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

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. During his first expedition, in 1818 and 1819, he captained the

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

''Dove'' and visited South Georgia and

Kerguelen Islands The Kerguelen Islands ( or ; in French commonly ' but officially ', ), also known as the Desolation Islands (' in French), are a group of islands in the sub-Antarctic constituting one of the two exposed parts of the Kerguelen Plateau, a large ...

. His second expedition, captaining ''Eliza'', lasted from 1819 until 1821, during which time he visited the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouzet ...

and the

South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the nearest point of the South Orkney Islands. By the Antarctic Treaty of 195 ...

. 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 chartL. Ivanov and N. Ivanova. Sealing period. In
''The World of Antarctica''.
Generis Publishing, 2022. pp. 78-84. based on his own observations of the north coast of the group and the observations of others for the southern coast. On 6 December 1821, he co-discovered the

South Orkney Islands The South Orkney Islands are a group of islands in the Southern Ocean, about north-east of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula Nathaniel Palmer Nathaniel Brown Palmer (August 8, 1799June 21, 1877) was an American seal hunter, explorer, sailing captain, and ship designer. He gave his name to Palmer Land, Antarctica, which he explored in 1820 on his sloop ''Hero''. He was born in Stoning ...

, claiming them in the name of

King George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

. Both

Powell Island Powell Island is a narrow island long and wide, lying between Coronation and Laurie Islands in the central part of the South Orkney Islands of Antarctica. Its southern end lies 7 km east of the south-western extremity of Coronation Islan ...

and

Powell Basin Powell Basin () is an undersea basin named for George Powell, captain of a British sealing ship, who discovered Powell Island Powell Island is a narrow island long and wide, lying between Coronation and Laurie Islands in the central part of ...

are named after him. He died in

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

References

1794 births 1824 deaths Explorers of Antarctica Sea captains Sealers South Orkney Islands English explorers 19th-century explorers 19th-century English people {{UK-explorer-stub