Date:

1771

Title:

Chart of the South End of East Florida and Martiers

Cartographer:

de Brahm, William Gerard (1718-1799)

Summary:

This chart shows only the southern tip of the peninsula but shows the Florida Keys and adjacent waters in detail, as well as the Gulf Stream. Biscayne Bay is called Sandwich Gulf, named after the Earl of Sandwich, who never visited there. Florida Bay is called Grants Lake in the north and Richmond Bay in the southwest. Barnes Sound & Card Sound were named later. Key West still has the Spanish name “Hueso.” The wreck of the Frigate Carysfort in 1770 is document and the name continued as Carysfort Reef and later the (extant) lighthouse that was built there assumed the same name. The latitude is more accurate with Cape Florida shown at 25° 42’ 42” north, similar to the 25° 40’ that we accept today.
William Gerard de Brahm was His Majesty’s Surveyor General for the southern District of North America. He was born in Germany, but went to the British colony of Georgia in 1751 as the leader of a party of Protestant immigrants. He was a surveyor, geographer and cartographer. He worked in Florida for six years, starting in 1765, in order to increase British awareness of the coasts and natural and physical aspects of the area. The Atlantic Pilot was published in England in 1772 and contained this map and others. He had disagreements with many people – including East Florida Governor James Grant – and was suspended from office and faced charges in England. He later returned to Charleston, then went back to England in 1777 and then to Philadelphia, where he died in 1799.


Note:

References: The Atlantic Pilot. A Facsimile Reproduction of the 1772 edition with Introduction and Index by Louis de Vorsey Jr, Bicentennial Floridiana, Facsimile Series, A University of Florida Book. The University Presses of Florida, Gainesville, 1974.

Coverage Time:

1700s