The Royal Company's Islands (now The New Weddington Isles)
The Royal Company's Islands are a group of unclaimed islands reported by early explorers to lie in the Indian Ocean around 940 miles southwest of Tasmania.
They were first discovered before 1840, although the original report cannot be traced. Many old charts show them at 50°20′S 140°0′E or 52°20′S 143°0′E.
The difficulty of pinpointing the exact location of the islands in the vast remote expanse of this part of the Ocean has led to a lack of any formal national claims upon or visitations to, the islands by any states.
The Islands’ location proved problematic as early as 1840, when the United States Exploring Expedition failed to find them.From 1889 to 1902 several vessels passed through the islands' vicinity without noting any landforms, and in 1904 the UK Hydrographic Office finally decided to remove them from all Admiralty charts – cementing the unclaimed status of the Islands.
In October 1894 the 'Antarctic' (H. Bull's exploratory whaling expedition sponsored by Svend Foyn) steered for the Royal Company's Islands "supposed to be situated in about lat. 51 degrees S,. and long. 142 E.” They searched for a couple of days but met with gales and were forced to reroute to Macquarie Island before the Islands could be charted. Further searches by the Nimrod in 1909 and the Aurora in 1912 turned up nothing, adding to the mystery of these remote islands which remained untouched until over a century later...
In 2021, using the latest satellite tracking technology, the New Weddington Isles was finally able to search the area from space. It was with great delight that evidence of the Isles existence - questioned for decades - was found in the co-ordinates given over 100 years ago, on the 28th May 2021. You can see the images below - the first time the Isles have been formally sighted since the last century.
They were first discovered before 1840, although the original report cannot be traced. Many old charts show them at 50°20′S 140°0′E or 52°20′S 143°0′E.
The difficulty of pinpointing the exact location of the islands in the vast remote expanse of this part of the Ocean has led to a lack of any formal national claims upon or visitations to, the islands by any states.
The Islands’ location proved problematic as early as 1840, when the United States Exploring Expedition failed to find them.From 1889 to 1902 several vessels passed through the islands' vicinity without noting any landforms, and in 1904 the UK Hydrographic Office finally decided to remove them from all Admiralty charts – cementing the unclaimed status of the Islands.
In October 1894 the 'Antarctic' (H. Bull's exploratory whaling expedition sponsored by Svend Foyn) steered for the Royal Company's Islands "supposed to be situated in about lat. 51 degrees S,. and long. 142 E.” They searched for a couple of days but met with gales and were forced to reroute to Macquarie Island before the Islands could be charted. Further searches by the Nimrod in 1909 and the Aurora in 1912 turned up nothing, adding to the mystery of these remote islands which remained untouched until over a century later...
In 2021, using the latest satellite tracking technology, the New Weddington Isles was finally able to search the area from space. It was with great delight that evidence of the Isles existence - questioned for decades - was found in the co-ordinates given over 100 years ago, on the 28th May 2021. You can see the images below - the first time the Isles have been formally sighted since the last century.
Articles of interest. Click on the links below to read the PDFs
"THE SIEGE OF THE SOUTH POLE" by Hugh Robert Mill (1905) pp123, 201, 242
'Society Magazine' "AND IT'S PRINTED WITH WIMBLE'S INKS" The Bulletin sections - articles from 1928 and 1939 referencing the Royal Company's Islands
"PHANTOM ISLES AND LOST ISLES OF THE SOUTH" by Thomas Dunbabin, 'Walkabout Magazine article' 1936
'Society Magazine' "AND IT'S PRINTED WITH WIMBLE'S INKS" The Bulletin sections - articles from 1928 and 1939 referencing the Royal Company's Islands
"PHANTOM ISLES AND LOST ISLES OF THE SOUTH" by Thomas Dunbabin, 'Walkabout Magazine article' 1936
