By any standards 1812 was a significant year. It saw the only assassination of a British Prime Minister, Spencer Perceval, who was followed by Britain's longest serving Prime Minister, Lord Liverpool (1812-1827). As a reminder of the already troubled state of the Kingdom, it also saw Lord Byron's defence of the Luddites in his maiden speech in the House of Lords.

In Spain British success in the Peninsular War was capped in August by the entry of Wellington and his Portugues allies into Madrid. By that time Britain was involved in another conflict, against the young United States of America, which declared war in June and invaded Canada. This war, which was to see Britain burn the White House, was to end in British defeat at New Orleans in 1815, after the peace treaty had been signed. Perhaps its most significant result was the safeguarding of Canada from the expansionist republic to its south.

Most momentous of all though was Napoleon's invasion of Russia, his occupation of Moscow and the disastrous retreat which marked the beginning of the end of his rule and of French hegemony on the European continent. Earlier in the year though Napoleon had authorised usage of mesures usuelles, which marked the beginning of the metric system.

St. Helena 1812

Far away in the South Atlantic, the St Helena Governor Alexander Beatson had a far less troubled year than in 1811, the year of the mutiny.

The Judicial Records reveal that only three cases were tried - John Antonio was acquitted of stealing £20 from Frederick Schindler.

Thomas Bates was acquitted of stealing two bags of rice valued at £2 from Thomas O"Connor.

The only man found guilty was James Bicknell, for trying to defraud James Williams, "an illiterate person", by altering or causing to be altered the figures on an account. The Bench took this matter very seriously, telling the prisoner that his offence bordered on forgery, for which the penalty was death. James Bicknell was therefore jailed for four days, or until such time as he had repaid his debt. On the day of his projected release he was ordered to stand in the pillory, for two hours, in different parts of Jamestown. This appears to have been an unusual punishment at this time, although use of the pillory remained legal in the UK until 1837.

I have looked in vain for an appropriate image of a portable pillory, which this must have been. To my surprise, having led a sheltered life, I found you can now buy such items on ebay, suitable apparently for taking to adult parties.

Cattle Wormers and other matters

I have in an early post commented on the work of these unknown people who every quarter made their returns to the court. I am intrigued as to how they went about their business, presumably by examining animal excreta. Perhaps since they were called "extractors" they fed the animals with some substance to kill worms? The usually reliable google offers me no assistance.

Apparently the island was divided into three divisions, South, West and East. No worms were reported to have been extracted in the West Division in 1812. I was somewhat surprised to find that in January 1812 the Wormers reported that they had extracted a total of 631 worms, but only six in April and none in July. In October the figure was up to a more respectable 290.

Was the extraction of worms a seasonal matter I wonder, or was it a sign that sometimes the Wormers were otherwise engaged or simply could not be bothered? In the final session of the Court it was resolved that in future landowners would pay the court three pence for each worm found. The money received would be distributed to the Inspectors, "at the pleasure of the bench." I shall with added interest examine the returns of the Wormers in subsequent years to see whether the application of the principles of Adam Smith had any effect on their performance.

The Court also heard on another occasion that some 50 unlicensed dogs had been found on the island. It was resolved to fine owners of such dogs two guineas and to put down the unfortunate animals. It was also reported that the laws about dogs destroying sheep and goats would be enforced: owners would pay a five pound fine and double the value of the animal killed to the owner.

Also throughout the year the Coroner reported seven cases of accidental death, two of whom were identified as slaves. In the case of a third slave, Philip, it was reported that "he hanged himself, but that at the time of his death he was a Lunatic."

Such was life on St. Helena two hundred years ago.

I have recently been reading Ian Baker's interesting and beautifully written book on St Helena. The first few paragraphs of the Introduction hooked me

Islands are special places. They are finite, complete. They are of the sea, and because of that, their land has added value.

An island can become part of you, though perhaps not you part of it.

An island allows you to stop and stare, to look anew at things with which you're familiar , and to find the things with which you are'nt. It gives you chances to look more closely at yourself."

He has woven together a fascinating account of St Helena, rooted in his unrivalled knowledge of its geology, which began with a lengthy research visit in the early 1960's.

Created over a period of millions of years from volcanic eruptions in the mid-Atlantic rift, which ceased in St Helena's case about seven or eight million years ago, it is at its longest only ten miles across, about the size of Greater Manchester he tells us, but at its base, deep below the surface of the Atlantic, it is eighty miles across, and higher than Mont Blanc before it breaks the water's surface.

One Man's Island ismight perhaps be seen as an early example of what is coming to be known as "Big History", an approach which gives homo sapiens a less privileged position in the story of our planet. Such an approach presents challenges when you are telling the story of a small remote island largely unknown apart from its association with the captivity of the legendary Emperor of the French.

"One Man" and Napoleon

Please don't get me wrong. I've as much time as the next for Napoleon, probably a lot more. But there is much more to this island than even that special bird of passage. (2)

So in his attempt to focus on the bigger picture, Ian Baker enlists the support of Charles Darwin, certainly focused on far greater forces, who during his short stay on St Helena in 1836 never bothered to visit Napoleon's tomb and, as the author says, probably "didn't have a great deal of time for Napoleon".

