Just in time: St |Helena’s new tourism map

Sensational Developments for St Helena In this issue

• St Helena has an operational regular weekly commercial 2 Editorial / Joining the Friends air service in operation. The first commercial flight 3 Report on the autumn meeting and book launch landed at Prosperous Bay Plain on 14th October with 4 Review of A Bitter Draught some 70 passengers on board. 5 -6 Waterwitch: A Warship and its Voyages by Andrew Pearson 7-8 SA 8131 – The St Helena Flight Experience by E. Baldwin • There is an operational monthly air service from St 9-10 Easter Island: A Model for St Helena’s Tourism? I. Mathieson Helena to Ascension (where it overnights) which was inaugurated on 18th November returning on 19th. 11/14 Country Shops of St Helena (part 2) by Sharon Henry 12-13 St Helena Sea Life by Richard Hewitt • Jamestown has a high-class hotel. On 1st November the 15 -16 The Mantis St Helena Hotel Opens by Edward Baldwin new 30 room Mantis Hotel opened at 1-2-3 Main St in 17 Miscellaneous Jamestown. 18 Napoleon’s Representative on Earth: M Martineau’s new book • The new cargo service carried by the MV Helena will by John Tyrrell commence on 21st February and make monthly calls at 19 Book Page by Ian Mathieson St Helena and four calls per year at Ascension. 20-21 St Helena’s Genealogical Database by Chris & Sheila Hillman 22 Fibre-Optic Cable is the Way to Go by Christian von der Ropp • The RMS will make a final voyage to Tristan and finally 23-24 St Helena’s Endemic Species by St Helena Tourism retire at Cape Town on 15th February 2018 Summer Meeting 2018: the next meeting will be held at the Oxford Quaker Meeting House, 42 St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LW on Saturday 9th June 2018. The meeting will feature talks on Ascension Island. Further details to follow in the New Year.

Editorial After many months, or even years, there is at last good news for St Helena. Not just some good news but a lot with the main items being listed on our front page. Suddenly things have come together; we can sit at home and, at least once week say “I could be in Jamestown in three days’ time.” It may not be so long before we will be able to say these words two or three times a week. Access issues have dominated the life of the St Helena Connection. Indeed our first issue, eleven years ago, opened with the headline “latest news on the airport” under an aerial view of the eastern side of the island showing the location of the main components of the project. So now the island has real access and things enter a new phase when we see if tourism really will work on the island in the low volume, high value way in which it was conceived more than ten years ago. And we look forward to dealing with headlines which are not dominated by boats, planes and runways – indeed on page 22 we already have an account of the fibre optic cable that St Helena can expect to receive in the not too distant future which could change its future almost as much as access will. Easter Island tourism was used as one of the proxies in the 2005 airport feasibility study to illustrate how tourism might develop on St Helena. Your editor has familial links with that island and Chile so it seemed a good moment to visit and see how things were developing. Despite annual tourist numbers in the region of 100,000 on an island only about 50% bigger than St Helena, Easter Island hasn’t been destroyed by mass tourism - at least yet - as we report on pages 9 and 10. For the Society our big event during the last six months has been the launch of Colin Fox’s A Bitter Draught: St Helena and the Abolition of Slavery at our autumn meeting at the Victory Club in London. This is the third title to be published under our Wirebird imprint and represents the most ambitious project to date, not just for the book’s size but also for its subject matter which extends in importance well beyond the confines of a small South Atlantic island. For our treasurer and the book’s author, Colin Fox, this represents a magnum opus that has taken a good many years to produce. He has received sterling support from fellow members Ian Bruce and Edward Baldwin as well as from Professor Dan Yon as we report on page 3. We also had a further talk from Andy Pearson at the autumn meeting. Following his archaeological work on the liberated Africans’ graves in Ruperts Valley and the associated quarantine station at Lemon Valley, Andy researched the role of HMS Waterwitch in bringing many of the Africans to St Helena. His article is on pages 5-6. Edward Baldwin provides us, on pages 7-8, with a lively account of being a passenger on only the second scheduled flight to St Helena. He describes how the aeroplane, with many empty seats because of weight restrictions, doubles up as a sitting area in which passengers can freely change seats so as to catch up with friends and acquaintances before they reach the island. To see the picture of the boarding gate of flight SA8131 to Saint Helena is to view a significant milestone in the island’s history. Edward also follows up his article on the development of the Mantis Hotel in Jamestown with an account of its opening and some views of its rooms. Trip Advisor currently offers us a view of “all 2 traveller photographs” of St Helena. By this time next year things will be very different and no doubt the Mantis Hotel will have that owl with their marks out of ten displayed on their front door. The remainder of this issue is taken up with a range of topics from different authors. Sharon Henry continues her amusing account of St Helena’s shops with more to come in further issues. I can assure our readers that, compared to Easter Island, St Helena’s grocery shops have a lot more character and a lot more to offer! Member Richard Hewitt provides the subject for the centre pages with some fine shots of island sea-birds taken during his visits in 2011 and 2013 while St Helena Tourism provide an abbreviated listing of the island’s endemic flora and fauna. Ever good on statistics SHG provide us with forecasts of St Helena’s projected population growth in the years to come but whatever happens it seems that the island will be run by women – there were no men filling any of the five places on SHG’s future leaders course (p17). Members Chris and Shelia Hillman provide an account of how to explore St Helena ancestry (p20-21) while new books reviewed feature our old friend Fernao Lopes, the island’s first resident, an update of Duff Hart-Davis’s Ascension and an interesting review by John Tyrrell of Michel Martineau’s account of Gilbert - a book which unfortunately has only been published in French.

The St Helena Connection The St Helena Connection aims to provide news and information on people and current and historical events of interest to anyone with connections to the Island of St Helena. All contributions welcome. Please contact the editor: Ian Mathieson, Callender House, 90, Callender St, Ramsbottom, Lancs BLO 9DU. T 01706-826467. Email [email protected] Published by the Friends of St Helena c/o the Editor at the above address Printed by Direct Offset, Glastonbury, Somerset.

Joining the Friends or Subscribing to the St Helena Connection Membership To join the Friends please contact the Membership Secretary, Margaret Dyson on [email protected] Annual Membership is £20.00 per family at the same address in the UK and £30 overseas. Life Membership £350.00. The St Helena Connection is published twice a year in June (after the AGM) and December. It comes as a benefit of membership together with a copy of Wirebird which focusses on island history and is published in September.

The Friends of St Helena President: the Earl of Iveagh The St Helena Connection Editor: Ian Mathieson Chairman: Ian Mathieson Wirebird Editor: Colin Fox Vice-Chairman: David Young Web Manager: Margaret Dyson Treasurer: Colin Fox Committee Members: Edward Baldwin, Vicky Beal, Trevor Secretary: Brian Frederick Reynolds, Patricia Young, Matthew Woodthorpe, David Hall, Nick Membership Secretary: Margaret Dyson Braddock and Conrad Eades.

Page 2 St Helena Connection 23 Autumn Meeting 2017 The autumn meeting was held as usual at the Victory Club in London with some 60 members attending. The theme centred around St Helena’s slavery history with the launch of Colin Fox’s A Bitter Draught: St Helena and the Abolition of Slavery. In addition, Dr Andy Pearson gave a talk on the activities of HMS Waterwitch and its activities during the mid-19th century as part of the navy squadron suppressing the West African slave trade. This was the third time Andy had given a talk to a Friends meeting; the previous ones being in 2009 on the Liberated African graves in Ruperts Valley and in 2011 on his research at Lemon Valley, which acted as a quarantine station during the early years of the activities of the West Africa Squadron. (see pp 5-6 for the text of Andy’s talk). We were also delighted to welcome Dr Steve Royle whose 2007 Company’s Island examined, amongst other things, the role of slavery in the early years of the EIC on St Helena and also Dan Yon who launched A Bitter Draught. Dan’s presence (he flew over from The full text of Dan Yon’s opening address is contained in the Canada particularly to attend) meant that we had present the book which is reviewed on the next page by Ian Bruce. Dan four principle contemporary researchers on St Helena’s slavery concluded his talk by observing that “as islanders we are the history. descendants of slaves commenting on the activities of our slave forebears.” In his opening remarks Dan quoted from his Foreword to the book. “I began my career in education teaching history on St In his response Colin drew attention to the book’s publication as Helena, my birthplace in the South Atlantic. The history of the third title to come under the Friends of St Helena’s Wirebird slavery always provoked great interest because we knew that it imprint. He also offered his profound appreciation for the very was integral to our island history and to the making of ourselves. substantial contribution made by Ian Bruce in reading and The problem, however, was that the text books all based slavery commenting on various drafts of the book on and also to on the triangular trade between England, Africa and the Edward Baldwin for designing the cover, proof reading and Americas / Caribbean, and did not seem to relate in any real preparing the book for publication. way to St Helena. The dominant narrative of slavery in the British Empire privileges the plantation colonies and St Helena Summer Meeting 2018 was never such a colony. A well-known poster that featured in The summer meeting 2018 will be held on 9th June at the our teaching resources, advertising the sale of slaves and other Friends Meeting House in Oxford – the same venue as for 2017. “property”, “under the trees”, resonated in my teaching because The theme will be on Ascension Island – the first time we have the trees under which the sale “could have” occurred stand featured Ascension since 2007 and only the second time we prominently at the top of Main Street, in the island’s capital, have featured Ascension talks in our history. Speakers will be Jamestown, and each nail hammered into the trunks John Woolven-Allen who grew up on Ascension and who has represented a slave sold.” maintained close contact ever since and Polly Burns who will be describing her research into the island’s rich marine environment. St Helena Connection No 23 Page 3 A Bitter Draught by Colin Fox: Reviewed by Ian Bruce

