Maldivia Rock Fall

Bert Constantine surveying massive rock that has fallen into his banana plantation

I have written much on this blog about Maldivia, the area in the upper Jamestown Valley just below the Briars. For us it is a very special place with so many happy memories, and so much history: the Maldive Islanders who according to legend created the Maldivia Gardens, the fatal duel that took place near Chubbs Spring in 1809, and the visit of Napoleon Bonaparte to Maldivia House in November 1815.

The Briars Hill from the Maldivia Banana Plantation

Rock falls are always a danger on St Helena. Above Jamestown large metal mesh fences have been installed to protect the inhabitants. In the upper Jamestown Valley, beneath the Briars, signs warn of the dangers. More threatening though is the large mountain to the west, the unlikely location of what is still referred to as "cowpath".

The west side of the upper Jamestown Valley

Often last year we wondered whether the large rock detonations made by Basil Read, the airport contractors, in the east of the island, might trigger rock falls elsewhere.

Maldivia banana plantation from near Chubbs Spring

Last year, woken by the early morning sun, I regularly made my way to the banana plantation to weed the young banana trees planted beneath Chubbs Spring and in full view of the Briars. Every morning I walked through the place where the large rock has now fallen.

Weed free bananas

Anyway we are very relieved that nobody was hurt. A little piece of each of our hearts will always be in Maldivia, and we cannot wait to return to see our good friends the Constantines and to see how the bananas are fareing.

Maldivia House, one of the few houses that Napoleon visited

In Search of "Polly" Mason

1815 Map showing location of Mason family properties around Fishers Valley

Miss "Polly" Mason was well known to the occupants of Longwood. Apparently she always bowed profusely whenever meeting Napoleon on one of his rides in the Fishers Valley, and she and her niece were on the list of people authorised to visit Mme Bertrand. She was also present to greet Gourgaud and Arthur Bertrand when they came back to St Helena in 1840 for the exhumation of Napoleon.

The Mason family were probably the largest landowners on the East of the Island. Miss Mason was recorded as living at Orange Grove, and "Jack" Mason, presumably her brother, at Bradleys. The family also owned other property close to Hutts Gate, including what later became known as Teutonic Hall, usually referred to during the time as Miss Mason's, as in the map above.(1) Presumably this is the house Chaplin claims that Hudson Lowe considered renting for Napoleon at £100 a month.

Earlier references to the Masons' properties can be found in the journal of William Burchell who served the East India Company on St Helena as schoolmaster and botanist from 1805-1810. In November 1806 Burchell recorded walking to Miss Mason's much talked of apple garden in the Fishers Valley and then round to Fledger's .. (presumably Pledges). On Christmas Day 1806 he visited Jack Mason's

at the bottom of Fisher's Valley, below Polly Mason's apple garden ..Of all the rude, uncouth rocky, barren, untempting structures for a house, this is the strangest and most remarkable of any I have yet seen. (2)

Jack Mason's garden apparently yielded £400 worth of produce a year, a small fortune at the time, growing figs, grapes guavas, apples, melons and cucumbers.

On another occasion after a visit to Longwood, Burchell caught sight of a small house of Miss Mason's which can be seen from no other place but this, which surely can only be what is now known as Teutonic Hall.

Teutonic Hall, formerly known as Miss Masons and Masons Stock House

So I think we can take it that Jack Mason and Polly Mason were well known figures in the eastern part of St Helena. "Polly" and "Jack" were of course nicknames, so who were they?

Jack was regularly used for John, and the only John Mason recorded in the baptismal records in the late eighteenth century was the son of Richard, a "Planter", and Elizabeth Mason. He was baptised in 1776, the second of a family of eight. The death of John Mason, described simply as "Native", was recorded on 9th December 1815, before Napoleon had settled into life in the eastern part of St Helena. He had five sisters (Elizabeth baptised 1774, Mary 1777 died in infancy, Mary 1780, Caroline 1783, Margaret 1790) and two brothers (Richard baptised 1786, William 1798).

Polly is more difficult to identify by name, but the only female Mason that crops up in the land and slavery records in the early part of the nineteenth century is Mary Elizabeth Mason, John's younger sister, baptised in 1780 and in July 1859 at the age of 83, a Gentle Woman, died of Natural Decay . (3) It seems that she must be Miss "Polly" Mason. Her Will indicates that at the time of her death she owned two properties, Sunbury Hill and the Pledges, both a little further east past Teutonic Hall.