Similarly he is able to call on the the first man to sail around the world single handedly, Joshua Slocum, who presumably had had time enough to think about more fundamental things. Slocum, with some justification, described St Helena as "an island of tragedies", but added with a sting in the tail, "tragedies that have been lost sight of in wailing over the Corsican." (3)

Ian Baker is I think on shakier ground when he tells us, "Gorrequer certainly had little time for Napoleon" , a conclusion based on the fact that in his long diary entry on May 5th 1821 Gorrequer did not mention Napoleon, and on the next day referred to him as defunct Neighbour". It is impossible to know precisely what he thought of Napoleon, and it doesn't much matter, but while Gorrequer's diary is full of venom directed at Hudson Lowe, Lady Lowe and Sir Thomas Reade, I cannot recall any negative comments about Napoleon. Ian Baker also somewhat misleadingly describes Gorrequer's nickname for Lowe as "Chief". He certainly used it at times, but far more common was the sobriquet "Mach", short for Machiavelli, which throws rather a different light on Gorrequer's sympathies! (4)

I also have my doubts about the rather sweeping conclusion as to why Longwood was allowed to deteriorate after Napoleon's death:

"When Napoleon died in exile in 1821, most of the world felt tht he had got no more than his just desserts. It is all too easy to see Napoleon, the great leader, in hindsight, but at the time he was hated, feared and vilified. Many would rather the Prussians had taken him after Waterloo, and executed him, as they had wanted to." (5)

Having read this one might be surprised to hear of the large numbers who queued up to see Napoleon's body after his death, the crowd that attended his funeral, and the steady stream of visitors to his grave in succeeding years. It was indeed the fuss about Napoleon, rather than Napoleon himself, which Darwin commented on. There would of course not have been that fuss had Napoleon not had significant support in England and the New World, though not of course among the absolute monarchs who wielded power on the continent and for a time at least felt more secure that Napoleon was gone, and wished that he would be soon forgotten.

As for the neglect of Longwood, the house itself was in a state of dilapidation and presumably would have been demolished had Napoleon lived and moved into New Longwood House. Unlike the Valley of the Tomb, which was in private hands and earned a reasonable income for its owners, ownership was in the hands of the East India Company, and clearly it had neither commercial nor political interest in creating a memorial to Napoleon.

Perhaps though the most questionable section on Napoleon is the description of his removal from the Briars to Longwood. The book paints a picture of Napoleon playing for time, and of Cockburn losing patience with him. According to this version Napoleon was "furious at having to leave the Briars. Cockburn was impassive, either Napoleon moved or he would bring guards to move him. Take it or be taken. Napoleon took it." (6) This version of events had then as now a very satisfying ring for British patriots. All one can say is that there is no support for it in French sources, nor from O'Meara nor indeed from Betsy Balcombe. Those closest to Napoleon were of the view that he was pleased to move to Longwood, and to assemble all his followers in one place. One would like to know the source for this version, but One Man's Island is not that kind of book.

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1. Ian Baker St Helena One Man's Island (Wilton 65, 2004)
2. op cit p 101
3. op cit p 113
4. op cit p 164
5. op cit p 119
6. op cit p 62

I have from time to time covered the tribulations of the St Helena Independent, including the arrest of ts editor, its demise following the cut off of Government advertising, and then its quick resurrection. At times I have wondered whether the problems portrayed therein were not a tad exaggerated, but I had no knowledge of the history of the press on the island.

My thanks to fellow blogger John Grimshaw for pointing out to me an article on censorship on St Helena in a 1996 copy of Wirebird, the magazine published by the Friends of St Helena.(1)

The Wirebrid article quoted a local journalist who said he had to

"cover up in various ways things that have happened. People know, but we've had to try and clear the air a little bit. There have been lots of times when I'd wanted to get to grips with things, and things have come my way which I wanted to use, but couldn't."

This was not censorship, but "the proper management of a Government resource", argued John Perrot, the Chief Secretary.

"If you were running Heinz baked beans and you had a house magazine, you would not allow a member of your staff to rubbish the production line management system in your house magazine,"

The Foreign Office however, contrary to experience on the ground, assured those concerned that "Radio St Helena is not subject to any statutory control." This carefully worded statement was probably legally true, but carefully avoided the realities of power on a small Government run colony.

Julian Cairns-Wicks featured a great deal in the article. He had in 1990 started an independent news sheet because "questions and comments sent to the Government newspaper and interviews conducted for the radio have not been released," which he considered "an affront to every Saint Helenian". Apparently staff were warned not to answer his questions, and even visitors were warned not to talk to him. He duly resigned from the Legislative Council on 16 February 1996.

The Wirebird's conclusion, looking ahead to the coming of television, was that

The test of media management is, of course, whether it is for the benefit of governed or, as in St Helena today, the governing.

The wirebird article also warned that a

"'free press' could not exist on St Helena today, even if funded by a philanthropist, as the Castle would simply starve it of information.

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1. "CENSORSHIP ST HELENA-STYLE", wirebird, the journal of the Friends of St Helena, Summer 1996, pp 43-46

I have recently been re-reading Inside Longwood, and came across an interesting letter in which Barry O'Meara quoted Napoleon's explanation of his description of England as "a nation of shopkeepers".

You were greatly offended with me for calling you a nation of shopkeepers. Had I meant by that that you were a nation of cowards, you would have reason perhaps to have been displeased, though it were ridiculous and contrary to a known truth. But no such thing was ever intended. I meant that you were a nation of merchants and that all your great riches, your grand resources, arose from commerce, and so it does. What else constitutes the riches of England? It is not extent of territory or a numerous population. It is not mines of silver, gold or diamonds. Besides no man of sense ought to be ashamed of being called a shopkeeper (1)

The description, which incidentally did not originate with Napoleon, is still seen as an insult, less specific now perhaps than the original perceived slight on England's military prowess.(2) Napoleon consistently maintained that England was not and never would be a land power, a proposition that few could argue with then or now.(3)

More than that though, the reaction reflects the low esteem accorded in our culture to being "in trade". It is a curious fact that the British upper classes, commercial in origin, beneficiaries of the plundering of the wealth of the Catholic Church, developed an almost feudal aversion to trade and industry as a profession, although as Napoleon rightly said, it was the sole basis of the nation's wealth and power.