they would receive if their slaves were forcibly emancipated as their salvation. The EIC certainly wanted to end slavery but was less keen to fork out the money. A clever scheme was therefore proposed whereby the EIC lent money to each slave who could then buy their own freedom. Everyone, except perhaps the slaves burdened by their debts, would be a winner – the owners would not only receive their compensation but also be released from any future responsibility for the welfare of their slaves; the slaves gained their freedom and the Company would eventually get all its money back from the slaves in future years. This general approach was duly adopted, a fixed proportion of slaves being liberated each year through a complicated lottery system. The process took nine years and towards its end governance of the island passed from the EIC to the British Government (April 1834). The EIC's loans to the slaves were therefore inherited by the Treasury, which continued the same process of emancipation, giving no quarter in demanding repayment. The whole basis of the scheme, whereby liberated slaves repaid their debts, was entirely undermined two years later when the Crown-appointed Governor Middlemore arrived with orders to make savage economic cuts. A cash-poor society resulted that could no longer afford to employ the liberated slaves, or could only pay a pittance. Thus, hundreds of men and women scraped a living, barely able to feed or house themselves. This was a desperate time for islanders. The rampant rise in levels of prostitution and sexual infections after 1836 is no coincidence.

At dawn on Friday 1st August 1834, millions of slaves across the A Bitter Draught provides a clear and sensitively presented British Empire were liberated. Their owners woke that same day explanation of the twists and turns of the extraordinary and knowing they would soon receive generous compensation for previously untold story that unfolded during 1792-1840 and is the loss of their slaves. Celebrated today in several places put into context with an introductory description of slavery on the around the world as Emancipation Day, this date marks the end island from the earliest days of settlement by the EIC in 1659. of a long and protracted campaign to end slavery in Britain that This is a fascinating account that will be appreciated by all, began in 1792 with an emotional Parliamentary debate. regardless of their previous knowledge about the island. As ably described by Colin Fox in A Bitter Draught, none of this Colin Fox was first motivated to research this subject a decade happened at St Helena. The process of liberation started earlier ago when he stumbled across a list prepared in 1827 for the on the island than elsewhere but ended later. The method was phased manumission process. This quoted the monetary value also startlingly different, the island’s slaves effectively being of each slave with details of their skills and characters. A similar forced to buy their own freedom. list dating from 1839 reported the progress being made to repay these loans – not very much. The book includes many tables Why this difference? A major cause was the East India and appendices with data ranging from the earliest slave laws Company’s control of the island. Its other territories had a long through to population statistics. Unusually, a code at the end of tradition of slavery before the British arrived. It was easier to end the contents page allows readers to access eight spreadsheets at St Helena and several governors were early in driving from the FoSH website. This allows easy access to the data to emancipation forward, often in the face of opposition because of run searches and extract information on slaves, tradesmen and fears that the island might lose its workforce. the civil population in 1723 and 1728, all the information in the 1827 and 1839 lists and a summary of family connections. Sensitive to the strength of feeling against slavery in Britain in 1792 and mindful its Charter was up for renewal the following This history neatly spans the time periods of two other books year, the Company agreed to proposals by Governor Brooke to published over the past decade (by Stephen Royle and Andrew introduce new slave laws, several of which inhibited inhumane Pearson). I believe all three books will be recognised in the treatment. The most important of 42 articles was a ban on future future as a pinnacle of excellence in the historiography of St slave imports. This was very early, legislation to ban the Helena, all being well written and based on thoroughly transport of slaves to most Crown colonies only passing in 1807. researched primary sources, avoiding the myths that arise when authors successively copy one another’s errors. The next important stage in this story came when St Helena’s much-maligned Governor Hudson Lowe persuaded slave Having been closely involved in the development of this book, owners to allow children of slave mothers born after Christmas proofing it on three separate occasions, readers will be correct 1818 to be free. This may have salved the consciences of the in thinking my strong commendation is not entirely neutral. owners but within a few years, and under the governorship of However, there is no bias when I say that Friends of St Helena, Sir Alexander Walker, the ultimate consequences of this action through whom this has been published, have not only became apparent. Slave families would need to explain to their maintained their excellent standard of print production but are to offspring why some of them were slaves and some free. Owners be congratulated for publishing this volume at a sensible and were advised in the strongest terms by Walker that they faced affordable price. two problems. They would not only need to care for aging slaves when they became unfit to work in future years but also to hire A Bitter Draught – St Helena: The Abolition of Slavery 1792- free labourers and servants. 1840, by Colin Fox. London: Society of Friends of St Helena, 2017. xx + 356 pp. ISBN 978-0-9574918-2-3. £35 + £3 UK p&p. Suffering economically straitened years after Napoleon’s death FoSH Members £10 discount), available from Miles Apart. (1821), many owners were heavily indebted and saw the money

Page 4 St Helena Connection No 23 Waterwitch: A Warship and its Voyages in the Era of Anti-Slavery by Andrew Pearson were paying dividends, carrying reports of slave ship prizes taken, and many hundreds of slaves freed. It was clearly a successful cruise and after repair and refitting at Portsmouth in 1838, Waterwitch was made ready for a return to the anti- slavery patrol. The second cruise: an overview Waterwitch’s second anti-slavery commission, beginning on 2 March 1839 under the command of 29-year-old Lt Henry Matson, started very much like its first, patrolling in the Gulf of Guinea and dispatching four captured slave vessels for trial at Sierra Leone. However, three months after its departure from Portsmouth, the legal framework changed radically because of the 1839 Slave Trade (Portugal) Act. At a stroke this act provided authorisation for British warships to detain Portuguese vessels equipped for the slave trade, and for Vice-Admiralty courts to condemn them. Crucially, too, the act empowered the Royal Navy to patrol and make captures to the south of the Fig 1. ‘H.M. Brig “Waterwitch”. Lithograph by H. J. Vernon, equator – for the first time making this huge swathe of slave- c. 1850 (author’s collection). trading coast vulnerable to assault. Almost immediately there was a shift towards the Vice-Admiralty courts and to the use of Most people familiar with Jamestown will be aware of HMS St Helena as a trial venue and receiving depot. Waterwitch, if only because of the elegant neo-classical marble column which stands in the Castle Gardens. The monument makes it clear that Waterwitch served in the West Africa Squadron during Britain’s anti-slavery campaign, and that it had a close connection with St Helena. However, there is a far longer and complex history to Waterwitch, which not only had a distinguished military career but was a vessel of great intrinsic interest. From racing yacht to warship Waterwitch was built in 1832 at the Isle of Wight shipyards of John Samuel White and Co. It was a private commission for George Hamilton Chichester, Lord Belfast, for whom White and Co. had previously built the racing cutter Therese in 1825. Belfast was an influential member of the Royal Yacht Squadron, many of whose members had a strong interest in ship design. In part this reflected the nautical passions of Britain’s wealthy aristocracy, but it was equally a patriotic reaction to the outdated and indifferent sailing qualities of many of the vessels then in the Navy’s service. Worst were the smallest warships, which one commentator described as the ‘most despised class of vessels in His Majesty’s Service … which though incapable of either fighting or running, is quite capable of going to the bottom’. Lord Belfast demanded a design that would carry a heavy battery and yet be more seaworthy. His specification also emphasised speed: indeed, he wanted a ship that could outsail any vessel in the Royal Navy. Sea trials of the newly-launched Waterwitch in 1832 found it to be decidedly superior to rival Figure 2. The voyage of HMS Waterwitch, April 1839 to May vessels; it subsequently beat the fast-sailing brig Pantaloon in a 1843. The dots show the ship’s daily position. The initial period shows race to Lisbon by a large margin. The press demanded that dots in the Gulf of Guinea. Thereafter she undertook a blockade of the Waterwitch be purchased for the Navy and its potential value to Central African coast, with visits to St Helena, Ascension and the West Africa Squadron was specifically recognised. Simonstown. However, the Admiralty was reluctant to make the purchase and for the whole of 1833, and part of 1834, Waterwitch continued Matson’s voyage in Waterwitch brings the act’s outcomes into its civilian racing career, soundly beating C.R.M. Talbot’s fine sharp focus. On 13 January 1840 Matson took his ship south of schooner Galatea – one of the fastest yachts of the day – in the equator, initially on an arcing track to Ascension Island. He September 1834. This contest, over a 224-mile course from the would not return to northerly waters for over three years, and Nab to the Eddystone Lighthouse and back, carried a prize of a during this time he would patrol a 1000 km tract of coast, roughly thousand guineas and was arguably the first ocean contest between Malemba in the north and Elephant Bay in the south. anywhere in the world. The result finally prompted the Admiralty May 1840 saw a brief foray into the lower reaches of the River to purchase the vessel in October 1834, fitting it out as a brig Congo – an exercise that would be repeated on several future armed with eight 18pdr carronades and two 6pdr long guns. occasions, while June 1840 found Waterwitch at St Helena for the first time. Here, Matson delivered two Africans from the Waterwitch’s career now took an abrupt change of course, and captured slave ship Cabaca into the hands of the island after a brief period of service off the Iberian Peninsula, it was authorities – and in so doing forced a resolution of the local assigned to the West Africa Squadron. Throughout 1836 and stalemate that had dogged the establishment of its Vice- 1837 newspapers reported that the ship’s good sailing qualities Admiralty court for many months. St Helena Connection 23 Page 5 Examination of Waterwitch’s ports of call during its second any vessel ... how she swam is to me inexplicable’. Repairs were cruise is very revealing about the new tactical situation for the nevertheless undertaken, and Waterwitch was commissioned West Africa Squadron that developed after 1840. Only two brief for two further anti-slavery cruises, sending its last prize to St visits were made to Sierra Leone, both at the outset of the cruise Helena in 1853. The warship was finally sold out of the service in May 1839. From the start of 1840, after the vessel’s move to in 1861. The vessel’s lengthy naval career had spanned a time new patrol grounds below the equator, a distinctive new pattern of great technological change: at the time of purchase it was of cruising and supply becomes immediately apparent. During state-of the-art, but by 1861 it was obsolete. In the same year the forty-one months spent south of the equator, Sierra Leone HMS Warrior was commissioned, epitomising the dominance of was never accessed, with Matson relying instead on the mid- the iron-built, steam-powered warship. Waterwitch was broken Atlantic islands of St Helena (eight visits) and Ascension (five up and nothing of the vessel now remains. visits), and Simonstown at Cape Colony (two visits). In combination, St Helena and Ascension were able to meet On St Helena, however, the ship’s memory persisted into the Waterwitch’s supply needs, while Jamestown was the venue for late nineteenth century, ‘Waterwitch’ having been adopted as a shore leave - a vastly more popular option than the disease- surname by some of the Africans it liberated. Meanwhile, the ridden ‘white man’s grave’ that was Freetown. Neither island, elegant neo-classical column that was erected by the ship’s however, had the facilities required for major refitting – hence company in Jamestown still provides a permanent memorial, its the lengthy diversions required for docking and repair at inscription reading as follows: Simonstown. This column was erected by the commander, officers, and crew of Her Majesty’s brig Waterwitch to the memory of their shipmates who died while serving on the coast of Africa A.D. 1839 – 1843. The greater number died while absent in captured slave vessels. Their remains were either left in different parts of Africa or given to the sea, their graves alike undistinguished. This island is selected for the record because three lie buried here and because the deceased as well as their surviving comrades ever met the warmest welcome from its inhabitants.

