George Powell (sealer)

George Powell (1794–1824)^[1] was an English sealer, explorer and amateur naturalist. He captained three sealing expeditions to the Antarctic Ocean between 1818 and 1822.

Fragment of George Powell's 1822 chart; the track is that of his sloop Dove in November 1821

Powell was born in London. During his first expedition, in 1818 and 1819, he captained the sloop Dove and visited South Georgia and Kerguelen Islands. His second expedition, captaining Eliza, lasted from 1819 until 1821, during which time he visited the Falkland Islands and the South Shetland Islands.^[2]

In 1821 and 1822 he took both Dove, which he captained, and Eliza, captained by John Wright, on another sealing expedition to the South Shetland Islands, for which he produced a very fine chart^[3][4] based on his own observations of the north coast of the group and the observations of others for the southern coast.^[2] On 6 December 1821, he co-discovered the South Orkney Islands along with American Nathaniel Palmer, claiming them in the name of King George IV.^[2]

Both Powell Island and Powell Basin are named after him.^[5] He died in Tonga.

References

1. John Stewart: Antarctica – An Encyclopedia. Vol. 1, McFarland & Co., Jefferson and London 2011, ISBN 978-0-7864-3590-6, p. 1244.
2. Headland, Robert K. (1989). Chronological list of Antarctic expeditions and related historical events. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-30903-5. OCLC 185311468.
3. L. Ivanov and N. Ivanova. Sealing period. In: The World of Antarctica. Generis Publishing, 2022. pp. 78-84. ISBN 979-8-88676-403-1
4. Chart of South Shetland including Coronation Island, &c. from the exploration of the sloop Dove in the years 1821 and 1822 by George Powell Commander of the same. Scale ca. 1:200000. London: Laurie, 1822
5. "Powell Basin". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 14 February 2019.