Perhaps though Napoleon, like most of us, under-estimated the power of Banking which was assuming unprecedented importance in the world emerging before his very eyes.
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1. Barry O'Meara to John Finlaison, 29th June 1817, reproduced in Albert Benhamou, Inside Longwood Barry O'Meara's Clandestine Letters, London 2012
2. Adam Smith used it, and others before him.
3. Even at Waterloo the majority of the troops under Wellington's command were not British.

Albert Benhamou and I were privileged to visit Windsor Castle recently, to look at the surprisingly extensive collection of Napoleonic prints apparently put together by the Prince Regent and added to by Queen Victoria, with a few later additions by Queen Mary in 1931.

Our main interest was in images of Napoleon on his death bed. Among the collection at Windsor we were intrigued to find a drawing "after" Captain Marryat, in black and white chalks, showing a reverse image of Marryat's original drawing.

On the back of this was an inscription indicating that the portrait had been made with the permission of Sir Hudson Lowe. Intriguingly, in the same handwriting were two lines of poetry by Lord Byron:

Before Decay's effacing fingers
Had swept the line where Beauty lingers. (1)

We wondered who had produced the reverse image of the death bed scene, when it was done, and who had written the inscription on the back, particularly since the poetry was by Lord Byron, a well known admirer of Napoleon who had in 1815 been invited to Holland House in a forlorn attempt to charm Sir Hudson Lowe before the latter took up his appointment as Napoleon's gaoler.

After our visit we discovered that there are two versions of Marryat's drawing at the Royal Museums Greenwich. First there is what is described as the original framed drawing, with an inscription,"Napoleon Bonaparte as he appeared on Sunday morning on the 6th of May, 14 hours after his death, laying upon the bed that he died in".

Then there is a graphite drawing showing Napoleon's head on the right, similar to the one in the Royal Collection at Windsor, with an inscription underneath indicating thst the drawing was made at the request of Sir Hudson Lowe and with the permission of Count Montholan (sic) and Count Bertrand.

The Greenwich Museum seems to have no further information on this drawing, and I am inclined to doubt if it was done by Marryat himself, and if he did do it, I am at a loss to explain the reverse image.

There are also at Windsor and at Greenwich prints showing Napoleon with his head on the right, attributed to Marryat and published by S.& J. Fuller, well known London Lithographers.

This print is larger than the drawing, with the same inscription beneath, but with a less detailed image, in particular the crucifix on Napoleon's chest is barely visible.

Unfortunately we were unable to take photos inside the print room at Windsor that would have enabled us to make careful comparisons with the drawing and print at Greenwich. The similarity of the inscriptions suggests a common origin.

I have also discovered online a German version of the original print. This is an indication, if it were needed, of the intense interest at the time in the fate of the "martyr of St. Helena", an interest that, judging by the size of the collection at Windsor, extended also to the British Royal family.

Our thanks to the Curator of Prints and Drawings at Windsor for making our visit so pleasurable, and for unexpectedly showing us what must surely be, to Napoleonic anoraks at least, the most interesting of Windsor's treasures. More on that in a later blog.
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1. "The Giaour" by Lord Byron, first published in 1813

It is now several months since I previewed Albert Benhamou's latest book, Inside Longwood , the first full publication of the letters that Napoleon's doctor Barry O'Meara wrote to the Admiralty from 1815 until his dismissal in 1818. I felt I was too close to the work to write a review, certainly at the time of publication, but having recently re-read it, I feel it is time to flag up its value for anyone interested in the history of Napoleon's captivity on St Helena.

O'Meara was in a privileged albeit uncomfortable position: one foot in Plantation House the other in Longwood, his daily access to Napoleon inevitably invited the suspicion of Sir Hudson Lowe. His letters were long, although not perhaps as long as those Sir Hudson or his minions wrote, but full of fascinating accounts of Napoleon's views as well as the paranoia and caprice of Sir Hudson.

I found particularly amusing the image of Lowe fetching a copy of the Quarterly Review and making O'Meara read out aloud some observations on Napoleon's character

"he understands enough of mankind to dazzle the weak, to dupe the vain, to overcome the timid, and to make the wicked his instruments." (1)

This apparently to fend off the proposal that Sir Pulteney Malcolm should be called upon to mediate between Lowe and Napoleon. Malcolm apparently "was too open and too likely to enter into his [Napoleon's] views."

Among the issues discussed in the later chapters is why the Government did not remove Lowe. It is fairly clear that he had no real political support, as he was to find out when after Napoleon's death he found himself expendable, without a job and an all too useful scapegoat for a beleaguered Government.(2) Albert Benhamou seems to suggest that having made the appointment, against the advice of Lord Wellington who regarded him as a fool and had removed him from his own command, Lord Bathurst had no real choice but to battle it out, and to try to deny the version of events that O'Meara and others promulgated.

Beset by serious social and economic problems, the Government simply wanted the world to forget about Napoleon. Many Whigs and Radicals had serious reservations about his treatment, and the dismissal of Lowe would have added fuel to the fire. It made more political sense to tough it out and to try to discredit the witness.

There is also enough evidence to suggest that many in the Government, and doubtless among its supporters in the country, derived some amusement from the plight in which that upstart Napoleon found himself. Lord Wellington's letter to Sir Pulteney Malcolm is well known:

You may tell "Bony" that I find his apartments at the Elisee Bourbon very convenient, and that I hope he likes mine at Mr. Balcom's. It is a droll sequel enough to the affairs of Europe that we should change places of residence.

Less well known are the comments of the up and coming politician Sir Robert Peel,

George Cockburn is come back in good health and spirits; he gives us no hopes of Buonaparte's dying. He eats, he says, enormously but he drinks a little, takes regular exercise, and is in so very careful of his carcass that he may live twenty years. Sir Hudson Lowe is as strict as Cockburn, but without any of his liveliness, and little of his activity and talents. (3)

And of course, as this book reminds us, O'Meara was initially encouraged to write these letters to the Admiralty because of the amusement they provided to those in the highest circles.(4)

Albert Benhamou has done a great service in extracting these letters from the archives so that we may for the first time read them as a whole and judge for ourselves.