Fig 3. Prizes taken by the Waterwitch, Apr 1839 to May 1843.

On 4 May 1843 Waterwitch left the African coast for the last time. It called first at St Helena, then at Ascension, before sailing into the north Atlantic and reaching Portsmouth on 29 June. The commission had lasted four and a quarter years. In that time 40 prizes had been taken and 3,791 slaves freed. Later Career On Waterwitch’s return to England, its crew could look forward to the award of considerable prize money, though a significant proportion of the crew did not survive to collect their reward, thirteen having died during the cruise. On the other hand, the ship’s Master Frederick Sturdee not only returned in good health but with a St Helenian wife. Their son, Frederick Charles Doveton Sturdee (b. 1859) also followed a naval career, Figure 4. The Waterwitch Column, Jamestown Castle becoming Admiral of the Fleet in 1921 having seen action at Gardens, St Helena (photograph: author) both the Falklands and Jutland. This episode serves as a broader indication of the numerous and complex social connections that grew up between the West Africa Squadron This article is an abridged version of a longer paper: Andrew Pearson, and its ports of call. ‘Waterwitch: a warship, its voyage and its crew in the era of anti-slavery’, Atlantic Studies 13.1 (2016), pp.99-124. Waterwitch itself was nearly ruined – a comment not only on the wearing sea conditions of the South Atlantic but also on the lack of accessible dock facilities. The Master shipwright at Portsmouth wrote of it as being ‘in a worse state than I ever saw Page 6 St Helena Connection 23 SA 8131 – The St Helena Flight Experience by Edward Baldwin

Ready to Go! I flew into St Helena (HLE) on the second commercial flight on arriving at 07.55. Once again a tight window, but as both flights 21st October 2017, an exciting and exhilarating experience. are with the same airline, there should be no problem with the

th connection. Hopefully Airlink will be able to reinstate the Leaving London (LHR) on the 19 , and arriving in Johannesburg connection via Windhoek soon, as well as agreeing connections (JNB) the next morning, I spent a night at an airport hotel. I there with Lufthansa and KLM. chose the Southern Sun OR Tambo. This proved to be a good choice. Despite the hotel showing its age a little, it was very quiet for an airport hotel. The staff were fantastic, friendly, helpful, on the ball and smiling all the time. The food was also very good, with first class dinner and breakfast buffets, though with an early check-in there was not a lot of time to enjoy the latter. It is theoretically possible to connect directly from London to the St Helena flight. SA 235 leaves LHR at 18.05, arriving at 07.15 the next day. The St Helena flight leaves at 09.00. Personally I would not want to risk this just yet, with a possible one week’s delay in JNB if you miss the connection. Also, this connection is only possible if the two flights are booked on one ticket. If you have separate tickets, you have to go through S African immigration and collect your luggage. There is no time to do this. Another tip: be aware that Airlink, the JNB – HLE operator has its check-ins in Terminal B, the domestic terminal, while the flight leaves from Terminal A, International. Boarding was as normal, though it was thrilling to see our destination on the gate display screens. We took off on time for the two hour flight to Windhoek, where we refuelled and took on passengers from the connecting flight from Cape Town. Doors were closed and we made ready to leave, when it was announced that there was a problem with the paperwork. It seemed that Namibian ATC did not believe our destination! Two hours later, that is two and a half hours after landing, we were on our way. Later it transpired that the Namibians were unhappy about the connection from Cape Town, saying that it had not been authorised, though Airlink were under the impression that they had had it approved. This connection in Windhoek has since been suspended. To get to St Helena from Cape Town (CPT) you currently need to catch a 06.00 flight CPT – JNB Heading Out into the Atlantic St Helena Connection 23 Page 7 As we approached St Helena, we became aware of a lump of cloud sitting on top of the flat continuous cloud over the Ocean. We are here! The Captain announced that we would land from the North, the design approach for the airport, into a 25 knot wind with 50 knot gusts. We made a 90 degree turn while descending through the thick cloud, emerging below it and levelling off, with the sea visible some way below. Within seconds King and Queen Rocks were rushing past the window, apparently within touching distance, then we were over the runway, the plane rocking quite violently from side to side. There was barely time to notice this before we hit the ground with quite a thump and a bounce, amid the roar of full reverse thrust and braking. A smart U-turn at the South end of the runway and a gentle taxi in. We had arrived. It was 15.15hrs, two hours behind schedule. Not bad considering that the following week’s flight turned back at Windhoek and eventually arrived two days late. Since then things have gone very smoothly, including the first monthly flight to Ascension on 18th November. The arrival experience was quite surreal. Normally you arrive at an airport and know nobody. I was greeted by name by all the Solomon’s staff acting as marshals on the apron. I knew three of the four Immigration officials. Fiyanna greeted me by my first name before she saw my passport. Luggage collected, then to customs. Four more familiar faces and a friendly greeting from all. Welcome home!

King and Queen Rocks from the cabin just before touch down

Safe Arrival

Page 8 St Helena Connection 23 Easter Island: A Model for St Helena’s Tourism? Ian Mathieson reports on a recent visit.

