![Musters](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Musters.png)
George Chaworth Musters (1841–1879) was a British
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
commander and traveller, known as the "King of Patagonia".
Life
He was born in
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
while his parents were travelling, 13 February 1841, the son of John George Musters of
Wiverton Hall
Wiverton Hall (sometimes pronounced ) is an English country house near Tithby, Nottinghamshire. By 1510 the former village of Wyverton had become impoverished and reduced to just four houses and a cottage. It was in that year completely depopu ...
,
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...
, formerly of the
10th Royal Hussars
The 10th Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army raised in 1715. It saw service for three centuries including the First World War and Second World War but then amalgamated with the 11th Hussars (Prince A ...
, and his wife Emily, daughter of Philip Hamond of Westacre,
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
. His paternal grandparents were John Musters of Colwick Hall, Nottinghamshire, "the king of gentlemen huntsmen", who had married in 1805 Mary Anne Chaworth, heiress of Chaworth of
Annesley Hall
Annesley Hall is the all-female residence at Victoria College, University of Toronto. The residence is located across from the Royal Ontario Museum and is designated a National Historic Site of Canada
National Historic Sites of Canada (fren ...
, Nottinghamshire, the "Mary" of
Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...
's poem, ''
The Dream''. Musters was one of three children.
His father dying in 1842, and his mother in 1845, Musters was brought up mainly by his mother's brothers, one of whom, Robert Hamond, had sailed with Admiral
Robert Fitzroy
Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy (5 July 1805 – 30 April 1865) was an English officer of the Royal Navy and a scientist. He achieved lasting fame as the captain of during Charles Darwin's famous voyage, FitzRoy's second expedition to Tierra de ...
in
HMS ''Beagle''. He went to school at Saxby's in the
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...
, and Green's at
Sandgate, Kent
Sandgate is a village in the Folkestone and Hythe Urban Area in the Folkestone and Hythe district of Kent, England. It had a population of 4,225 at the 2001 census.Burney's academy
Dr. Burney's Academy, founded 1791 by William Burney
(1762 – December 1832), was a preparatory school or "crammer" in Gosport, Hampshire, England, whose aim was to prepare young men for the Royal Navy's entrance examinations and a naval c ...
at
Gosport
Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite t ...
, to prepare for a naval career.
Musters was entered on board
HMS ''Algiers'', 74 guns, in 1854, and served in her in the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...
during the
Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...
, receiving the English and Turkish Crimean medals by the time he was 15. In October 1856 he was transferred to
HMS ''Gorgon'', and served in 1857–8 in
HMS ''Chesapeake'', and in 1859–61 in
HMS ''Marlborough''. In 1861 he passed in the first class in his examination; was posted to the royal yacht
HMY ''Victoria and Albert''; promoted to lieutenant 4 September 1861, and appointed to the sloop
HMS ''Stromboli'', Captain Philips, serving in her on the coast of South America from December 1861 until she was paid off in June 1866. When at
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
in 1862 he and a midshipman of the Stromboli, as a prank, climbed
Sugarloaf Mountain
Sugarloaf Mountain ( pt, Pão de Açúcar, ) is a peak situated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at the mouth of Guanabara Bay on a peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean. Rising above the harbor, the peak is named for its resemblance to ...
, and planted the
British ensign
In British maritime law and custom, an ensign is the identifying flag flown to designate a British ship, either military or civilian. Such flags display the United Kingdom Union Flag in the canton (the upper corner next to the staff), with eit ...
on the summit.
While on the South American station Musters bought land, and started sheep-farming at
Montevideo
Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...
. After he was placed on half-pay, he carried out a plan of travelling in South America. This undertaking occupied 1869–70. Musters lived on good terms with the indigenous
Tehuelche people
The Tehuelche people, also called the Aónikenk, are an indigenous people from eastern Patagonia in South America. In the 18th and 19th centuries the Tehuelche were influenced by Mapuche people, and many adopted a horseriding lifestyle. Once a ...
, travelling with one group from the
Magellan Straits
The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and Tierra del Fuego to the south. The strait is considered the most important natural pass ...
to the
Río Negro, and then traversing the northern part of
Patagonia
Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and gl ...
from east to west, a distance of 1400 miles. The
Royal Geographical Society
The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...
of London presented him with a gold watch in 1872. After his return to England he often preferred to sleep in the garden wrapped in a blanket.
Musters subsequently visited
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...
. Returning to South America, he set out to traverse
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
and Patagonia from west to east, but was obliged to return to
Valparaiso. He came home to England in 1873, married, and went out to South America with his wife to reside in
Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
. From February 1874 to September 1876 he travelled much in Bolivia and the adjoining countries. His account was published with maps by
John Birch Minchin.
[Royal Geographical Society, ''Proceedings'' vol. xlvii] After his return home he lived mostly with his brother at Wiverton.
In October 1878 Musters went to London, in order to prepare for
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
, where he had been appointed consul. He died on 25 January 1879, with a reputation as a fearless explorer, and a man of tact and winning manners.
Works
![Wáki-killing-a-Puma](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/W%C3%A1ki-killing-a-Puma.jpg)
The Patagonian journey of Musters was described by him in ''At Home with the Patagonians, a Year's Wanderings on Untrodden Ground from the Straits of Magellan to the Rio Negro'', London, 1871, 2nd ed. 1873.
Family
Musters married in 1873 Herminia, daughter of George Williams of
Sucre, Bolivia
Sucre () is the capital of Bolivia, the capital of the Chuquisaca Department and the 6th most populated city in Bolivia. Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an elevation of . This relatively high altitude gives the c ...
.
External links
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Notes
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Musters, George Chaworth
1841 births
1879 deaths
Royal Navy officers
English explorers
English travel writers
People from Rushcliffe (district)
People educated at Burney's Academy