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1 The Quarterly Review was a Tory journal set up by Croker, whom O'Meara knew was reading his letters, and who ultimately sealed O'Meara's fate. The passage came from a review of Miot's Expedition to Egypt . Albert Benhamou, Inside Longwood: Barry O'Meara's Clandestine Letters, Albert Benhamou Publishing 2012, pp 102-3
2. Hudson Lowe is "none of my child" was Foreign Secretary George Canning's pointed comment to Lord Bathurst when Lowe was causing some embarrassment by a protracted stay in Paris in 1825, "you would perhaps think it expedient to give him a little hint to be joggling onward." Geroge Canning to Lord Bathusrt, 18th November 1825,Inside Longwood, footnote p. 223
3. Inside Longwood, p. 202
4. Letter from Finlaison to O'Meara July 5th 1816 described O'Meara's recent letters as having "furnished a real feast to some very great folks here." Inside Longwood,p. 213

At the end of our visit to Windsor a few weeks ago Albert and I were shown a large rather fragile frame in which were displayed a number of Napoleonic memorabilia, including the ubiquitous lock of Napoleon's hair. One wonders how and when that was acquired, and when the collection was framed?

To our surprise and delight, among the items on display was Napoleon's famous letter to the Prince Regent of July 13th 1815 signed as from Rochefort, although in fact written on the Ile d'Aix, which was part of the Rochefort regional authority.

The letter contained the famous spelling mistake: en but should have been written en butte

The English translation is

"Royal Highness,- A prey to the factions which divide my country and to the enmity of the greatest powers of Europe, I have terminated my public career, and I come, like Themistocles, to seat myself at the hearth of the British people. I place myself under the protection of its laws, which I claim from your Royal Highness as the most powerful, the most constant, and the most generous of my enemies."

Apparently there was more than one copy of this letter. Gourgaud was despatched ahead of the main party on the Slaney with a copy of the letter and instructions about Napoleon's wishes to go to America, but he was never allowed to land and the letter was not delivered to the Prince Regent. The original was given by Napoleon to Captain Maitland on the Bellerophon at Plymouth on 27th July when Maitland went ashore to meet Lord Keith. The letter was transmitted by Keith to Melville, First Lord of the Admiralty, on the same day. Napoleon never received official recognition that it had been received. (1) Presumably at some point this letter found its way into the royal archives.

I had never given any thought before to the whereabouts of the letter, and have never seen any reproduction of it. We of course were not allowed to photograph it.

I understand that somewhere in the Honorary French Consul's archives on St Helena is an image of this letter, supplied many years ago at the behest of the Duke of Edinburgh to Gilbert Martineau. Sometime perhaps it will find the light of day.

Our thanks again to the Curator at Windsor Castle for showing us this very special piece of Napoleonic history.

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1. Michael John Thornton Napoleon after Waterloo : England and the St. Helena decision Stanford 1968, p. 95

Towards the end of our recent visit to St Helena my wife and I attended a meeting to discuss the 20/20 Vision for Jamestown, a bulky document, costing £30, which I suspect few had read. The audience was large by St Helena standards - well over 100.

The document's purpose was to set out possible changes by 2020 when, with the completion of the airport, still scheduled to open in 2016, Jamestown's historic role as the access point for the island will have come to an end. The author, off the island at the time of the meeting, seems to envisage Jamestown as a kind of up market Las Americas, and the wharf area perhaps as a cut-down version of Cape Town's Victoria and Alfred waterfront!

Among the most troubling proposals was that the Castle, the historic seat of the Government of St Helena, should become a hotel.

At the end of what turned out to be a rather bad tempered meeting a vote was taken. Not a single hand was raised in support of the document. I was told by someone in the know that I would be shocked at the cost of the project - certainly I gather far more than £100,000. I was also confidently informed by a number of residents that nothing would happen anyway, certainly not before the completion of the airport: gossip and rumours are the only things that move fast on St Helena.

I certainly hope that the Government of St Helena and the Department for International Development will tread very carefully when making plans for this unique and largely unspoiled Georgian town. The recent destruction of historic buildings and steps on the wharf do not inspire confidence, particularly since the new facilities created there will be surplus to requirements when all freight handling moves to Ruperts Bay. p.s. all the photos enlarge if clicked.

On my recent visit to St Helena I spent many hours in the archives in the basement of the Castle. Quite unexpectedly I came across this entry for Napoleon's funeral in the church records, presumably in the handwriting of the formidable if somewhat eccentric Rev. Boys. The records show that a number of other funerals took place on the surrounding days, among them those of a few soldiers.

The full entry for Napoleon's funeral reads:

Napoleon Buonaparte, late Emperor of France, he died on the 5th Instant at the old House at Longwood and was interred on Mr Richard Torbett's Estate

I was rather impressed with this. Any reference to Napoleon's imperial title was a major issue with Sir Hudson Lowe until the very end, and the British Government had never recognised Napoleon as Emperor of Elba, let alone of France. Only a few days earlier Lowe had refused the request that the simple inscription "Napoleon" should be carved on the tombstone.

Michel Martineau was less impressed than I. He tells me that Hudson Lowe's authority on St Helena ended with the burial of Napoleon. Even so, it would have been easy for Boys to have avoided any potential controversy by referring to the deceased by the officially approved title of "General Bonapart", and this he chose not to do.

Few of my blogs have attracted as much interest as those on Maldivia. With great anticipation and no little emotion I returned in January this year,

trying to imagine what those Maldivians who landed on St Helena in 1735 must have made of this place: a fertile valley in the shadow of rather threatening, barren rock, down which cattle were apparently once driven to be slaughtered.

