St. Helena

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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.’’ [1]

Records

British Library

  • 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. These records are probably included in the digitised records now available on the commercial site FindMyPast
  • 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 [1] )

FamilySearch

The National Archives

  • There are muster rolls for the St. Helena Regiment at the National Archives WO 12/11042 – WO 12/11058 1842-1865. Note however the records after 1855 are only in respect of "St. Helena Regiment (Depot)", believed to be the Depot in England.
  • The British Army Service records on the pay website findmypast appear to contain some records for men who served in the St. Helena Regiment

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.

Records in St. Helena

FIBIS Resources

Ships and travel

Boer POW Camp

"Nothing remains of a prisoner-of-war camp on a high plateau where 6000 Afrikaners were held during the Boer War, but the graves of 156 who never saw their homeland again are carefully tended on a steep hillside. Two granite obelisks bearing their names stand as a memorial to farmers who fought bravely against what was then the mightiest army in the world".[2]

Related articles

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 A2A website – St Helena
  2. Bell, Gavin. "Island of no return: St Helena, Napoleon’s final place of exile, is a refuge of unexpected diversity", Weekend Australian 14 July 2012, Travel and Indulgence section, page 1. Retrieved on 2 August 2014.

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
  • "St Helena: 1792 – 1840: the latter days of Slavery" by Colin Fox. An expanded version of a presentation made to Society of the Friends of St Helena (FOSH) at their AGM held at Kenwood House on 21 May 2011 html version, original pdf
  • St Helena National Trust Education Packs : Places of Historic Interest - Pilling School html version, pdf version. Contains information about the St Helena Regiment, formed in 1842 as part of the British Army for garrison duty, disbanded June 1863
  • "Boer prisoners of war on the Island of St Helena" by A J Nathan Military History Journal 
Vol 11 No 3/4 - October 1999, The South African 
Military History Society

  • "The Construction of Islandness, a Literal Example: St Helena in the Seventeenth Century" by Stephen A Royle (2008: 1–9) The Construction of Islandness (Refereed papers from the 3rd International Small Island Cultures Conference. Institute of Island Studies, University of PEI, June 29–July 2, 2007) html version original pdf

Historical Books Online