SALVADOR (GIBRALTAR STATION)
Salvador is a settlement on the north camp of East Falklands. It is on the north-east coast, on the shore of Port Salvador, opposite Rincon Grande. It is often called ‘Gibraltar Station’ as it was founded by Andrez Pitaluga who was born in Gibraltar in 1822.
Andrez and two fellow Gibraltarians arrived in the islands, by way of South America, in November 1838. By 1841 he had risen to capataz of the gauchos who hunted the wild cattle and tamed wild horses for the Lafone Brothers. He worked all over East Falkland. He began to acquire Crown Grant land on his own behalf. In June 1861 he was licenced to occupy a station at Port Salvador for £5 and on 27th April 1864 for a further £5, he was first granted a licence to occupy a station at Rincon Grande. He continued to develop the area despite opposition from the Falkland Islands Company. Andrez was married to Margaret McIntosh Edwards at Hope Place in 1850 or 1851. He built many stone houses and corrals in the Falklands, also a house at 33 Fitzroy Road (to be known as the ‘Pink Shop’ during the 1980s/90s). At Salvador ‘Gibraltar’ he built his settlement with stone buildings, his original dwelling, a small stone hut by the creek still survives today. After his death in June 1878 two of his sons, Alexander and Harry continued to lease lands stretching as far as Cow Bay and Berkeley Sound and west to Fanning Head. Their land holdings scaled back to the two sections of Salvador (Gibraltar Station) and Rincon Grande. Alexander had seven children. Of his sons, Donald ran Gibraltar Station until he died and Alec, his brother took over in 1930. Alec had four children, his youngest Robin married Jene Robinson in 1956 and took over the family business in 1955. They had two sons Nicholas and Saul. Jene died in 2010 and Robin in 2020. Nicholas now runs the farm. Gibraltar Station in 2018 had a population of 3 and carried around 8,400 fine wool sheep.
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Robin Pitaluga 1933-2020
Photograph by Ian Barnes |
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Sources include: Falkland Rural Heritage- Joan Spruce with Natalie Smith, nationalarchives.gov.fk/Jane, The Dictionary of Falklands Biography (including South Georgia) - Edited by David Tatham/ Nicholas Pitaluga, nationalarchives.gov.fk/Jane Cameron National Archives,
Can you add/ correct any information or supply photographs for this page, anything for Salvador, past or present life, people buildings please? Contact: falklands.southatlantic@gmail.com
Photographic credits: Ian Barnes
Photographs and Images Copyright: The images on this site have been bought under licence or have been used with the permission of their owners. They may not be copied or downloaded in any form without their owner's consent. |
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