Uploaded February 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
On top of having a fabulous name, British officer and soldier of fortune Gregor MacGregor spent a decade in Central America fighting for Venezuela and briefly attempting to declare Florida’s independence. He returned to Britain with tales of glory, and a rare opportunity. He’d been given a colony in the New World called Poyais, and he needed investments and settlers. He recruited 250 Brits - doctors, civil servants, teachers, bankers, even young men aspiring to become commissioned officers in the Poyais military - and set sail for adventure. Or rather, they set sail, MacGregor stayed home while the hopeful colonists found themselves deserted in a barren jungle. That’s because the capital of Poyais where they were supposed to land, indeed, every town in Poyais, every land deed MacGregor sold, and every Poyais bank note he traded for the settlers’ gold, was completely made up. 250 people made the trip to the New World, and 50 made it back to Britain alive.Gregor claimed that he had been defrauded, that those poor people were taken to the wrong place by someone wishing to see the colony fail, and then he took the same lie to France, Spain, and eventually London again. He was never convicted.
On top of having a fabulous name, British officer and soldier of fortune Gregor MacGregor spent a decade in Central America fighting for Venezuela and briefly attempting to declare Florida’s independence. He returned to Britain with tales of glory, and a rare opportunity. He’d been given a colony in the New World called Poyais, and he needed investments and settlers. He recruited 250 Brits - doctors, civil servants, teachers, bankers, even young men aspiring to become commissioned officers in the Poyais military - and set sail for adventure. Or rather, they set sail, MacGregor stayed home while the hopeful colonists found themselves deserted in a barren jungle. That’s because the capital of Poyais where they were supposed to land, indeed, every town in Poyais, every land deed MacGregor sold, and every Poyais bank note he traded for the settlers’ gold, was completely made up. 250 people made the trip to the New World, and 50 made it back to Britain alive.Gregor claimed that he had been defrauded, that those poor people were taken to the wrong place by someone wishing to see the colony fail, and then he took the same lie to France, Spain, and eventually London again. He was never convicted.
