I have a large amount of data on British ships, masters and crews that sailed for South America during the period 1780 to 1820; back when the southern american continent was shifting from an enclave of the Spanish empire to independent nations with ties to the UK and US. For MIchelle, off list why don't you send me your ancestors details and I'll see what I can find. Chris Maxworthy Australian Association for Maritime History (AAMH) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Subject: [MAR] Thank You To: <Mariners-L@rootsweb.com> A big thank you to all that helped me with my "River Platte" question. I now have a lot of info about it . Michelle