Hi Matt, There is a lot of myth that needs to be dispelled sbout "La Casa de Lord Cochrane". It was never his house - he left Chile in 1823 -never to return, I believe- and the house was built in 1840 by a Scottish watchmaker named John Mouat. He added an octagonal tower on the NE corner in 1843, containing an observatory - the first in Chile and possibly on the whole West coast of both Americas. He sold it to a Dr David Thomas in 1863 for C$11,849. It was later sold to Medarda Gatica de Browne (I'm guessing in 1877...) who in turn sold it to Henry Plumb for C$35,000 in 1893. Due to efforts by Pablo Neruda & actress Sara Vial, among others, it was declared a historic monument in 1963. Regards, David Thomas
Yes,he was a first cousin of my great, great grandfather. He went to Valpo in 1844 and died there in 1897. Another cousin of theirs, Alexander/Alejandro arrived there in the 1830s - David, although he was a medical doctor, worked for Cross & Co as a commission agent for a while. He was also the President of Ferrocarriles Urbanos de Valparaiso for many years. Vice-president was Domingo Santa Maria who later becamr the Chilean President (as you may well already know) Regards, David
Hi Matt, Sorry about the shaky last post, I was about to fall asleep... The other cousin, although I guess you've figured it out, was Alexander Cross. David
Hi Matt,
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot of myth that needs to be dispelled sbout "La Casa de Lord Cochrane".
It was never his house - he left Chile in 1823 -never to return, I believe- and the house was built in 1840 by a Scottish watchmaker named John Mouat. He added an octagonal tower on the NE corner in 1843, containing an observatory - the first in Chile and possibly on the whole West coast of both Americas. He sold it to a Dr David Thomas in 1863 for C$11,849. It was later sold to Medarda Gatica de Browne (I'm guessing in 1877...) who in turn sold it to Henry Plumb for C$35,000 in 1893. Due to efforts by Pablo Neruda & actress Sara Vial, among others, it was declared a historic monument in 1963. Regards,
David Thomas
David- Thanks for your comment- very interesting. So I'm assuming that the David Thomas who bought the property in 1863 was a relation of yours..?
ReplyDeleteYes,he was a first cousin of my great, great grandfather. He went to Valpo in 1844 and died there in 1897. Another cousin of theirs, Alexander/Alejandro arrived there in the 1830s - David, although he was a medical doctor, worked for Cross & Co as a commission agent for a while. He was also the President of Ferrocarriles Urbanos de Valparaiso for many years. Vice-president was Domingo Santa Maria who later becamr the Chilean President (as you may well already know)
ReplyDeleteRegards,
David
Hi Matt,
ReplyDeleteSorry about the shaky last post, I was about to fall asleep... The other cousin, although I guess you've figured it out, was Alexander Cross.
David
Thanks again for the info. Great stuff.
ReplyDelete