I also went to work in the archives, trying to unlock the mystery of the Maldivians who according to legend created the beautiful gardens named after them. Failing to find any trace of them in registers of births or deaths, and on the verge of giving up, I found in Letters to England 1727-1737 the letter of 31st April 1735 from which the original printed extract compiled by Governor Janisch had come. The letter recorded the arrival of the Drake from Bengal under the command of Captain Pelly, then reported the arrival of the seven Maldivians,

but contained a couple of lines which Janisch had omitted.

Captn Pelly at the distance of 150 Leagues from Land took up a Boat with Ten Blacks in her belonging to of the Maldivee Islands called who were drove out to sea & near perishing having no more Provisions or Water left when he see them than about Ten pounds of Rice & Three Gallons of Water three of the Ten died on board the other Seven Vizt. 5 men one boy & one Woman he hath left here & wee shall keep them at Work for their Living till we hear from Honours how they Shall be sent back to their own Country ..

The subsequent letter of 5th July 1735 complained of a lack of labour on the island:

.. wee have not had any Slaves from the West Coast & you have but forty one Working Blacks of Your own and the few we get of the Inhabitants at the low rate of 9d a day are not sufficient .. we have Weakened Ouselves by frequent Draughts of Blacks Sent to Bencoolen in & since the time of Govr. Johnson ..

>Wee desire your Honours will give us directions how we shall Send those Blacks to their own Country whom Capt. Pelly miraculously Saved at Sea they belong to the Maldive Islands & are Seven in Number.

In view of the great shortage of labout on the island I assumed that that was the last that would be heard of the matter, and then I came across the letter of 16th April 1736.

The Blacks Capt. Pelly left here desire to return to their native Country & Capt. Crompton carried them to Bencolen wee treated them well & they seem highly pleased with their kind Usage which we hope will be of service to such of our Countrymen who trade among them.

So the Honourable East India Company for once acted in keeping with its name, and the Maldivians were presumably returned to the Maldive Islands. What a story they must have been able to tell when they eventually got there.

In reflecting on this saga I have to say in my defence that as far as I know nobody else has ever suggested that the Maldivians were returned to their own country. One of the leading inhabitants on St Helena who is very knowledgeable about the history of the island told me that his understanding was they had not lived very long after their arrival on St Helena. It also strikes me that we have no documentary evidence that they actually created what came to be known as the Maldivia Gardens (usually spelt in the archives as Maldavia incidentally), but we must assume that the name is proof enough. Quite how much impact seven people would have made in no more than a year is difficult to judge, but I would doubt if you could create a garden in such a short space of time. Anyway the name remains, and those seven have left a permanent imprint on the island.

I am left with strange and very mixed feelings about this whole business. Had Governor Janisch printed the whole extract it is unlikely that I would have ever made some good friends on the Maldive Islands, but neither would I have appeared on television spouting what I can now only describe as utter nonsense! Apologies are definitely in order.

On returning from St Helena I just managed to catch an interesting exhibition at the Liverpool Museum of paintings by Beryl Bainbridge, one of Britain's most successful post war novelists.

Apparently the Liverpool born writer was also a prolific painter, and fascinated by Napoleon, particularly by the contrast between his exile on St Helena and his previous public life in Europe as victorious soldier, Consul and Emperor. I suspect though that her vivid imagination may have somewhat exaggerated the amorous possibilities that Longwood House afforded him!

Pride of place in the exhibition, and the front cover of a new book on Bainbridge by Psiche Hughes, is a portrait of Napoleon dancing to a gramophone record with a naked lady, presumably Bainbridge herself, at her home in Camden.

Another shows one of the men in her life in the guise of a bearded Napoleon, apparently seated on a horse.

Another shows a lover Don McKinley as a young Napoleon. To the left of Napoleon is a cut off face of Beryl Bainbridge herself and to the right a view of the Lancashire countryside presumably from the farmhouse close to Ramsbottom in which they lived.

Another, which one journal claims was in the exhibition, but which I do not recall, and for which I can find no image (photography was not allowed), is entitled "Napoleon and Friend Retreating from Ramsbottom", which, at the risk of offending a few readers, seems like a good place to retreat from.

Also displayed were pictures of Scott of Antarctica, the Titanic and, most interesting to me, of Dr Johnson, including one of Johnson and his cat Hodge again set in her own house in Camden. Dr Johnson was one of Bainbridge's later passions and the subject of her novel “According to Queeney", which tells the story of his unrequited love for Mrs Thrale.

A quirky, apparently light hearted exhibition, with Adolf Hitler making a cameo appearance in a Titanic picture, there was an underlying more serious theme to Beryl's painting. I was interested by the comment of her daughter JoJo Davies, speaking about the portrayal of Dr Johnson: I love this painting. .. That look of disappointment on his face. Disappointment was a big theme in her novels, though not conscious I don’t think. Reading that I thought again of the Titanic and Scott of Antarctica, and despite the erotic imaginings, of Napoleon on St Helena. Interestingly though, in reviewing what was a very small exhibition, neither the Guardian nor the Telegraph thought Napoleon or Dr Johnson worth a mention.

Earlier this year the staff at Longwood House were busy crating 36 pieces of furniture to be sent to Paris. There the furniture will be restored under the direction of M. Amaël Gohier, and in 2016 will go on display at Les Invalides in an exhibition that it is hoped will promote St Helena tourism.

Apart from the bath, the most notable piece no longer on display is the billiard table used by Napoleon for laying out maps and papers rather than for playing billiards. Like all the original furniture at Longwood, the billiard table was made in England and shipped out for Napoleon. (1)

The ultimate aim of the work taking place at Longwood, which includes the rebuilding of the Generals' Quarters, is to recreate the house as it was when Napoleon died, ready for the bicentenary in 1821.

So, on its return to Longwood the famous table will be placed not in the billiard room at the front but to the rear of the building, where it was used by the servants in the later stages of Napoleon's captivity. With the airport hopefully operational, 5th May 2021 should be a momentous day in St Helena's calendar.