In 2004, when St Helena’s airport feasibility study was underway, Atkins consultants looked at two islands to provide an indication, or “proxy” as they called it, of the way that St Helena’s tourism might develop. The first was Dominica, much larger than St Helena, where eco- tourism was being developed on an island without beaches. The second was Easter Island in the Pacific, but closer to St Helena in size and population. This article looks at how Easter Island’s tourism has developed Ahu Tahai and its Moai (statue) with Easter Island’s capital Hanga Roa in the background in the intervening 13 years and what lessons might be learned from the experience. A comparison of the two islands shows some similarities: St Helena Easter Island Latitude 15.9O S 27.1O S Longitude 5.7o W 109.4o W Dist. from the mainland 1210 miles 2290 Dist. from nearest island 805 m. Asc 1134 Pitcairn Size sq miles 47.0 64.0 Highest point m 811 Diana’s 511 Terevaka Geology Volcanic Volcanic Age years c 7 million+ c 0.2- 3 million Avg sea level temp oC 24.2 21.0 Rainfall annual mm 250-1,000 1,130 European discovery 1502 1722 First inhabited 1513 c1000 Fig 1 Tourism Arrivals on Easter island (Figueroa et al 2015) Population 4,350 8-10,000 has had so many impacts. Now the island gets direct TV from Tourists pa* c 3,000 c 100,000 Chile, with soap operas and similar programmes of little *Includes cruise ship passengers educational value. These things affect the island youngsters who are becoming more Chilean and less Polynesian. The In 2004 Easter Island’s population was estimated to be 3,800, native language is dying.” slightly less than the current St Helena total. Population has expanded rapidly mainly due to uncontrolled migration from This statement could easily be made currently by some of St Chile, of which the island forms a part. This makes it Helena’s residents or those who have had a long association constitutionally more akin to the Isle of Wight than St Helena, with the island. As far as Easter Island is concerned the gloomy 1 which has its own migration control. forecast has not proved to be correct. Rapanui’s culture is thriving with a new-found confidence as the society has become Easter Island received 20-30,000 tourists in 2004. Numbers aware of the global importance of their heritage. Increasingly have continued to rise, although there is a lack of reliable data locals are becoming involved in the archaeological and historical on arrivals (in contrast to St Helena which keeps meticulous research that rests on the old myths but constructs a logical and records). An estimate of recent growth is shown in Fig 1. evidenced narrative. Added to this the Chilean government has Chileans tend to visit during the winter months (July to become aware of the importance of the island and has invested September) and foreigners during the summer (November to $250 million in infrastructure projects and the President, February). Local opinion is that 2017 will see the number pass Michelle Bachelet, has made several visits to the island. 100,000 while the resident population has more than doubled. There is no tourism management plan and serious issues exist The Atkins study used the Easter Island data to suggest that St with waste management, water contamination, sewage Helena’s tourist numbers might reach 30,000 ten years after disposal, traffic congestion and environmental impacts. Despite airport opening. To many this sounds alarming, but does Easter these problems an overall majority of the local population Island’s experience give any reassurances as to the way things support the island’s tourism development. may develop on St Helena? Easter Island has the longest runway in the Pacific region since In 2004, the then head of the USA based Easter Island 1 Foundation commented that “opening up the island to the world Rapanui is the local name for Easter Island.

St Helena Connection No 23 Page 9 NASA developed it as an emergency landing strip for the Space Shuttle in the 1970s. Boeing Dreamliners, carrying 300 passengers from Santiago, arrive almost every day and at peak season twice a day. These flights used to put down at Easter Island on their way to Tahiti but now the island is usually the sole destination. There is no control over numbers and the national carrier, LATAM, will apparently continue to increase capacity so long as it is economically viable for them to do so. The principal concern is damage to the island’s archaeological sites. There are over 800 moai (statues) either standing or fallen and innumerable other relics. Recently an island specific national park service called Ma’u henua was established. It employs 130 personnel many of whom are engaged in staffing site entrance booths to check tickets (costing $45 and permitting access to all sites). Staff are vigilant in stopping tourists touching Continuing protests in front of the Hanga Roa Eco-Hotel. the statues or climbing on the ahus (platforms) on which they stand. This contrasts with the management of 1,000 to 2,000 While visitor numbers are an important indicator of tourism horses under multiple ownership that roam freely and inflict development they can be misleading as they do not account for potentially more damage than errant tourists. It remains to be visit duration. Although data are lacking, most visits to Easter seen whether Ma’u henua has the power to control the horses, island are 3-4 days or less with 1-2 day visits quite common. whose freedom is viewed as an owner’s right. Visits of a week or more are a less common development. The concept of tourist days is a better indicator than simple numbers An average visitor is largely unaware of these problems. The visiting but requires entry and exit control. only town, Hangoa Roa, is home to most accommodation and services. Situated on a relatively flat site it can easily expand. With a weekly flight bringing 70 passengers of whom perhaps Out of town there are few cars on the roads and the tour buses only half are tourists, St Helena’s initial tourist numbers are likely keep to predictable times which can be easily avoided by the to fall, although duration may increase as flights allow a more many visitors not on package tours. This allows most sites to be flexible stay period than that provided by the ship. Further flights viewed without being impacted by too many other visitors. can easily be added provided that the current fare of £800 return proves sustainable. No suggestion of subsidised flights has Easter Island is classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage site been made, unlike for Easter Islanders. for its “unique testimony for a civilization”. St Helena cannot offer anything of the same significance but its history, natural history As flight numbers increase so the proportion of tourists on-board and spectacular environment are attractive to a smaller will also increase. Daily flights for example could be expected spectrum of tourists that could be to the island’s advantage. to provide annual tourist numbers of between 20 to 25,000. If a While flying time from Johannesburg to St Helena is about the week is the average stay then this would mean that there would same as from Santiago to Easter Island, it is most unlikely that be 400-500 tourists on the island at any moment. This was the the island will receive an influx of South African tourists on three estimated number of visitors present on the island for the 2002 day visits in the way Easter Island has from Chile. Quincentenary celebrations which was remarkable for the ease with which the island accommodated them. Both islands have problems with landing large numbers of passengers from cruise ships. They both rely on small boats to This brief comparison of two islands suggest that for St Helena transfer passengers from ship to shore and such transfers can 20-25,000 tourists a year should be achievable and sustainable often be interrupted by a rapid change in sea conditions. This within the next ten years. could be regarded as an advantage as cruise ships, especially large ones, bring limited returns for the effort expended and such tourism is unlikely to demonstrate sustainability, which must remain a key pillar of St Helena’s tourism industry. Tourism developments are often controversial. The SHELCO proposal to develop an 18-hole golf course and hotel complex in the centre of St Helena has major drawbacks (see SHC 12) but with SHELCO recently requesting SHG to underwrite the project, it remains a possibility. Easter Island has avoided golf courses but the development of the Hanga Roa Eco Village and Spa on a prime cliff-top site is still opposed, on land ownership grounds, several years after completion.

Page 10 St Helena Connection No 23 Country Shops of St Helena (part 2) – by Sharon Henry Part 1 of Sharon Henry’s series on St Helena’s shops was “The only local products I sell are Stevens’ Butchery’s fresh published in SHC 22 (the last issue) and covered Yon’s, New meat and sometimes vegetables from any gardeners who ask. Ground, Phillip John’s, St Pauls and Delray’s, Cleugh’s Plain. Part 2 covers Greentree’s New Ground and Thorpe’s Sandy I asked Patsy what items are must haves. “Oh that’s hair dyes Bay. More will follow in future issues. Pictures by What the and also cigarettes and beers. L&Ms (cigarettes) are the most Saints Did Next. popular I sell them for £5.20 a pack, they’re £5.55 at Thorpes. I try to help the people out.” Greentree’s Shop New Ground Patsy Greentree (left in picture below) has provided a local shop for residents of New Ground for the past 20 years. Dot Andrews (right) is one of her neighbours and regular customers.

Hair dyes, one of the main must-have items.

Patsy Greentree’s Shop, New Ground. Opened circa 1997

Inside Patsy Greentree’s shop Thorpe’s Shop, Sandy Bay “The shop opened as “Over the Counter” in 1970” says Nick Thorpe, the retired owner of Thorpe’s. “It was built in the 60s by a Mr Knipe and we started renting it 47 years ago. Exterior of Greentree’s Shop “I’ve been going for about 20 years now,” says Patsy, smiling at a happy customer who is nodding her approval. “I started out very small because I was still teaching school at the time, but I wanted to start a shop as I wasn’t planning to stay. My late husband, Tony, got the place ready for me. We started with grocery items, customers suggested things like corned beef and they said don’t forget toilet roll because people always run out! But we’re still not big. Customers don’t only come from the neighbourhood they come from all over. Especially the guys and girls working down there in the business park, they mainly buy chocolates, Cokes and chips (crisps).” “There were some really bad days after Tony passed on and I could not open for weeks on end. I couldn’t go back to teaching. It went on like that for about six months. Eventually I thought, I have to open, people came into the shop and believe me it really helped, just talking and meeting different people.” Thorpe’s Shop Sandy Bay in the banana plantations “I put groceries on account for customers. Sometimes I order “Those days bread used to be delivered by the van load to stuff from UK so I have a few different items that you won’t see Sandy Bay from Benjamin’s Bakery in town. There were big elsewhere (milkshake mix, Moirs baked cheesecake mix and (cont. page 14) milk tart) but mostly I buy from the wholesalers here. St Helena Connection No 23 Page 11

St Helena Sea Life by Richard Hewitt Having lived in northern Scotland for most of my life, I have always had a special interest in islands and their sea birds. I was lucky to visit St Helena in 2011 and 2013 and took the chance to participate in the boat trips along the coast near Jamestown. I saw both the brown and masked boobies. The latter (top row) were fishing close to our boats and are quite a sight as they dive like rockets into the sea. I also saw three species of terns, the most elegant being the fairy terns (centre) which nest on the cliffs. Brown (right) and black noddies were seen at close quarters on the rocks and cliffs and were used to seeing boats on a regular basis. The waters around St Helena are rich in food and have resident populations of dolphins including the pan-tropical spotted dolphins, always a wonderful sight as they are so active and curious (centre). One of the most impressive birds is the red billed tropic bird (left centre). They are quite large with long tails and red beaks. I also saw the much rarer yellow billed tropic bird (centre left) which is not known to breed on St Helena. I was also lucky to see flying fish (lower left) as it takes time to realise that they are fish rather than birds. I am grateful for the skills of the local guides, the weather and most importantly luck, to be in the right place at the right time.

