Thomas Ebrill (also spelt Abrill) was a British merchant, who from 1826 to 1842 worked with the ships the ''Minerva'', ''Star'' and ''Amphitrite'' in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

and is known for his discovery of the

Acteon group The Acteon Group (Groupe Actéon) is a rather isolated and uninhabited subgroup in the far southeast of the Tuamotu atoll group in French Polynesia. It is located about east-southeast of Tahiti at latitude: 21° 17' 60 S, longitude: 136° 29' ...

Life

Ebrill's early life is unknown. He lived in

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austr ...

in 1820 along with his brother-in-law Samuel Pinder Henry with whom he had a sugar cane plantation. His numerous trade and transport trips had taken him throughout

Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

but also to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in Australia and

Valparaíso Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...

in Chile. From 1832 to 1839 he ran a pearl farm on the

Gambier Islands The Gambier Islands ( or ) are an archipelago in French Polynesia, located at the southeast terminus of the Tuamotu archipelago. They cover an area of , and are made up of the Mangareva Islands, a group of high islands remnants of a caldera alo ...

but in 1833, he discovered the

whilst captain of the ''Amphitrite''. In 1839 he came to the aid of the French captain

Cyrille Pierre Théodore Laplace Cyrille Pierre Théodore Laplace (7 November 1793 – 24 January 1875) was a French navigator famous for his circumnavigation of the globe on board ''La Favorite''. He was pivotal in the opening of French trade in the Pacific and was instrumental ...

who was stranded on the reef of Tahiti. On 1 November 1842 at the Isle of Pines,

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

, Ebrill and his crew fell victim of an attack by the

Melanesians Melanesians are the predominant and indigenous inhabitants of Melanesia, in a wide area from Indonesia's New Guinea to as far East as the islands of Vanuatu and Fiji. Most speak either one of the many languages of the Austronesian language fa ...

where his ship was looted and burned.

References

{{reflist *O'Reilly, Patrick: Tahitiens: ''répertoire bio-bibliographique de la French Polynesia; supplément'', Paris: Musée de l'Homme, 1966 (Publications de la

Société des Océanistes The ''Société des Océanistes'' is a French scientific society, founded in 1936, that brings together specialists and interdisciplinary scholars of the cultures and societies of Oceania. It was originally located at the ''Musée de l'Homme'' in P ...

; 17) *Dunmore, John: ''Who's who in Pacific navigation'', Carlton, Vic. Melbourne Univ. Press, 1992, pp. 95 British merchants