Starbuck (whaling family)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Starbuck family were a group of whalers operating out of Nantucket, Massachusetts from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. Some members of the family gained wider exposure due to their discovery of various islands in the Pacific Ocean.
Contents |
[edit] Valentine Starbuck
22 May 1791, Nantucket, MA - ?
A descendant of one of the first Anglo-European settlers of Nantucket, Valentine commanded various whalers in the Pacific. In 1823, while captaining the British whaleship Aigle, he was chartered by Hawaiian king Liholiho to carry himself and his wife Kamamalu to Britain on a state visit. The Hawaiian King and Queen died of measles within six weeks, and Valentine was sued by his employers for not completing his whaling voyage.[1]
Prior to his journey to London, Valentine had sighted an island in the Pacific, known as Starbuck or Volunteer Island. When Royal Navy captain George Anson Byron came across this island when returning the bodies of the Hawaiian king and Queen to their homeland, he named the island "Starbuck" in Valentine's honour. However, his cousin Obed Starbuck had sighted the island previously.[1]
[edit] Obed Starbuck
11 May 1797, Nantucket, MA - 27 Jun 1882
Whaling in the Pacific for many years, Obed made a number of significant voyages. Sailing on the Hero 1822-1824, which returned to Nantucket with 2173 barrels of sperm oil, he discovered an island on 5 September 1823, located at 5°32' S, 155°5' W, since known as Starbuck Island (also called "Hero Island").[2]
From 1824-26, Obed captained the Loper, in which vessel he discovered an outlying island in the Phoenix group which he named "New Nantucket" which, when re-discovered in 1835 by Michael Baker, was renamed Baker Island.[2] Obed also discovered "Loper" (Niutao) -which may be the "Isla de Jesus" sighted by Mendaña in the 16th century- , "Tracy" (Vaitupu), and various other now-unidentified islands.[2] Based on reported locations, these might include Birnie Island and Sydney Island, previously discovered by Capt. Emmett in 1820, although it is hard to be precise due to the bearings given.[3] On this journey, Obed also completed the mapping of Tuvalu, which had been begun by George Barrett.[4]
Other sources suggest that Obed discovered New Nantucket in 1823, while aboard the Hero.[5] JN Reynolds, while reporting to the US House of Representatives in 1828, reported a sighting of an island "5 deg. 1 min. south latitude. Seen by O. Starbuck, northwest from Marquesas."[6]
Obed made later whaling voyages on the Loper (1829-1830), Rose in 1831 (which ran aground) and the Zone in 1843-1846.[7]
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
- Dunmore, John (1992); Who's Who in Pacific Navigation, Australia:Melbourne University Press, ISBN 052284488X
- Sharp, Andrew (1960); The Discovery of the Pacific Islands, Oxford:Oxford University Press,
- Quanchi, Max & Robson, John, (2005); Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Pacific Islands, USA: Scarecrow Press, ISBN 0810853957