Two wonderful visits to a very friendly community with lots of wildlife, it felt like some of the outer Scottish islands. bread orders; I think people used to eat bread with everything. Government Store in Ladder Hill. In the mid-70s we started We weren’t the only shop in the area. Solomon’s had opened competing as we could get goods cheaper. The government before us but they decided to close last year. We are currently store eventually closed. running on a one year lease as the owners want their property back.” “We used to have a ration book system, so people would have their weekly rations on ‘tick’ and then pay for their previous week’s goods. We don’t have ration books anymore but retain formal customer accounts that are paid monthly. “The first Thorpe shop was opened in 1868 by my great grandfather, William Alexander Thorpe in a property opposite the playground on Market Street in Jamestown. There used to be a lot of shops at the turn of the 19th century for all sorts of things, silversmiths, goods from the Far East and so on.” Almost a century and a half later, the Thorpe business remains strong in retail on St Helena. In addition to the Sandy Bay shop, WA Thorpe & Sons have three shops in Jamestown - The Grocery, Tinkers and the Emporium.

Purchasing the daily bread at Thorpe’s Grocery Shop. “We have tried, and are still trying to find other premises but nothing’s worked out at the moment. Sandy Bay is riddled with rules as it is a National Park so it’s hard to find land. We have identified a plot within the car park area of the community centre. It doesn’t get much use and is ideally situated for us to build a shop.”

Inside Thorpe’s Grocery Shop, Sandy Bay, St Helena. There are over 50 signatures on the ‘Save Thorpe’s Shop’ petition of Sandy Bay residents, lobbying St Helena Government to release the car park plot to Thorpe’s for development. “The car park is hardly used,” says Wanda Isaac of Elder Cottage, “mainly on Bonfire Night. We need the shop for 365 days. Thorpe’s have supported us for all these years and we want them to stay.” Below: Thorpe’s Grocery Shop sign on the trunk of a thorn Vegetables on the verandah at Thorpe’s Sandy Bay tree in Sandy Bay, St Helena. shop

“There is a petition going around at the moment by a resident to ‘save’ the shop. Sandy Bay is a small community but we make a small profit so it’s worth keeping it going. We don’t want to leave Sandy Bay in the lurch.” “We were robbed once, a while ago at Easter time. They took the safe, a beautiful one – that really annoyed me, and they took £800 worth of cigarettes and booze.” Thorpe’s is a longstanding family business. Nick described the business and went on to say “before days Government used to do a price control on certain imported goods through Crown Agents and supplied paraffin, marg, sugar, flour, Carnation milk, cheese and rice to merchants. These were sold at a fixed, no-profit price at the Page 14 St Helena Connection No 23 The Mantis St Helena Hotel Opens by Edward Baldwin

The new Mantis St Helena hotel, which occupies numbers 1, 2 building and convert it into a hotel, with the imagination and and 3 Main Street, Jamestown was officially opened on 1st assistance of Mantis, has certainly paid off.” November 2017. There had been a soft opening a few weeks before, with guests using the rooms which were already completed. The building is now more or less finished and the builders, AGMAC Construction of Cape Town, are slowly packing up to go home. The work has been paid for by SHG through its St Helena Hotel Development Corporation, Mantis Collection being the operators on behalf of SHG. Mantis have an excellent reputation for operating boutique hotels, mainly in Africa, but also in London, New York and around the World. On 13th October Her Excellency Governor Lisa Phillips was invited to hoist the flags which decorate the façade of the hotel. Seeing flags flying in Main Street is reminiscent of the 19th Century engravings of the street which show the flags flying over the various consulates that supported the whalers who came from Norway, Sweden and the USA. There are 36 rooms altogether, ranging from two prestigious Development Director for Mantis St Helena, Graham Vass, said: self-contained suites in the Cottage, one of the former out- “Today saw the unfurling of the Union and St Helena Flags. This buildings, one of which has its own private entrance from Church is a very symbolic and momentous moment for the history of the Lane, to six “heritage” rooms in the original Georgian houses hotel and felt it had to have the respect and honour that was and 18 rooms in the new building constructed in the former back due, so we asked the Governor to come and do it for us.” gardens. Sadly, the rooms in the original houses have no original features as none of these had survived the various Of the event, Governor Lisa said: “It was an honour to be asked reconstructions and use as government offices and residences to raise the Union Flag and the St Helena Flag above the new over the last century or more. On the plus side, all the windows Mantis St Helena Hotel. Main Street, with the flags flying, is in the old houses have been replaced with accurate replica such a spectacular sight. St Helenians should be very proud of Georgian sliding sashes with authentic thin glazing bars, which the transformation that has taken place to ‘1, 2 and 3 Main lend the overall external appearance an air of originality. Street’. The decision by St Helena Government to restore this St Helena Connection 23 Page 15

All the rooms have flat screen TV, tea/coffee making facilities, Coinciding with the official opening on 1st November, the hotel minibar and a safe large enough for a laptop. In-room dining is announced that its restaurant and outside “terrace” bar area are available and there is a laundry service - in fact all the facilities to be open to the public. The food prices brought gasps of international travellers expect these days. There is even a amazement from the locals, but they look very reasonable by generous daily free wifi allowance, with paid top-ups available if international standards. The menu looks interesting and diners this is exceeded. Quite a perk on pricey internet St Helena! have made satisfied comments. Patronage numbers look promising too, although the food and beverage department have The exterior of the building is lit up at night, sparking a their work cut out to maintain supplies of basic foodstuffs the controversy over the permissible level of night time lighting in outside world takes for granted. Simple things like eggs, salads Jamestown. Despite having a dark skies rating from an and fresh fruit are often unobtainable on the island, so the hotel international agency, St Helena has no actual dark skies policy has contracted some local specialist producers to ensure and there is no legislation in place to govern street lighting. The th continuity of supplies. The rest have to come by ship from Cape writer is aware of an ordinance from the late 19 Century Town. Once the RMS is withdrawn in the New Year, deliveries authorising the installation of six oil lamps to light Jamestown. will only be monthly on the MV Helena. Even obtaining supplies Modern LED lights are in a whole different league. If every of local fish has been a challenge lately. frontage owner in Jamestown installed the same level of lights, night-time Main Street would be as bright as day. It has been agreed to reduce the light level, but so far this has been only been achieved by the temporary expedient of covering the LEDs with masking tape. Just one of the many conflicts St Helena must deal with as it joins the Real World.

The Mantis is the island’s first hotel of a truly international standard. With the air service now delivering a regular, and almost certainly growing, supply of visitors, we hope it prospers. If it does, similar ventures will follow, in line with the long- planned strategy of “low volume, high value tourism”. The comments from visitors staying in the hotel are generally favourable. Of course It lacks a gym and a pool but who needs these when so much is on offer mainly in the open air? Page 16 St Helena Connection 23 Population Projections A set of population projections have been released by the Statistics Office, using the baseline of the 2016 census and three scenarios about migration to and from St Helena - none, low and high migration. The low and high migration models assume net immigration to St Helena - that is, more people will arrive than will depart. With no migration, there will likely be a fall in population as annual deaths are likely to exceed births each year.

