WHITTLEY, Thomas William

WHITTLEY, Thomas William (1816-c. 1870), sailor on an English gunboat which came around the horn to Mexico in the 1830s. Frank Whittley jumped ship and married a Mexican girl named Juanita Domingues (1819-1868). They moved from Ensenada to Santa Catalina Island in the early 1850s when their oldest son, Frank “Pancho” (1848-1902), was 6 years old. His brother-in-law, Johan Behn, was already living on the island. In 1855 Whittley brought Mexican Joe Presiado, his son’s age, to the island as a companion to his son Pancho. Whittley died not long after his wife’s death. Whittley Avenue at Avalon is named for his family.