San Julian, Santa Cruz.

Kyle, James William

Born in Stirling(?), c. 1858, Went to the Falklands in 1885, then in 1890 moved to San Juan.

Born in 1824 at Durisdeer, Dumfriesshire, Scotland and emigrated as widower in 1873 to the Falklands with his daughters Agnes, Ann, Mary and Jane. After a long residence in the Falklands working for the Falkland Islands Company he emigrated to Punta Arenas in 1901. His wife was Bridget Rae, born in Dalton, Dumfriesshire. Daughters: Agnes married James Fell, Ann with John Rudd, Mary with William Halliday and Jane with John Cameron.

McDaid, William Charles

Born Scotland and emigrated to the Falklands. Arrived in Punta Arenas in 1914.

Born in Scotland and went to the Falkland Islands, leaving there in 1889 to settle on the Estancia La Vanguardia, Rio Gallegos. Married Fernanda Garcia from Spain. Had issue.

Born in Scotland in 1856. Arrived in the Falklands in 1875. In 1885 moved to Patagonia, acquiring lands on Rio Gallegos, also on Rio Coig. Estancia Guakenken Aike. In 1898 he married the eldest daughter of William Halliday, having three children. Donated the plaque in the British Club in Rio Gallegos, listing the British pioneers.

Born on the Isle of Harris,Scotland, c.1880. His parents took a contract win the Falkland Islands c.1893, and sometime after that Donald moved to Patagonia. He died at Dore Aike, south west of Puerto Santa Cruz, Argentina, in 1913, aged 33 years. Subsequently, his death reported in the Falkland’s Church Times.

Morrison, Alexander.

He came from Scotland via the Falklands and arrived in the territory to work as a shepherd. He obtained the modest concession of Penitente Farm in 1893, developing from that until he eventually had large estates in Scotland and other interests in Magallanes, Argentina and the Falklands. He died in 1929.

Morrison, Charles

Born in 1825 in the Gorbals, Glasgow. Arrived in the Falklands c.1850. Moved before 1856 to Carmen de Patagones on the Rio Negro on the northern boundary of Patagonia. Settled on land in the northern district of Patagones with his wife, Emma Hutchins, governess, married 1852, Falklands and their their children, Luca, said to be born Falklands c.1851 but not confirmed, and John,1854 and Margarita, 1856, both born in Patagones. He died c.1868. Luca married Elisea Sosa in 1881, but he died childless a year later. Margarita married Francisco Abel, ship owner, in Patagones in 1875, having three children: Alicia, Antonia and Francisco. In the 1895 census she is a widow with property.

Patterson, Robert

Born 1866, Kirkmichael, Scotland, his parents and children moved to the Falklands, then in 1891 Robert moved to Patagonia. Had the Estancia Mata Grande, San Julian, with William Patterson, Mulak Aike with J. Frazer and Lai Aike with C. Witters. Robert died in 1927, worth £300,000.

Patterson, William

Born in Scotland. Like Robert, his brother, he left Cobb’s farm in Lafonia, East Falklands, in 1891. They shared an estancia at San Julian, Santa Cruz.

Saunders, Thomas Alexander

Born Scotland, he left Fife aged 18 and landed in the Falklands in 1877. In 1883 he left the Falklands for Magallanes. With John Hamilton he founded the Estancia Otway, the basis of his prosperity. Well known for his part in the famous arreo of 1886-88, driving several thousand sheep and horses from Buenos Aires province down to Magallanes. Kept a diary of the journey. Married Annie Scott c. 1893 and had five children. Prominent figure in Punta Arenas, where he was a benefactor to the Anglican church and school, and a founder member of the fire brigade and the British Association. He died in England in 1928, but his body was brought back to Punta Arenas and he was buried at Estancia Otway, his first ranch.

Saunders, William

Brother of Thomas Saunders. From Falklands. Married Margery Duncan Macdonald, eight children

Scott, John

Born in 1863 in Closeburn, Dumfriesshire, he moved to the Falklands in 1882 to work as a shepherd for the Falkland Islands Company. In 1889 he formed a partnership with Herman Eberhart at Chymen Aike , but in 1894 he moved to Bella Vista, Rio Gallegos area. In 1902, after disastrous losses in the winter, he sold the property and took remaining 3,000 sheep to Los Machos near San Julian where he eventually prospered. Died in Dumfries in 1948.

Stewart, Lucy Mary

Born in the Falklands and emigrated to Magallanes c. 1907 to work as a lady’s companion. Married Amador Vallina Lorenzo, a Spaniard, and had several children.

Wallace, John.

Born in 1853. Married in Port Stanley, Falklands, in 1880, to Janet Carmichael, b. 1857 in Lochmaben. They had seven children. He was a shepherd in San Julian. he died by drwoning in Tierra del Fuego in 1898. Janet died in 1916 and is buried in San Julian cemetery. John had a brother, William, born 1859 in Lochmaben, Dumfriesshire. Landowner at Laogo Tar. He died in 1899 and was buried in San Julian cemetery.

Anderson, George, Letters of George Anderson in the Falkland Islands and Patagonia to his Family in Innerleithen, 1884-1902, National Library of Scotland, Acc. No. 9002.

Campbell, D. and Grace, G. The British Presence in Southern Patagonia. A website: Patbrit.org

Canque, Manuel Fernandez, Scots in Latin America: A Survey. In Gage, Robert (Ed.), The Scots Abroad: Enterprise, Capital, Labour 1750-1914. Croom Helm, 1984.

Dean, William, Papers of William Dean, Royal Commonwealth Society Library, University of Cambridge Library, RCMS 277.

Dooley, Elizabeth, Streams in the Wasteland: A Portrait of the British in Patagonia, Punta Arenas, 1993.

Mackenzie, Greta. Why Patagonia? The Stornoway Gazette, 1995.

Mainwaring, Michael, From the Falklands to Patagonia, Allison and Busby, 1983.

Martinic, Mateo, Inmigrantes Malvineros en Magallanes, Anales del Instituto de la Patagonia, Serie Ciencias Humanas, Vol.24, Punta Arenas, 1994.

Martinic, Mateo, Falkland Islands Immigrants to the Magellanic Region, Falkland Islands Journal, 1996, pp. 76-109.

Mulhall, M.G. and E.T.,Handbook of the River Plate Republics, The Standard Office, Buenos Aires, 1875.