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British Antarctic Territory Government（https://www.britishantarcticterritory.org.uk）
History of the Territory
Portrait of Captain James Cook © National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Greenwich Hospital Collection
Discovery
Theories on the existence of a Southern continent date back to Greek times, but the actual discovery had to wait until the nineteenth century. The explorer James Cook captained the first recorded ship to cross the Antarctic circle in 1773, and was incredibly unfortunate not to discover Antarctica.
The South Shetland Islands were the first part of the Territory to be discovered, in February 1819 by the British mariner William Smith in his ship the Williams . The continental Antarctic landmass was not sighted until the following year (1820), by both British and Russian expeditions within the same month.
The South Orkney Islands were discovered in December 1821 by George Powell on the Dove while in February 1832, the Antarctic Peninsula was claimed for Britain by the explorer John Biscoe.
UK claim
The UK’s formal claim dates back to 1908 via the Falkland Island Dependencies Letters of Patent. It is the oldest formal territorial claim on the continent. The Antarctic Treaty puts all territorial claims to Antarctica in abeyance and provides a framework for international co-operation. The UK has no doubt about its sovereignty over the British Antarctic Territory in the context of Article IV of the Antarctic Treaty.
The permanent UK presence in Antarctica began with Operation Tabarin（https://www.bas.ac.uk/about/about-bas/history/operation-tabarin/） during the Second World War. The 14-man Admiralty expedition was led by Lieutenant James Marr and Major Andrew Taylor. They departed from the Falklands in January 1944.