James Byers was a

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

shipowner, merchant and sealer, originally from

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

.''The First American Discoveries in the Antarctic, 1819'', The American Historical Review Vol. 16, No. 4 (Jul., 1911), pp. 794-798, at p. 765. Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Historical Association. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1835710 Byers sent a four-vessel sealing fleet to 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 1820-21. He also lobbied US Secretary of State

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States S ...

and President

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was ...

to send a warship and take possession of the islands, suggesting that the American sealers were prepared to establish a permanent settlement there.

Honour

Byers Peninsula Byers Peninsula is a mainly ice-free peninsula forming the west end of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. It occupies , borders Ivanov Beach to the northeast and is separated from Rotch Dome on the east by the ridge of ...

Livingston Island Livingston Island (Russian name ''Smolensk'', ) is an Antarctic island in the Southern Ocean, part of the South Shetlands Archipelago, a group of Antarctic islands north of the Antarctic Peninsula. It was the first land discovered south of 60 ...

in the

is named after James Byers.

References

* Alan Gurney, ''Below the Convergence: Voyages Toward Antarctica, 1699-1839'', Penguin Books, New York, 1998

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Byers, James Year of birth missing Year of death missing American merchants Sealers