Future Leaders are all Women? AUG. 1881. Mounted in the correct fashion, with integral ribbon buckle to top of the original faded navy blue ribbon.” The citation for this award reads: Crouch, H. J. United States Consul at St. Helena. Case 21469 'On the evening of the 31st August 1881, near James Town, St. Helena, a woman threw herself off the rocks into the sea with the intention of committing suicide. Mr Crouch (who was in ignorance of the locality) ran to the nearest point where he could approach the woman, divested himself of coat and boots, jumped into the water and swam a distance of thirty or forty yards. He succeeded in seizing the woman and St Helena’s Future Leaders Programme targets middle bringing her in an managers in SHG and was designed to develop a pool of unconscious ambitious, career minded people to fast-track into future state to the leadership positions. In August SHG announced the successful rocks, where he candidates to be inducted onto the Programme. The five had much candidates, all women, are shown above. difficulty in From L to R. Donna Harris, Nicole Hercules, Nikita Crowie, effecting a Belinda Piek and Sasha Bargo. landing. The night was dark.' Hutchinson J. Crouch U.S. Consul in The case was St Helena. sent to the Society by desire A Royal Humane Society Lifesaving Medal in silver, of St Helena of the Right interest, was recently offered for sale on E-bay for £858.00. Honourable the Secretary of Described as “a 38mm wide circular silver medal on claw and State for the foliated swivel suspender (claw re-fixed); the obverse with a Colonies. (Acts cherub, nude but for a flowing cloak, blowing on a burnt out torch of Gallantry, explained by the Latin legend LATEAT SCINTILLVLA FORSAN Volume 2, W. H. (perhaps a tiny spark may be concealed). A three lined Latin text Fevyer, Royal across the exergue reads SOC. LOND. IN RESVSCITAT Humane Society, INTERMORTVORVM INSTIT. MDCCLXXIV. The reverse an 1996. p. 55). oak wreath, with Latin motto HOC PRETIVM CIVE SERVATO

TVLIT (He has obtained this reward for saving the life of a citizen). Engraved named to rim HUTCHINSON J. CROUCH. 31 Contributed by Josh Garner Page 16 St Helena Connection No 23 Napoleon’s Representative on Earth: "I am the keeper of the empty tomb" John Tyrell reviews Michel Martineau’s new book To Saints, Michel claims that after a century of indifference, Saints have now Dancoisne-Martineau, become aware of the importance of the years of exile and the the Honorary French death of Napoleon on their island. Consul and Curator of St Helena’s French The book affords an Properties, is simply interesting insight into “THE Frenchman”, but Gilbert, a proud Gaullist to many tourists he is, who had moved in the along with Jonathan, highest intellectual one of the curiosities of circles in Paris in the the island. decade after World War II. He was determined to Apparently French maintain French visitors just want to prestige on St Helena. A meet him, and often recluse for whom have little or nothing to appearances were all say. Those from the important, he remained English world seem to for some 40 years, be more loquacious, interspersed with long sometimes telling him trips back to his home on how much they Ars-en-Ré, an island he disapprove of the work loved. For many years he has done at Gilbert's island life was Longwood House. Michel recounts in detail one such meeting A young Gilbert Martineau shared by his parents. with three British visitors in 2016. The first, a Hong Kong His mother died there resident, asked him what Napoleon would have thought of and his father at breakfast the day after they arrived back in Brexit, and said that now it would no longer be politically France with her embalmed body. incorrect to quote Lord Nelson: "you must hate a Frenchman as much as you hate the Devil." He also added that it would now Gilbert was apparently respected by many Saints for being able not be necessary to follow the dictatorial directives of Brussels. to contact the recently dead, and claimed to be in touch with "Delivered with such arrogance" said another who now resides Lord Byron, and through him to spirits on the "other side". After in Port Elizabeth, with the approbation of the third, the only one Gilbert's death Michel consigned his ashes to the Atlantic, close to live in the UK! but not too close to St Helena, the island to which he had dedicated his life and to which he was irrevocably attached, but The title of the book was given unwittingly by an islander Michel which at the same time he actually hated. met at the Castle in Jamestown. The man, whom Michel did not know, voicing the typical contempt of Saints for officialdom, said Michel clearly differed from Gilbert on many things, but his love that they all perfected the art of seeming indispensable even and admiration for him shines through: his intellectual when they were only in charge of the broom cupboard. But sophistication, his verve, his presence, his art of living, the scars Michel, he said, exceeded them all: he had received the Légion he bore, his elegance. Whether he or anyone else ever got close d'Honneur for looking after an empty tomb! to Gilbert is another matter. This is a fascinating read for anyone interested in St. Helena, There is much in the book about the changes to St Helena over but more than that, it provides a frank account of Michel’s own the last 30 years, and many anecdotes about locals and amazing story. Napoleon once was reported to have said “What expatriates and the hostility of some of the latter to the French a novel my life has been.” Michel could justifiably say the same. presence on the island. Unlike Gilbert, Michel has mixed freely Growing up as the youngest and eighth child in a poor, with ordinary Saints, and it was their relaxed, accepting conservative, religious farming family in Picardy, Michel knew approach to life and the ambient amoralism, that attracted him nothing about Napoleon other than a nursery rhyme, although to the island. He writes openly about his bisexuality, and among curiously he played as a child in the ruined fortress at Ham, from the most surprising encounters was his seduction at the age of which the future Napoleon III and the Count de Montholon had 19 by a 71 year old Countess, a friend of Gilbert's whom he escaped in 1846. It was Michel's meeting with Gilbert Martineau assures us was still very beautiful and looked at least 20 years that changed his life. younger! He writes also of island sexual mores and of the tolerant, and at times rather surprising reception he has enjoyed, Although an agricultural student, Michel had developed an living in an openly gay relationship on an island which has still interest in literature, and particularly in Lord Byron. So he wrote not legally accepted gay marriage. to Gilbert, the author of a recent biography of Byron. They corresponded a few times and eventually they met. Apprised of The very last sentence in the book, which does not translate Michel's unhappy childhood and within a few hours of meeting, easily into English, acknowledges Michel’s mother who Gilbert astonished Michel by saying he would like to adopt him. confirmed all the awful details of his early life. Elle le fit avec un Then, as later, Gilbert was distressed to find that others simplicité et une aisance dont je luis d'autant plus reconaissant suspected his motives, but as he protested to Michel, "I want a que je ne lui en soupçonnais pas l'aptitude.* son, not a lover". He also wanted someone to take over from Michel's book has already gone into a second printing in France. him on St Helena. He had reached retirement age, and after It is a pity that it is unlikely ever to be translated into English. some four years nobody had applied for the job! Whether it will succeed in Michel's aim of making him less of an So Michel was adopted, and soon succeeded his adopted father object of curiosity is I fear rather unlikely. as French Consul and Curator of the French Properties, a job ------which he has filled with distinction and increasing confidence for * My best effort at a very loose translation: She did so with a over 30 years. His aim was to make Longwood a place of simplicity and ease which made more impression on me memory, not a museum of the greatness of France, which he because I did not think she was capable of it. felt it had become in Gilbert's time. With some satisfaction he Page 18 St Helena Connection 23

Book Page by Ian Mathieson A R Azzam, The Other Exile: The Remarkable Story of Fernão Lopes, the Island of Saint Helena, and a Paradise Lost. Many readers will recall Beau Rowlands’s book entitled Fernão Lopes, A South Atlantic Robinson Crusoe published ten years ago and might wonder whether there is anything more to be said about a story the bare bones of which can be covered in a few paragraphs. However, whereas Rowlands approached the Lopes story from a St Helena perspective using his detailed knowledge of the island to fill out the narrative, A R Azzam, in The Other Exile, provides an Islamic perspective of Lopes’s religious conversion and delves into the Portuguese narrative in greater depth. He provides more detail on the events leading up to the mutilation of such a prominent fidalgo (Portuguese nobleman) under the orders of Alfonso d’Albuquerque. Lopes’s sufferings were such that he jumped ship on the return from India to Lisbon and eventually became known as the hermit of St Helena. He lived on the island for 30 years (1516-1546) apart from a short return visit to Lisbon and Rome to see the Pope, although Azzam casts doubt on whether the latter visit actually occurred. More than half the book is concerned with the story of the expansion of the Portuguese empire in the early c15 and covers the struggles between Muslims and Christians in Goa and Western India as well as the incidental discoveries of Tristan da Cunha and St Helena. Azzam has not visited St Helena and his lack of knowledge of the island results in his trying to portray a place which creates a “sense of disappointment” and Hart-Davis, Ascension: The Story of a South “melancholy and Atlantic Island isolation” which he seems to suggest Duff Hart-Davis’s Ascension the Story of a South Atlantic Island reflect the state of has remained the principle book about Ascension since its mind of the island’s publication in 1972 in the UK and in 1973 in the USA under a first inhabitant. No St different cover. It was a well-written and comprehensive account Helena related texts of the island and its history which has long been out of print in are mentioned and both editions and difficult to obtain. Rowlands only receives a mention Hart-Davis was invited to return to the island by the Administrator in Azzam’s Marc Holland in October 2015 on the bicentenary of Ascension’s introduction but his first occupation. This updated account of the island is the result book is not listed of that visit produced by the countryside books publisher Merlin under “further Unwin. reading” and in the The majority of the book is a reprint of the 1972 edition with text Beau is reduced relatively minor updates added where appropriate. New chapters to an anonymous “South African researcher.” cover the vital role Ascension played in the 1982 Falklands Although perhaps these lapses don’t matter, to fill 334 pages in campaign, changes to the island over the last 45 years and the recounting a story about which so little detail is known, allows island’s seabirds reflecting the much greater understanding of plenty of room for speculation on the meaning of hints within the their behavior gained over the last few decades. There is also an Portuguese sources and even more so on the state of the expanded section on what was already a very comprehensive unfortunate Lopes’s mind. section on sources of information. This is not really a book about St Helena in the way that Many, but not all, of the illustrations from the first edition are Rowlands’s account is but it is nevertheless an interesting insight included and there is a new eight page section of colour both into the early Portuguese empire and the effects of isolation illustrations. The only complaint is that the map of the island has on the human spirit. It was former hostage Jean-Paul not been updated so does not reflect the changes to the road Kauffmann’s treatise on Napoleon’s captivity on St Helena that system made after 1982 and still reflects a general paucity of led Azzam to the Lopes story. place names. Azzam A R, The Other Exile: The Remarkable Story of Fernão

Lopes, the Island of Saint Helena, and a Paradise Lost. Icon Hart-Davis, Duff, Ascension: The Story of a South Atlantic Books, 2017. 339pp, illustrated. £14. Island. Merlin Unwin, 2016. 246pp, illustrated. £17.

