After an initial attempt to farm the southern and central part of East Falkland, by Samuel Fisher Lafone, it became clear that an individual could not finance the establishment of such a scheme on their own.  By 1849 Lafone had become heavily in debt, and in January 1851 a committee met in London to form a company with a view to buying Lafone’s rights and interests in the Islands.  The company was incorporated and was granted a Royal Charter by Queen Victoria in January 1852.

The Falkland Islands Company was, in its early years, a trading company, and a store was opened in Stanley after the arrival of the first Colonial Manager, John Pownall Dale, in 1852.  The company soon established itself in major sheep farming operations, and in 1872 the Company held 48,500 sheep.  Darwin Harbour, on the strip of land joining Lafonia with the northern section of East Falkland, was where the Company established its main settlement.  In 1922, Goose Green was chosen for improving sheep-handling facilities.  New shearing sheds were built, which for a time were the largest in the world, and a suspension bridge was constructed to move sheep from the Walker Creek area, which is still the most southerly suspension bridge in the world.  In 1979 over 100,000 sheep were shorn at Goose Green.  The Company has dominated the wool industry in the Islands, also owning the only large general store in Stanley.