As you may be aware the New Weddington Isles are based upon a territorial claim upon the former Royal Companys Islands in the South Pacific/Indian Ocean. Given their location away from major shipping lanes and disputes over their exact status / location and even existence, NO other sovereign country lays claim or has ever laid claim to these.
Part of our ongoing mission – with a view to ultimately inhabiting the Isles – is to demonstrate the existence and location of the Islands; through both historic hydrographic navigational charts and modern satellite technology.
Having already established the first recorded sighting back in 1776, we have recently obtained an article from the Australian Geographer 1935 which details various sightings and references of the Islands on Admiralty charts (dating from 1840 through the early 1900s), Books on Navigation and Sailing Directories (in 1839 and 1864) and Atlases and Maps (as early as 1837, Atlas by De La Marche, Paris. Shown on map 37, of Oceania – and as late as 1922, Map of the World by the National Geographic Society, Washington. Shown on a small inset of South Polar Regions.)
This is exciting news as it goes to validate sighting of the Isles over two centuries, adding to our claim that these are not “phantom islands”.
As well as adding this document to our State Artefacts collection, we will continue to scour satellite imagery of the area referenced in historic sightings and hope to have a real-time glimpse of the Isles very soon.
Part of our ongoing mission – with a view to ultimately inhabiting the Isles – is to demonstrate the existence and location of the Islands; through both historic hydrographic navigational charts and modern satellite technology.
Having already established the first recorded sighting back in 1776, we have recently obtained an article from the Australian Geographer 1935 which details various sightings and references of the Islands on Admiralty charts (dating from 1840 through the early 1900s), Books on Navigation and Sailing Directories (in 1839 and 1864) and Atlases and Maps (as early as 1837, Atlas by De La Marche, Paris. Shown on map 37, of Oceania – and as late as 1922, Map of the World by the National Geographic Society, Washington. Shown on a small inset of South Polar Regions.)
This is exciting news as it goes to validate sighting of the Isles over two centuries, adding to our claim that these are not “phantom islands”.
As well as adding this document to our State Artefacts collection, we will continue to scour satellite imagery of the area referenced in historic sightings and hope to have a real-time glimpse of the Isles very soon.