Pedro Fernandes de Queirós

Lore & Background

Queirós was born in Évora, Portugal in 1563. After the unification of the Portuguese and Spanish monarchies in 1580, he entered Spanish service and became an experienced seaman and navigator. In April 1595, he joined Álvaro de Mendaña y Neira's voyage to colonize the Solomon Islands as chief pilot. After Mendaña's death in October 1595, Queirós took command and saved the only remaining ship, arriving in the Philippines in February 1596.

Queirós spent eighteen months in the Philippines but returned to Spain in 1598 via Mexico. He petitioned King Philip III to support another voyage to find a large southern continent. A devout Catholic, he visited Rome in 1600 and obtained the support of Pope Clement VIII. In March 1603, he was authorized to return to Peru to organize an expedition. After being shipwrecked in the West Indies, he reached Peru by March 1605. His party of 160 men on three ships left Callao on 21 December 1605.

In May 1606, the expedition reached the islands later called the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu). Queirós landed on a large island he named Australia del Espíritu Santo (later altered to Austrialia del Espíritu Santo). He intended to establish a colony called Nova Jerusalem and founded a new Order of Chivalry, the Knights of the Holy Ghost. However, within weeks the colony was abandoned due to hostility from the Ni-Vanuatu and disagreements among the crew. On 11 June 1606, Queirós became separated from the other ships; his crew mutinied, and his ship sailed to Acapulco, Mexico, arriving in November 1606.

Reader's Guide

Queirós's significance lies in his determined search for Terra Australis, which led to the European discovery of several Pacific islands and the naming of Espiritu Santo. His 1605–1606 expedition, though ultimately failing to establish a colony, contributed to geographical knowledge of the Pacific. His second-in-command, Luis Váez de Torres, after Queirós's disappearance, charted the southern coastline of New Guinea and sailed through the strait now bearing his name, between Australia and New Guinea, though Torres was unaware of Australia's proximity. Queirós spent his later years in poverty, writing numerous memorials to King Philip III begging for funds for another voyage, but the king had no real intention of funding further expeditions. He died in Panama in 1614. In the 19th century, some Australians claimed Queirós had discovered Australia before Willem Janszoon, Abel Tasman, and James Cook, but the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Patrick Francis Moran, asserted this to be false. Accounts of his voyage, including his memorials and Torres's letter, were later used by British Admiralty Hydrographer Alexander Dalrymple, who passed information to Joseph Banks and likely to James Cook.

Did You Know?

• Queirós invented two navigational tools while in Rome.
• He named the island Espiritu Santo as part of 'Austrialia del Espíritu Santo,' a pun on 'Austria' in honor of King Philip III of the House of Hapsburg.
• After his 1605–1606 expedition, Queirós sent at least 50, possibly 65, memorials to the king between 1607 and 1614.
• His son Lucas de Quirós participated in the 1605 expedition and became a regarded cosmographer in Lima.