Fitzroy is a settlement on

East Falkland East Falkland () is the largest island of the Falkland Islands, Falklands in the South Atlantic, having an area of or 54% of the total area of the Falklands. The island consists of two main land masses, of which the more southerly is known as L ...

. It is divided into Fitzroy North and Fitzroy South by a tidal river called Fitzroy River that is fed from a lake on the east side of Mount Whickham. The river was forded by

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

when he visited for a second time in 1834. It is named after

Robert FitzRoy Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy (5 July 1805 – 30 April 1865) was an English officer of the Royal Navy, politician and scientist who served as the second governor of New Zealand between 1843 and 1845. He achieved lasting fame as the captain of ...

, who commanded during Darwin's voyages, and later developed a system of weather forecasting for the United Kingdom. Fitzroy is on the inlet known as Port Pleasant.

Settlement

During the 1982

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

, naval auxiliary ships and , carrying contingents of The Welsh Guards, were bombed by the

Argentine Air Force The Argentine Air Force (, or simply ''FAA'') is the air force of Argentina and one of three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic. In 2018, it had 13,837 military and 6,900 civilian personnel. FAA commander in chief is Brigadie ...

in the waters off Fitzroy whilst attempting to reinforce soldiers encamped there. A monument on each side of a small cove at Fitzroy commemorates each ship with dedications in English and Welsh on both.

References

External links

* {{coord, -51.7875, -58.2312, type:city(50)_region:FK, display=title Populated places on East Falkland