St Helena Connection No 23 Page 19 St Helena’s Genealogical Database by Chris and Sheila Hillman accessible source of information, housed online on island, hopefully at the new Cultural Centre that will include the Jamestown Museum, St Helena Archives and the Jamestown Library. Until the database can be made publicly accessible and secure from inadvertent alteration, I am prepared to carry out researches for people and to send them the results as Excel tables. I am using MS Office 365, Excel 2016. If you cannot access this but have older software, let me know and I will save it to an earlier format for you. Each “event” (baptisms, marriage, burial, etc.) is put on a separate tab or worksheet in the Excel workbook I send you and you need to click on the relevant tab at the bottom for each event to access that information. It is important to be aware that these records have been transcribed from old and difficult handwriting in old, damaged and worn registers. Idiosyncratic The Jamestown Archives (photo courtesy of What the Saints Did Next) clerics and church clerks of variable literacy levels

recorded the information from people who, until There are many sources of information about the people of St relatively recently were illiterate, so had no control over how their Helena spanning the last five centuries. However, these tend to be names were heard or recorded by the writer. Thus Crowie, for scattered and are not easy to access, especially for island example, has six different spellings in the records, while Isaac has residents. The originals in the Archives in Jamestown are old, tired 16 variants. Similarly, we may not have been able to decipher the and precious, and cannot be handled too often. Other sources are writing and may have mis-recorded a name or typed it in rapidly scattered around the world and on the internet. In time, more will making mistakes (e.g. Jospeh instead of Joseph or Hnery instead be made available in a searchable, digital format but at present of Henry). Therefore, you need to be imaginative in your searches many records are still in their original handwritten state in old or requests, and check records against the original written version documents which are in a poor state of preservation. The various available at the website noted above. You will know your own sources are as follows: family context better than us so will have a better chance of getting the data right. What we have done provides a guide to where your Anglican Church Registers for Baptisms, Marriages and information can be found and checked. Use the “Source” column Burials in the Church Register records to find the correct document, year These were micro-filmed in 1989 and the copies stored at the range and page number in the original micro-film record on the University of Witwatersrand Library Historical Papers Research web. Archive for the Church of the Province of South Africa. They are available online but in image format ie they are pictures of the Church-related events (mainly the Anglican Church records) original handwritten records, so cannot be searched These include a few references to Baptists and Roman Catholics, http://www.historicalpapers.wits.ac.za/?print/U/Print&f=7365&t=e. but, until about 1852, there were no other records. After that these We have now transcribed all these, making over 32,000 individual and other churches kept their own records to which we have not records, each broken down into as many as 29 columns covering had access but hopefully these will eventually become available as forenames, surnames, spouse, parents, abode etc. This means well. The Roman Catholic cemetery memorials data was not they can be searched by any of the categories to find the person recorded, for example, due to lack of time for Basil George and his or family of interest. This also means they can be searched for pupil team. If you do not find the people you are seeking, they might ships names, house names etc. have been part of a different congregation and you will need to Other information that we have added to the record include names contact the St Helena Archives ([email protected]) or of soldiers who served with the St Helena Regiment, slaves other churches directly. emancipated after 1827, passenger lists and other sources of the Some of the data do not cover all the information available. There names of people, where, when and how they lived and where they are many more records for the St Helena Regiment for example moved to or from. There are 25 such tables in all which are listed and of passengers travelling to or from the island. Originals are still below. They contain a further 30,000 records and are being added in paper format at the British Library or in South African collections to as new sources become available. and are not yet available online. 01 Baptisms: 14 1815 Principal Houses Census (Kitching) Accessing St Helena Under Sail 02 Marriages: 15 1815-1821 St Helena Who’s Who (Chaplin) 03 Marriage Banns: 16 1815-1821 French Presence on Island St Helena lies directly in the path of the SE Trade 04 Burials: 17 1827 St Helena Inhabitants (Fox) wind which blows year-round up the west coast of 05 Memorials: 18 1827-1839 Fox Slave Lists (Fox) southern Africa. Sailing ships therefore struggled to 06 St Helena Regiment 19 1860 USA Census St Helena Birthplace approach the island from the north. They had to 07 Hon EIC Company Master Listing 20 1881 UK Census St Helena Birthplace follow a route south-westwards across the Atlantic 08 St Helena Clerics & Bishops 21 1938 Gosse People Names 09 Governors 22 1885 People Names (Janisch) and make use of southerly winds down the east 10 Passenger to and from St Helena 23 2007 People Names (Royle) coast of South America. Once in the “Roaring 11 1673 Settlers Return 24 Surnames Listing Forties” they had a strong following wind that took 12 1679 Funeral Bier Signatures 25 Surname Variants them eastwards across the Atlantic to the south of 13 1814 Census Africa and into the Indian Ocean. At the right time of year, they could use the changeable monsoon winds At present the information is collated in a single Microsoft Access to travel to or from India and other Far Eastern destinations. On database which we are managing and adding to as new the return journey, the South East Tradewind took them straight up information becomes available. It cannot yet be made publicly the west coast of southern Africa with the Island lying right in their available but the intention is that, in time, it will become a publicly Page 20 St Helena Connection No 23 path. Even then a ship could be in sight of the island for many days Emigration from St Helena as it departed as the winds could be very fickle. The island was a Major changes occurred in the 1800s which resulted in an good secure and defended location where they could take on water economic downturn of the island’s affairs and great hardship for and food, leave sick people to recover or die, their sailors could islanders. In 1834 government of the island changed from the carouse and find wives or “ladies of the night” and further Honourable East India Company to the British Crown. The military contribute to the genetic makeup of the islanders. Contact before garrison was greatly reduced, and eventually removed altogether. the advent of steamships was therefore far more from India and Steam powered vessels rapidly replaced sailing vessels in world the Far East than from Europe. trade and passenger carrying and could travel against the wind and Slaves on St Helena did not require frequent refreshment waystations. The Suez Canal opened in 1869 so vessels travelling between the Atlantic and the The first settlers from England arrived in 1659 under HEIC Indian Oceans did not need to travel around the Cape of Good auspices and brought with them a number of “servants” who might Hope anymore. This reduced the number of vessels calling at St have been slaves and whose ethnic origins are not known. There Helena which also reduced the associated trade and shipping may have been a few Malay slaves left by the Dutch after their brief requirements. As a result of these events in combination, from hold on the Island in 1673. HEIC ships plied their trade from the about the 1840s, increasing numbers of islanders left the island East to Europe via St Helena and brought with them slaves from with their families to seek employment elsewhere, mostly in South Asia. In addition, there were expeditions by the HEIC to acquire slave labour from southern Africa and in particular from Africa, but also England and the USA. These events created an Madagascar (the Malagasy people speak an Austronesian island diaspora spread across the world and which continues today language). There also seems to have been a “taxation” scheme with many islanders being employed on Ascension Island and in whereby visiting ships were each required to leave a slave or a the Falklands as well as in South Africa, the UK and the USA. barrel of gunpowder at the island. The situation started to change Other Sources of St Helena Family History Information at the beginning of end of the nineteenth century as slavery was abolished in Britain and its colonies. Slave-born children were Families in British India Society: http://www.fibis.org/ St Helena declared free from 1818, and then all slaves from 1827. There was information is available due to the close links between the HEIC in a huge influx of Liberated African slaves from the 1840s as the India and its other stations and the island. Royal Navy West African Squadron intercepted slavers from St Helena Island Information http://sainthelenaisland.info/. southwest Africa to South America and brought them to St Helena. John Turner has collated much useful information on the Island Many of the recaptives left again to become indentured labour in and its history, and the website is growing all the time. the Caribbean, but some stayed and were integrated into the island population. The island people’s slave origins are therefore very St Helena Institute – http://www.archeion.talktalk.net/sthelena/. varied and they inter-mixed with English settlers and especially the Another useful collation of resources, and links to the Yahoo St soldiers of the St Helena Regiment. Helena Family History group. The variable origins of St Helena Islanders are illustrated in the Contact and Further Information diagram below. The authors can be contacted on [email protected] for further information or specific requests.