During his stay on St Helena the Parisian based restorer, Amaël Gohier, also ran a furniture restoration course for a number of Saints. It is hoped that in future there will be local people with the necessary skills to restore the old furniture which remains on the island in public and in private hands.

Michel Martineau's blog indicates that the Longwood furniture arrived undamaged in London. It has had a long circuitous journey, from St Helena to Ascension, back to St Helena, then to Cape Town, and there transferred to another ship and taken to Tilbury. Hopefully it is now safely in Paris.

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1. Claims at Highclere Castle, the famous Downton Abbey in the ITV series, that it has a French made desk used by Napoleon at Longwood seems to be without any foundation.

The existence of various Boys family mementoes from St Helena has been known for well over a century, but the claims made about these artifacts are not supported by historical evidence.(2) It is disappointing therefore to find the claims repeated in the Bonhams catalogue to give an impression that Boys was close to Napoleon.

Thus we read that Rev Boys " is said to have been the first Englishman granted an audience with the exiled Emperor on his arrival on the island as well as being invited to play chess with him afterwards " and that Boys took the "armchair in which Napoleon is said to have used on his visits (and absent-mindedly scarred with his penknife while absorbed in conversation), as well as two walking sticks .. ". Elsewhere the catalogue suggests, in a rather circular argument, that in view of the mementoes that Boys took back with him it is unlikely that the two met only once! (3)

In fact there is no evidence that Napoleon ever met Rev Boys, and even Chaplin, the source cited by Bonhams and others, actually says that "Mr Boys was brought into contact with Napoleon on one occasion only", the well known case of the snuff box given for officiating at Cipriani's funeral. In fact Napoleon probably never saw either the snuff box or Rev Boys. The snuff box was purchased in Jamestown and O'Meara acted as intermediary between Longwood and Rev Boys. Chaplin's careful choice of words, "brought into contact with" does not indicate that the two actually met, and indeed there is no evidence that they ever did.(4)

So once again we fall back on the evidence of the two Boys' notes accompanying the two masks. That is all we have. I am no more qualified to judge the claims or counter claims than I was when I last touched on the subject in a previous blog in October 2009. I am though a little alarmed at a circular argument which seems to imply that because Boys got all those mementoes he must have been close to Longwood, and because he was close to Longwood then he was well positioned to get the death masks with the connivance of members of the household. I also wonder what was in it for Rubidge.

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1. The first note accompanying the Sankey mask, dated in 1862, affirms that the mask was "taken from the Face of Napoleon Buonaparte as he lay dead at Longwod (sic) St Helena, by Mr Rubidge .. ". The mask currently up for auction has a note apparently written earlier, maybe in the 1820's: "This Cast was taken from the Face of Napoleon Buonaparte as he lay dead at Longwood St Helena 7th May 1821 which I do hereby certify/ R. Boys M.A. Sen.r Chaplain/ By Rubidge".

2. Michel Martineau recounts how in 1929 Dr Leonard Boys of Aldeburgh wrote to The Times, mentioning the two death masks, and also claimed that Boys acquired a silver tea and coffee service belonging to Napoleon, a cane Napoleon used, an armchair, a lock of his hair and some tunic buttons. Michel Martineau pointed out that all the Emperor's personal effects were carefully packed in suitcases and left the island with the French party. "Doctor Boys ignored, or feigned to ignore, that after the death of Napoleon there was no sale of relics nor of silver belonging to the Emperor. All that was sold was that part of the furniture that belonged to the East India Company." Michel Martineau, Chroniques de Sainte-Hélène Atlantique Sud pp 136-7

3. The Bonhams catalogue quotes J.&J.A. Venn, Alumni Cantabrigenses (1922-54) on Boys, "Said to have been the first man Napoleon spoke to on landing there, and with whom he played chess and who left him an armchair and a walking stick - still cherished possessions of the family."

4. Arnold Chaplin, A St Helena Who's Who (London 1919). The 1914 edition doesn't even mention Napoleon in connection with Boys, it simply says: "Mr. Boys was brought into contact with Longwood on one occasion only."

* Bonhams Napoleon Death Mask * Bonhams Napoleon Death Mask * Bonhams Napoleon Death Mask * Bonhams *

In the list of famous visitors to St Helena, the scientific community is well represented by Halley, Maskelyne and Darwin, but other than a childhood visit by William Thackeray, no leading figures of the literary world, as far as I was aware, has had any association with the island. I was therefore surprised to find that E.M. Forster, one of England's greatest novelists, visited the island in 1929, and was enchanted by it.

Forster's visit occurred on a cruise to South Africa organised by the British Association. Unenthusiastic about accompanying some 500 scientists on a long sea voyage, Forster generally did not enjoy the experience, but St Helena was according to his biographer an exception: an intense experience, "an island of gentle birds and gentle people". (1) To a friend Forster wrote

Views over crags of lava and the soft radiant sea, and birds of fairy-white called "love terns" nest in the crevices .. Have seldom seen such a touching island, all the volcanic sternness and the live things perched about in it, longing for kindness and company. Some day we will go and give it to them."

Unfortunately he never returned, probably to St Helena's loss, for who knows what inspiration the author of A Passage to India might have gained from a more intimate acquaintance.

By contrast Forster was generally unimpressed by South Africa

.. beneath and beyond both English and Dutch are these millions of blacks whom one never speaks to and whose existence one assumes as one does electric bells! That was why I nearly cried at Pretoria. It is Valhalla, and the dwarfs haven't been paid. (2)

On his return home he sold his African mining shares.

