Roxa arrived in the Falkland Islands in 1830, during the period in which Luis Vernet was establishing a settlement at Port Louis (Spanish: Puerto Luis) in the ruins of the former Spanish penal colony of Puerto Soledad (previously the French settlement of Fort St.
HMS Clio did not remain long, staying only ten days and sailing after placing William Dickson in charge of the settlement.
[4] Roxa again chose to remain in the settlement and is listed by Thomas Helsby (Vernet's clerk) as one of the residents in the islands.
Vernet sent Matthew Brisbane back to the Falklands to run his affairs, he arrived in March 1833, during the first visit of HMS Beagle.
[6] The Gaucho's wished to be paid in Silver as Captain Onslow of the Clio had promised but Brisbane continued with Vernet's policies.
[8] Roxa, who was a skilled Gaucho in her own right, made a deal with Lt. Smith that if she could convert the feral cattle of the islands into a milking herd she could keep every second calf.
[9] Roxa was considered a key member of a small community,[8] in 1839 Lt. Lowcay stated that: she was of a humane Disposition, and herself very useful on the Island when any of the Settlers were sick, and particularly in Midwifery cases, and that she had some Time back saved the Life of a young Gentleman of the Cleopatra when the Ship was at the Islands.The deal with Lt.Smith proved to be a shrewd move as by this arrangement she accrued a large herd of cattle.
In his report to London he stated: I have considered it advisable to employ her as a gaucho in the field, being an active person riding as a man and tolerably skilled in the use of the lassoOn 1 January 1841, along with one other native of South America and also a native of Hamburg, Roxa swore allegiance to The Crown[1] becoming a British citizen and was later mentioned by Governor Rennie as a foreigner who wished to be naturalised.
[1] The 1842 Statistical Table records Roxa as owning 6 dogs, 17 cows, 6 calves, 7 oxen, 6 fowls and a well built two-room stone cottage.
[1] When under Governor Richard Moody the seat of Government moved to Stanley it is recorded Roxa owned a plot of land and property worth £30.
[13] The historian David Tatham reports her marrying Pedro Varela[13] in 1851, after which she found employment in the Falkland Islands Company farm at Hope Place.
[13] As reported by David Tatham, she married a Gaucho Pedro Varela c. 1851, a man ten years her junior,[13] however, there is no formal record of a marriage in either the Government or Church registers.
She is a rather good looking woman, does not appear more than thirty, and in bodily and mental qualities is well calculated for the society she lives in – she rides fearlessly… she shoots well.
When her second spouse and four others suffered – she led the two black women, and two or three men, across the island, and with the aid of her gun procured them food until it was safe to return.