MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Welsh asked British Royal Navy to take over Chubut

A taste of the contents of the British National Archives (formerly Public Records Office), in Kew, south London, was provided recently by Bruno Derrick, reader adviser at what the international academic and political community considers one of the prime sources of historical research resources.

Derrick was invited to address the history conference held every two years by the Welsh community in the Patagonia province of Chubut, Argentina.

His talk in July was on British files concerning the Welsh settlement and the wish of several members to be resettled elsewhere, other than in Patagonia.

According to Derrick, documents show that Welsh community representations in London even went to the point of suggesting, in the late 19th century, that the Royal Navy take over Chubut.

As such an idea was rejected outright, the two Chubut Welsh representatives suggested relocation.

The British government considered this possibility seriously after the end of the Boer war when, in 1903, the idea of relocating the Patagonian Welsh in South Africa was considered. However, by then, several members of the community had moved to Canada.

The Argentine government had begun to help the Welsh in Chubut, and the British government decided that the settlers who had stayed wanted to become Argentine citizens. This was Bruno Derrick's second conference, the previous in 2004, and visit to Argentina. He also addressed the Argentine-British Historical association, which is chaired by publisher Colin Sharp (Secretary, David Parsons). (BAH).-