The Will of Mary Mason

The Will and signature of Mary Mason

In her will Miss Mason left £60 to the Church of England Society for the Island of St Helena, and her house and lands to her nieces Marian Anne and Elizabeth M.T., the daughters of her brother Major William Mason. (4)

Memorial Plaque, St Pauls St Helena, to Benjamin Mason who died in 1805. Probably Miss Mason's Grandfather.

Orange Grove, The Pledges and Sunbury Hill: Recent Views

The area surrounding the Fishers Valley where the Masons lived in the early part of the eighteenth century has changed beyond recognition. Few of the old properties remain, apart from Teutonic Hall which is now in a very dangerous state.

Orange Grove 2013

Few people on St Helena have heard of Orange Grove, now known as Pink Grove.

Orange Grove 2013

A brief visit revealed it to be a very pleasant fertile valley, with a few modern houses.

Orange Grove 2013

It is impossible to tell exactly where Miss Mason lived.

The old house that formerly stood on Sunbury Hill has also been demolished, and a post second world war dwelling now stands on the site.

Sunbury Hill

Close to Sunbury hill, with a view of the Barn and Longwood across the valley, the Pledges now has two modern houses built on it.

Modern houses on the Pledges

Longwood House and behind it the Barn: the view from the Pledges

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1. The estate of Richard Mason, probably Miss Mason's father was listed in the Return of Family Land Cattle &c 1821 as owning 9 properties, including Sunbury Hill, the Pledges and what later became Teutonic Hall.
2. William John Burchell (1781-1763) St Helena (1805-1810) The Castell Collection, St Helena 2011.
3. Mary Mason was recorded as having 6 slaves, 23 acres of free land and 20 acres of lease land in 1828; in 1834 it was 3 slaves, 3 freeborn, 10 acres of free land, and 44 acres of permanent tenure. Land Records, St Helena Archives.
4. The Executors were Matthew George Torbett and her brother William.

In the Footsteps of Napoleon: The Beauty and the Legend of Mount Pleasant

Mount Pleasant

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)

On the steps at Mount Pleasant

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.

Mr Bernie Thomas seated in "Napoleon's chair"

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.

The Two Remaining Pines opposite Napoleon's chair

Close up of one of the pines, showing its wide girth

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.

Bernie pointing out the position of Napoleon's picnic table

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.

Bernie on the steps at Mount Pleasant, where one of his ancestors assisted Napoleon

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.

Maiden Visit of QM2 to St Helena

This video of St Helena was made when the Queen Mary 2 visited St Helena at the end of March 2010. I have seen numerous photo shows and videos of the island made by travellers, and this is one of the best that I can recall.

The video is focused on Jamestown, Longwood and Napoleon's Tomb, and is I think all the better for that. Most visitors to St Helena try to include everything in their photographic narratives, perhaps because they have come a long way and expect it to be a once in a lifetime experience. Gerard, probably because of the constraints of a short visit from a cruise ship, has not fallen into that trap.

He is clearly an ocean liner enthusiast, and has an interesting blog on the subject. Many thanks to him for sharing his video of St Helena, and to Michel for featuring the visit on his latest blog.

The Wirebird: Photos of St Helena

This is I think the first time that St Helena's emblematic wirebird has made an appearance on this blog. Unfortunately I did not manage to get a decent photograph of one on my visit, but I found this among the excellent photographs of St Helena taken by John and Pauline Grimshaw on their visits to the island in 2006 and 2010.

John and Pauline live close by, and although we have never met, John and I exchange fairly frequent emails on matters relating to this blog. Both are obviously keen photographers, and I am sure their collection will be of interest to anyone who has visited or wishes to visit St Helena.

St Helena Photos: 2006


St Helena Photos: 2010

Teutonic Hall - as it used to look

Not too long ago I wrote a post about Teutonic Hall. It seems to have created a lot of interest. Since then a reader has kindly drawn my attention to some photos taken in the 1970's for the Crallan Report on the historic buildings of St Helena. (1)




A fine building and a fine setting. How sad to see it in its present state.

(Click on the pictures to enlarge them).

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1. Crallan , Hugh The Crallan Report: the Complete Photographs. Museum of St Helena 2007. DVD containing all 360 of Crallan’s images - A comprehensive record of St Helena’s buildings. The DVD is available from Miles Apart.

