St. Helena

The East India Company occupied St Helena from 1659 when it became an important trading colony. Garrisons were installed to guard landing places from attack by foreign powers and a fort was established at Jamestown. The defence strength comprised "a regular garrison of Company's European Artillery and Infantry, and a militia drawn from the planters. The Charter Act of 1833 transferred the island to the Crown from 23 April 1834 and the Company's forces were disbanded on the arrival of British Army units in 1836.’’

Records

• Baptisms and Deaths recorded in St Helena Consultations 1737, IOR /G32/10
• Baptisms and Deaths recorded in St Helena Consulatations 1747-1766, IOR/G32/12-26
• Ecclesiastical Returns: Baptisms, Marriages and Burials at St Helena 1767-1835, IOR N/6/1-3.
• Summaries of civil and military establishment on St Helena 1780-1794, IOR/ G/32/41-47
• Wills and inventories recorded in St Helena Judicial Consultations 1820-182, IOR /G32/102

(For confirmation of the above five British Library references see British Library Sources)

• Nominal Muster Roll of St Helena Artillery, Infantry , Invalids and Pensioners 1789-1859 -British Library ref IOR/L/Mil/13/1-14
• St Helena Pensioners 5 Dec 1835- 19 July 1837 - British Library ref IOR/L/Mil/13/15

(For further details of what information is held under the two military records above see )

FIBIS members unable to access the records they require may wish to enlist the help of the FIBIS Research team. Please email research@fibis.org for further information about this voluntary service.

FIBIS Resources

• FIBIS Journal no 21 (pages 42-47) contains an article entitled "Some 'Anglo-Indian' and other Memorials at St Helena" by the late Trevor Hearl.

Ships and travel

• The ship Friendship called at St Helena in October 1799 and on the return voyage in March 1801 as described in Cursory Remarks, on board the ship Friendship by Mrs Mary Anne Reid (Google Books). Full details are in this India List post.
• Twelve years' military adventure in three quarters of the globe: or, Memoirs of an officer who served in the armies of His Majesty and of the East India Company, between the years 1802 and 1814 Volume 2, page 118 by John Blakiston 1829. (Google Books) Describes calling in at St Helena on a voyage back to England
• The East Indiaman [ship] General Goddard in battle off St Helena in 1795 www.shipstamps.co.uk

External Links

Other

• The St Helena Institute’s website says it aims to provide a focal point for research into St Helena and its dependencies, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha. It provides detailed resources for St Helena family history. Information is given about available records, including equivalent LDS microfilms.

• The Institute has a Mailing List/Message Board for St Helena family history and genealogy (incl. Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha).

• St. Helena Wikipedia
• Robert Brooke, Governor of St.Helena 1788-1800 Wikipedia
• Six Views of St Helena from Macquarie University’s Lachlan and Elizabeth Macquarie Archive
• Barry Weaver’s The St. Helena Virtual Library and Archive

Historical Books Online

• A history of the island of St. Helena: from its discovery by the Portuguese to the year 1806 Thomas H Brooke (1808) Google Books
• A history of the island of St. Helena, from its discovery by the Portuguese to the year 1823 Thomas H Brook (updated 2nd Edition 1824) Google Books
• A St. Helena who's who; or, a directory of the island during the captivity of Napoleon by Arnold Chaplin, 1914 Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged 1919 Archive.org
• Extracts from the St. Helena Records compiled by Hudson Ralph Janisch, Governor of St Helena 1885 Archive.org
• St. Helena: the Historic Island from its Discovery to the Present Date by E.L. Jackson, illustrated from photographs 1905 Archive.org