Thomas Gilbert

Thomas Gilbert, lived in the late 18th century, English sea captain who took part in the early settlement of Australia and was in the first group of Europeans to visit Kiribati (formerly the Gilbert Islands). Gilbert was a navigator for the English East India Company (see East India Company) and other private shipowners. In the spring of 1787 he sailed from England in command of the Charlotte, a ship of the First Fleet, which was taking the first convict settlers to the new colony of New South Wales, Australia. Gilbert reached the colony the following January and stayed at Port Jackson (present-day Sydney) until May 1788, when he sailed for home. He planned to stop at Guangzhou (also known as Canton), China, to load cargo before returning to England. He was joined for most of the voyage by another British ship, the Scarborough, captained by John Marshall.

Gilbert and Marshall’s course took them north of Norfolk Island and into a little-known area of the central Pacific. Within a few weeks Gilbert discovered an island south of the New Hebrides (present-day Vanuatu) that he named Matthew Island (now part of the French territory of New Caledonia but disputed by Vanuatu). Three weeks later he came upon 3 islands in a chain of 16. Over the next ten days he sighted more islands, some of which had already been charted by Spanish and British navigators but many of which were new to Europeans. Gilbert made the earliest known European contact with the natives of these islands. For his discoveries, the entire chain was named the Gilberts.

Gilbert arrived at the port of Guangzhou in early September, loaded his ship with tea, and sailed back to England. In 1789 he published an account of his experiences called Voyage from New South Wales to Canton. Along with Marshall, he produced sketches and charts that provided sailors with an overview of the scattered island chains of the central Pacific.