Origins of St Helena Island Peoples

St Helena Connection No 23 Page 21 Fibre-Optic Cable is the Way to Go by Christian von der Ropp On 1st December SHG announced that it had received means tourists have to queue during the short bank opening confirmation that St Helena’s bid for funding from the 11th hours to withdraw cash for a high fee while credit card payments European Development Fund (EDF) through a Budget Support are impossible. Improved connectivity will also allow for existing Programme had been given the go ahead for St Helena’s mobile payment systems to be introduced skipping the payment programme amounting to €21.5 million to be formally submitted card era and directly leapfrogging to mobile phone-based to the Commissioners for approval. The funding will support the systems. More money would be spent on island and the cost delivery of the Digital Strategy through the realisation of a Sub- and effort of printing, handling, replacing and exchanging cash Marine Cable to the island with some funding earmarked for would be eliminated. both Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. Fast Internet will attract always-connected Millennials as well On November18th I arrived on St Helena for the first time as high earners who cannot afford to be offline and the general following an invitation by SHG and after almost six years of joint tendency to share vacation experience on social media will efforts to improve connectivity by landing a transatlantic result in free advertising for the island among submarine cable on the island. I was accompanied by Dr.Ros visitors‘ friends. Thomas (CEO of SAEx International Ltd), Tony Fisk (Pelagian) It is not clear why the UK Government has so far not supported as well as Paul McGinnety and Dax Richards of SHG who had the cable project beyond the initial feasibility study. St Helena just returned from the successful discussions for EU funding. is in a fortunate position now that the EDF will The slow, limited and unreliable Internet on St fund the lion‘s share of the cost to land the submarine cable. Helena does not only affect the choices of online entertainment What makes St Helena‘s cable project so different from as many spoiled Europeans tend to believe but islanders are hit many similar efforts to connect Pacific islands is the potential to hard by the lack of decent and affordable connectivity in every establish a satellite ground station which would enable aspect of daily life. Apart from the low bandwidth and high cost communications with satellites in Low-Earth Orbit and it is also the frequency of outages and the fact that planned require enormous amounts of capacity on the submarine cable maintenance is performed during business hours that cause a for backhauling. There is considerable interest from some 13 lot of frustration. private sector companies to build a ground station Limited employment opportunities force islanders to which they would be willing to lease at least at ten and, in the work overseas and unaffordable internet access means children not too distant future, up to 50 times or more than the bandwidth who grow up with their grand-parents often can‘t even skype needed for internet access on the island. their parents overseas. Also given the lack of connectivity in As a result utilisation level of the cable will increase dramatically, primary schools the youngest need to go to Prince Andrew unit costs will come down and internet access could School to take their online based exams which can almost become unlimited in terms of data allowance and also double the usual time due to the bandwidth constraints. affordable. The ground station project, which will potentially The submarine cable will mean communication to and from the occupy two separate areas each equal in size to a football island will become as affordable as elsewhere in the world. field will have positive side effects besides the cost of Education and healthcare can be improved and it will become bandwidth. Jobs will be created initially for construction and later possible to take remote jobs anywhere in the world without for operation and maintenance. New satellites will allow delivery leaving the island. Websites like Amazon‘s Mechanical Turk do of very high bandwidths from St Helena to Tristan da Cunha. not require any particular skillsets and on average offer $8 an and the reduced acquisition time of satellite imagery will allow hour for so-called human intelligence tasks, such as transcribing St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha waters to be short pieces of text from a photo or verifying information. Also efficiently policed for illegal fishing activities. call centre jobs for companies around the world would be a The fact that Sure‘s monopoly will remain until 2022 means possibility. Other typical jobs which might become available their collaboration will be required to fully leverage the include web design, video editing, social media managers, capacity of the cable. Given that unlimited system administrators and software developers. With the rapid broadband poses a threat to dated telecoms services Sure will development of the ICT industry – especially with regards to have to adapt to the new circumstances. Voice telephony will cloud adoption – physical presence becomes less important face a decline once islanders can skype while internet accessibility becomes more important. without worrying about data allowance and the pay TV offering The cable will open up new perspectives to islanders and some will face competition from YouTube, Netflix and the many might consider returning from overseas. other video-on-demand services available on the internet. Regardless of the monopoly St Helena will soon enter an era of broadband and higher technology which will allow islanders to access the many new opportunities in the global information society and unlock sustainable development. I’m delighted to see the amount of commitment and dedication SHG shows towards the project having spoken to the numerous departments involved. With about a quarter of the world’s population already online and the rest coming online in the next 10-20 years the world is at a turning point of human history. Computer-based information and computer-mediated communication will unfold new ways we can‘t even think of yet and with the cable St Helena will be able to participate and benefit from these new possibilities and innovations that will float around the world. Reprinted with editorial modification from

The absence of electronic banking makes it difficult and expensive to remit funds to the island and the lack of ATMs Page 22 St Helena Connection 23 St Helena’s Marvellous Endemic Species by St Helena Tourism

St Helena is unique in so many different ways, but one of our key claims to fame is being home to over 500 endemic species of flora, fauna, fish and invertebrates, which combine to make up one third of all the UK Overseas Territories’ endemic species. St Helena’s Endemic Flora One of the seven wonders of St Helena and the highest point at 823 meters above sea level, Diana’s Peak is enjoyed by many for the views and luscious vegetation. It’s the perfect spot to marvel at much of the island’s endemic flora. The Island’s endemic plants can also be found scattered along trail routes including the Post Box Walks, and at the Millennium Forest and Peak Dale. St Helena has 30 endemic flowering plants, grass, ferns and hybrid. They are: • Bastard Gumwood, Commidendrum rotundifolium • Babies toes, Hydrodea cryptantha. • Large Bellflower, Wahlenbergia linifolia • Lays Back Fern, Pteris paleacea • Mossy Fern, Elaphoglossum bifurcatum • Old Father Live Forever, Pelargonium cotyledonis • Rebony, Redwood-Ebony hybrid,Trochetiopsis x benjaminii • Redwood, Trochetiopsis erythroxylon • Rosemary, Phylica polifolia St Helena’s Endemic Fauna • Salad Plant, Hypertelis acida • Scrubwood, Commidendrum rugosum St Helena’s endemic bird, the Wirebird Charadrius sanctaehelenae, is a national treasure. It sits on the Island’s • She Cabbage, Lachanodes arborea badge of arms, which features on both the Island’s flag and • Small Bellflower, Wahlenbergia angustifolia heraldic Coat of Arms used by the St Helena Government The • St Helena Ebony, Trochetiopsis ebenus (pictured) 2017 census recorded 572 adults and chicks. Recommended • St Helena Lobelia, Trimeris scaevolifolia viewing sites are Deadwood Plain, Longwood Golf Course, • St Helena Plantain, Plantago robusta Horse Pasture and Thompson’s Wood’s Man and Horse. • St Helena Tea, Frankenia portulacifolia • Tree Fern, Dicksonia arborescens • Wirebird, Charadrius sanctaehelenae • Whitewood, Petrobium arboretum • The St Helena Olive, Nesiota elliptica, extinct in 2003. St Helena Connection No 23 Page 23 St Helena’s Endemic Fish St Helena’s Endemic Invertebrates

For marine enthusiasts, spotting one of the ten endemic fish of St Helena is a treat! If you are a diver, be sure to keep an eye out for: St Helena is home to 455 endemic invertebrates and approximately 210 of these inhabit the peaks (Diana’s Peak, • Bastard Cavalley Pilot, (St Helena Gregory), Stegastes Cuckold’s Point and Mount Actaeon). Other locations include sanctaehelenae Peak Dale and Prosperous Bay Plain. Some of the endemic • Bastard Fivefinger, (St Helena Damselfish, Chromis invertebrates found in these areas are: sanctaehelenae (pictured) • Blushing Snail, Succinea sanctaehelenae • Deepwater Greenfish, (St Helena Sea Perch), Holanthias • St Helena Spurred Grass Hopper, Tinaria calarata fronticinctus • Drone Fly, Eristalis tenax • Deepwater Gurnard, (Melliss’s Scorpionfish), Scorpaena mellissii • Loveridge’s hoverfly, Sphaerophoria beattei • Deepwater Jack, (St Helena Deepwater Scorpionfish), • Vulturine Leafhopper, Nehela vulturina Pontinus nigropunctatus • Cabbage Tree Sedge Moth, Glyphipteryx semilunaris • Greenfish, (St Helena Wrasse), Thalassoma sanctae- • Jellico flea beetle, Longitarsus mellissi helenae (pictured) • Golden Leafhopper, Sanctahelenia sanctaehelenae • Silver Eel, (Melliss’s Conger), Ariosoma mellissii • Janisch’s Fungus Weevil, Homoeodera janischi • Skulpin, (St Helena Mora), Physiculus helenaensis • Dales’ Fungus Weevil, Homoeodera compositarium • Springer’s Blenny, Scartella springeri • Spiky Yellow Woodlouse, Pseudolaureola • St Helena Dragonet, Callionymus sanctaehelenae atlantica (pictured)

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