John Clunies-Ross was a merchant born in Weisdale, Shetland on 23 August 1786. In 1813 he was at Timor as Third Mate on board the whaler "Baroness Longueville" when he received the opportunity to become captain of the brig "Olivia", which he took. He reportedly first cruised the waters of the then uninhabited Cocos (Keeling) Islands in 1825. After surveying them he moved his family to live on one of the islands in 1827. Only Joshua Slocum used different dates, when he wrote that "John Clunis-Ross, who in 1814 touched island in the ship "Borneo" on a voyage to India", nailed up a Union Jack with plans to settle in the future and "[...] returned 2 years later with his wife and family".