Henry Balfour and St Helena

A very differet perspective on the visit was given by the archeologist Henry Balfour (1863-1939), President of the Anthropology Section of the B.A.A.S. (British Association for the Advancement of Science). Balfour was taken ashore on the launch of the Chief Secretary(Colonel Salier), stayed with the Governor and was accompanied by him on a tour of the Napoleonic sites: looking down on the Briars from the road above; visiting Napoleon's tomb "in a secluded ravine"; to Longwood where the rooms were bare with "only one bust in the room in which he died"; the hole in the shutters from which Napoleon could look out on the British Camp; New Longwood, "the fine, large house built for Napoleon, but never occupied by him." (3)

At this time Plantation House was being refurbished after devastation by white ants, so Balfour stayed in the Governor's temporary accommodation, but the next day, "after breakfast with local-grown coffee", he visited Plantation House and "interviewed the huge Mauritian tortoise, said to be over 200 years old + pre-Napoleonic, quite a nice friendly beast " (4) In his diary he listed the birds he had seen: Tropic birds (Ph aetherius), Noddies (A. stolid us), "Love terns" (Leucanus albus, Cygis alba or craw fords), Mynahs, Avadavats, Bishop Birds (weaver finches) Java Sparrows, some Pipit-like birds and small doves.[Wirebirds?]

Finally he recorded his impressions of the vegetation and terrain:

Vegetation, largely imported, is fine on the W. side of the island. Arancarcias, Eucalyptus, Daturas, Budleias, Arum lilies, Bougainvilleas etc. do very well. Phormicum tenax (New Zealand flax) is cultivated + the fibre exported in some quantity. Coffee also does well + small bananas. Scenery very hilly, volcanic, rugged + beautiful.(5)

A man of many parts and some energy, that evening on board the Llandovery Castle,

I gave a lecture on the natives of South Africa to the passengers in the third class, + had a very appreciative audience who asked me to come + talk to them again. (6)

Having read Balfour's detailed diary I couldn't help but recall Forsters apprehension about joining such a trip: they would, he feared, "be shown everything and see nothing." (7)

1.P.N Furbank, EM Forstr A Life (1879-1970), (Two volume edition published London 1979), Vol 2 p. 160

2. Furbank p 161.

3. July 11th 1929 Diaries of Henry Balfour

4. July 12th 1929

5. ibid

6. ibid

7. Furbank p 159.

On our 2008 visit to Sandy Bay we viewed Mount Pleasant from a distance, but this time, with the kind permission of its owners, we were able to walk round the garden,

admire the wonderful views,

and sit on the very same steps that Napoleon used on his last sad outing from Longwood in 1820.(1)

We also learned some of Mount Pleasant's secrets.

Napoleon and Mount Pleasant: The Legend

After our visit to Mount Pleasant I was fortunate to meet Bernie Thomas, who was born at Mount Pleasant in February 1936. Bernie's family had lived as slaves/servants on the farm at least since the time of Napoleon. Bernie later accompanied me on a visit to Mount Pleasant and told me the stories about Napoleon that have been passed down through successive generations of his family.

Historians of the captivity are prepared to concede that Napoleon may have visited Mount Pleasant once before his well documented visit at the end of 1820. But according to the legend passed down in Bernie's family, he actually visited five times, and used to sit in the chair named after him, made out of rocks set in the side of the hill just before the house.

Opposite "Napoleon's chair" are two large Norfolk pines. Until recently there were five: one was planted each time Napoleon visited, or so the legend would have it.

Moving on towards the house, Bernie explained that in his childhood the lawn was larger than now, and to the right of the house a bush formerly grew. He was told that it had been planted to mark the spot on which Napoleon's picnic table had been set up in 1820.

Finally, according to the story passed down through Bernie's family, one of his forefathers assisted Napoleon in mounting the steps to go into the house.

The absence of folk memory about Napoleon on St Helena has hitherto been an accepted fact. I have always taken it to be a result of the dispersal of the white population from the middle of the nineteenth century. Visitors to the island before then, particularly to Napoleon's tomb, were certainly regaled with stories both apocryphal and true about the dead Emperor.

The slave and free black population, the ancestors of most who now live on the island were, from the very beginning, for security reasons, kept as far as possible from Longwood, and few had any contact with its occupants. So the lack of folk memory about Napoleon is hardly surprising. I would go further and say, from my admittedly limited experience, that apart from ghost stories, St Helena does not have a rich folk memory.

I felt it was important therefore to record these stories. The fact that these memories have been passed down, doubtless embroidered, from generation to generation in one family that did apparently have some contact with Napoleon, is of some significance. It certainly requires us to qualify the conventional view of the indifference of the St Helena population to their most famous inhabitant.

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1. An account of Napoleon's last outing when he breakfasted on the lawn at Mount Pleasant and was entertained by Sir William Doveton, has featured previously in this blog.

Wranghams, one of St Helena's remaining colonial houses

Earlier this year I was taken to see Wranghams, a fine late eighteenth century house, secluded down a long drive above Sandy Bay, with a fine view of the hills to its front. It stands in three acres of now overgrown garden and orchards, sadly neglected by its owners, the St Helena Government.

Wranghams from the back garden

Having seen the state of some of the other country houses on the island its current neglect was a matter of some concern. Houses on St Helena deteriorate very fast.

Wranghams front view

I was interested therefore to read last week on St Helena online that the newly elected Councillors, have thrown out a Government proposal to downgrade it from a listed Grade III to a Grade II building.

Wranghams back garden

Wranghams has in the past had some unsympathetic alterations, but it could be restored to something approaching its original state, and it is encouraging that the new crop of Councillors are sensitive to such issues. I do hope that the means to save Wranghams will be found before it is too late.

St Helena's Country Houses

The country houses on St Helena mostly date from the latter part of the eighteenth to the early nineteenth century. They were built for the prominent, established families who held all the important positions during the days of the East India Company. At the apex was Plantation House, the country home of the Governor, the representative of the East India Company on the island.

Plantation House, late eighteenth century, the seat of the Governor of St Helena Only slightly less grand were the houses of the members of the Council and their extended families, who intermarried, and often had houses in the town as well as in the country.

