Arms of the British Antarctic Territory

Trinity Peninsula

(Graham Land)

British Antarctic Territory

Location: 63° 36' 58" S 58° 19' 59" W
NE part of the Antarctic Peninsula NE of the line Cape Kjellman-Cape Longing, extending to Prime Head. It is generally accepted that the peninsula was very roughly charted on its N coast, 30 January 1820, by Bransfield who reported land lying in c.63 30S 60 00W. Gould (1925) noted that opinion was divided as to whether Bransfield saw: (a) the N coast of Trinity Island (improbable since it would have entailed an E error in longitude, and the remainder of his observations showed a consistent W error), (b) pack ice adhering to the mainland (which would account for his coastline being N of the present charted position), or (c) the mainland itself, his distances having been underestimated in fog. The last conclusion is supported by Bone (1821) who wrote that 'land was undoubtedly seen in latitude 64°, and trending to the eastward'. Bransfield named his discovery Trinity Land after the 'Trinity Board' (Trinity Island, q.v.), and the name was later applied collectively to part of the N coast of the present peninsula and to Davis Coast. The N coast of the peninsula was further charted by the French Antarctic Expedition, 1837-40 (which was in ignorance of Bransfield's earlier naming) and, on 27 February 1838, called Terre Louis Philippe after Louis Philippe I, King of the French (Louis Philippe Plateau, q.v.), who had personally suggested the idea of exploration in Antarctic waters by this expedition. The peninsula was further charted on its E coast by the Dundee Whaling Expedition and by NWE in 1893. The peninsula was further charted on its N and E coasts by the Swedish Antarctic Expedition. The E and SE coasts of the peninsula were surveyed by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey from 'Hope Bay', 1944-46. The N coast of the peninsula was surveyed by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey from 'Hope Bay', 1946-48. The peninsula was photographed from the air by the Falkland Islands and Dependencies Aerial Survey Expedition, 1956-57.