![William Thomas Pritchard](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/William_Thomas_Pritchard.jpg)
William Thomas Pritchard (13 October 1829 – 1 November 1907) was a British consul and adventurer.
Pritchard was born in
Papeete
Papeete (Tahitian language, Tahitian: ''Papeete'', pronounced ) is the capital city of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of the France, French Republic in the Pacific Ocean. The Communes of France, commune of Papeete is located on the isl ...
,
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 ...
, the son of
George Pritchard and Eliza Aileen. He was educated in Britain before returning to join his father, the British consul in Samoa. In Samoa, he acquired an exceptional knowledge of the
Polynesian languages
The Polynesian languages form a genealogical group of languages, itself part of the Oceanic branch of the Austronesian family.
There are 38 Polynesian languages, representing 7 percent of the 522 Oceanic languages, and 3 percent of the Austron ...
and traditions. In 1858 he was appointed the first British consul at
Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
, and in the same year traveled to England with an offer from
Seru Epenisa Cakobau
Ratu Seru Epenisa Cakobau (; occasionally spelled ''Cacobau'' or phonetically ''Thakombau'') (c.1815 – 1 February 1883) was a Fijian Ratu and warlord ('' Vunivalu'') who united part of Fiji's warring tribes under his leadership, establishing ...
to cede Fiji to the British crown. He was dismissed from his post in 1863.
He is commemorated in the name of the
Polynesian megapode ''Megapodius pritchardii'' and the plant genus
Pritchardia
The genus ''Pritchardia'' (family Arecaceae) consists of between 24 and 40 species of fan palms (subfamily Coryphoideae) found on tropical Pacific Ocean islands in Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Tuamotus, and most diversely in Hawaii. The generic name ho ...
.
External links
Pritchard, William Thomas (1829-1907), consul and adventurerby Andrew E. Robson in
Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
.
*Andrew E. Robson, ''Prelude to Empire. Consuls, Missionary Kingdoms, and the Pre-Colonial South Seas Seen Through the Life of William Thomas Pritchard'',
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
: Lit Verlag, 2004
*Pritchard, William Thomas
Remniscences or Life in the South Pacific Islands'',
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 ...
: Chapman and Hall, 1866
1829 births
1907 deaths
British diplomats
British expatriates in French Polynesia
British expatriates in Samoa
British expatriates in Fiji
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