Oakbank, mid eighteenth century, built by the Dovetons, beautifully restored by the current owners

Wooden plaque in Oakbank dated 1843 with the name of Samuel Doveton, and also of C.R.G. Hodson, Sir William Doveton's son in law, dated 1824

These fine Georgian country houses, reflecting the aspirations, life styles and aesthetic tastes of St Helena's elite, are a vital part of the island's heritage, and an unique part also of British colonial history.

Oaklands, early nineteenth century, maybe older, once inhabited by some of the Brooke family.

Prospect House, early nineteenth century, once home of T.H. Brooke, Member of the Council, the nephew of a former Governor

Farm Lodge, early nineteenth century, now a fine country house hotel

Of the remaining houses Bamboo Grove and Bamboo Hedge seem, from photgrapic evidence, not in imminent danger, although I would be surprised if they were in as good a state as Oakbank.

Bamboo Grove 1808

Bamboo Hedge circa 1800

But Rock Rose, and sadly now Teutonic Hall, on which I have written before, look to be past the point of no return.

Rock Rose

Teutonic Hall

Inside Teutonic Hall

Then there is the sad story of Rose Cottage. Earlier this year I got permission from a representative of the Thornton Trust to visit this remote house above Sandy Bay, close to Mount Pleasant.

Rose Cottage, formely the home of Sir William Doveton's daughter, Mrs Greentree

Sad to say what remains of this once elegant house is not visible until you reach its walls. In fact you might miss it altogether, but for the statue of "The Man", the late G. A. D. 'Tony' Thornton, who was deported from the island by Governor Sir Thomas Oates in 1975.

"The Man", Statue of G.A.D. Thornton

During my stay this year I met two inhabitants who as children were taken to tea at this once fine house.

Rose Cottage returned to nature

The cellar opening at Rose Cottage

Wreath laid at base of Tony Thornton's statue

This provides a graphic illustration of what can happen quite quickly to houses that are neglected on St Helena.

This survey would not be complete without mention of Rosemary Hall on Francis Plain, perhaps the finest of them all, home of the Austrian and Russian Commissioners during the captivity of Napoleon.

Rosemary Hall

This imposing house was destroyed in the early 1930's, reputedly a victim of the termites that have done so much damage to the buildings on the island since the 1840's, and which are now said to be threatening Wranghams.

Part of the walls of Rosemary Hall

Adjoining house said to be the home of the butler, saved allegedly because it was constructed using red iron bark

A brief study of these houses, all built in a similar classical style, affords a unique insight into St Helena society at the height of East India Company rule. From the arrival of Napoleon things would never be the same again.

One final reflection is perhaps in order: clearly it would have been possible to have housed Napoleon in rather better circumstances than Longwood. Insofar as he ever expressed any preferences, Napoleon himself said he would wish to live in the more fertile part of the island, where of course most of the fine country houses were built. Clearly the inhospitable and isolated plain at Longwood was chosen for security reasons alone.

NOTE: Note: This blog has more photos than usual. I have decided to keep them small, but all may be enlarged if they are double clicked.

There is litle to bring most tourists to the Fishers Valley. We had not ventured here on our first visit to St Helena, but this time Michel Martineau, sometimes referred to, not entirely with his approval, as Napoleon's representative on earth, promised to show us the way.

Close to Longwood, and within the perimeter of the area in which Napoleon was allowed to ride unescorted, at the bottom of Fishers Valley is a narrow stretch of fertile land in which a number of poor farmers once lived and tried to scratch out a living.

There are still signs of cultivation in the valley, but not of human habitation.

Down here Napoleon and his companions could ride among the inhabitants, but were forbidden to comunicate with them.

Little now remains of the small farms that once were here.

Their rude architecture provides a great contrast with the country houses built at the same time by St Helena's elite.

The Nymph of the Valley

Riding in this rather depressing valley in January 1816 Napoleon and Las Cases came across Mary Ann Robinson, still only 16, maybe not as beautiful as the Longwood entourage, short of female company, found her.

Napoleon gave her some gold coins, named her "the Nymph of Las Cases", and the valley where she lived with her parents and sister as "the valley of silence".

Soon though for the Longword entourage, and for the whole island, she became "the nymph of the valley".

Both Gourgaud and Piontkowski coveted her affections, as did a number of soldiers, but their intentions were not entirely honourable, and she was looking for a more permanent commitment.

This she found in the person of Captain James Ives Edwards, whose ship Dorah arrived at St Helena on 5th July 1817 with the 53rd Regiment. The good Captain asked for her hand on 7th July, they were married on 17th and the nymph departed her valley and St Helena on the 29th.

Before leaving, on July 26th, 1817, Mary Ann brought her new husband to say goodbye to Napoleon. According to Napoleon the Captain bore a resemblance to Prince Eugène.

That is about the last that was heard of "the Nymph". Unlike Betsy Balcombe she never tried to profit from her acquaintance with Napoleon. (1)

The husband, Captain John Ives Edwards, who evidently had some sympathy for Napoleon's plight, visited Mme Bertrand a few weeks before Napoleon died.

The Valley has its own beauty, but one can imagine how desolate Napoleon and his party must have found it, particularly amidst the mist and rain which are constant companions in the winter months.

It was ironic to find down here a few clumps of the Australian daisies, the gift of Lady Holland to the inhabitants of Longwood, which have now spread over the island and provide a permanent memorial to Napoleon's captivity.

Because of the construction of the airport it is at present not possible to complete the route Napoleon often took back behind Longwood.

We were also obstructed by a large amount of water, somewhat surprising in view of the shortages and the long period of drought that the island was going through at the time of our visit!

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1. There is a chapter on Mary Ann Robinson in Chroniques de Sainte-Hélène : Atlantique sud by Michel Martineau, pp 163-168.