Orange Grove/Miss Mason's/Teutonic Hall

I have for some time been fascinated by this once fine house.

Apparently Hudson Lowe toyed with the idea of renting what was then known as Orange Grove for Napoleon for £100 a month.

How many houses did that tortured man consider I wonder? I refer of course to Hudson Lowe not Napoleon.

In Napoleon's time it was the home of the wealthy Miss Polly Mason, about whom I have discovered little, except that she apparently used to ride an ox, and always bowed effusively whenever she saw Napoleon.

There were the inevitable rumours about a romantic liaison - but St Helena has never been short of rumours - or romantic liaisons for that matter!

My understanding was that Miss Mason was still alive and greeted the French party when they returned in 1840 for the exhumation of Napoleon's body, but I may be wrong.

Anyway at some point the house was sold to Georg Wilhem Janisch, originally of Hamburg, and it was renamed Teutonic Hall.


The Janisch Family and Teutonic Hall

Janisch came out to St Helena as a clerk to Denzil Ibbetson. He was underemployed with Ibbetson, so Lowe took him on as personal secretary. They seemed to have a high mutual regard for each other, and Janisch later gave the name Hudson to his son.

Janisch fell in love with Ann Mira Seale, the daughter of Major William Seale. He decided to stay on when Lowe left in 1821. He married Ann Mira in 1823 and a son was duly born in 1824/1825.

The son, Hudson Ralph Janisch, became Governor of St Helena in 1874, in which office he remained until his death in March 1884 at the age of 59. He remains the only person born on the island to have served as Governor.

After Hudson's death his widow Eleanor, herself a daughter of the well established Pritchard family, moved to the Cape, which seems to have attracted a number of old St Helena families as the island went into economic decline.

The Janisch family were instrumental in helping to establish the Baptist faith on the island. Apparently the first ever Baptist sermon was delivered in July 1845 in the parlour of Georg William Janisch's widow. Was that Teutonic Hall I wonder, or their house in Jamestown?


Teutonic Hall is a listed building, but is now little more than a shell.




Its current perilous state was described in Michel's blog in November 2008.

Contrary to Michel's blog, I am pretty certain that Mason's Stock house was a different building, although presumably part of the estate.

The completion of the airport will doubtless lead to a big demand for property on the most pleasant parts of the island. One can imagine that St Helena will be seen by the wealthy as an safe and attractive domicile, secure from the uncertainties of the African continent.

I am sure I am not the first to realise that the value of this site, situated in a beautiful lush valley, will greatly appreciate in the future. Let us hope that something is done for the house that currently stands there before it is too late.


CORRECTION
As the comment by Michel makes clear, there is a major error in this post. Orange Grove and Teutonic Hall were not the same building. Teutonic Hall was previously known as Mason's Stock House; so presumably Miss Mason did indeed still live in Orange Grove, which is closer to Hutts Gate. As far as I recall it was at Hutts Gate that she greeted members of the French party in 1840. It is also likely that the house Hudson Lowe considered, among others, renting from Miss Mason for Napoleon, was Orange Grove rather than the house now known as Teutonic Hall.

St Helena Sites Associated with the Captivity of Napoleon

Hutts Gate - somewhere opposite this building apparently lie the ruins of a house in which the Bertrands lived before their cottage at Longwood was complete.

The childrens' nurse, Mrs Dickson, later kept a store at Hutts Gate and was there to greet Arthur Bertrand in 1840.

It was here that Napoleon, ill and exhausted, got into his carriage after his final outing to see Sir William Doveton at Sandy Bay.

I believe Napoleon first discovered Sane Valley (where he was to be buried at his own request), when visiting the Bertrands here.

Obviously anyone whose interest in Napoleon takes them to St Helena will focus on the three French properties. There are however other sites such as Hutts Gate which such visitors will probably wish to explore.

Two years ago I intended to produce a comprehensive list of these, but found that I had not visited all of them, had few worthwhile images to share, and also realised that my knowledge was fragmentary at best. So it was never published.

I would have found this useful when planning my visit to St Helena and so, imperfect as it is, I shall now publish it. Michel Martineau's own blog contains a number of excellent photographs of these sites, but you have to search a little to find them. The visit of the Friends of Malmaison in 2003 is also worth a look. It contains a picture of a bearded Honorary French Consul looking rather older I think than he does now!

Maldivia House, home of Major Hodson, son in law of William Doveton. Napoleon visited this house whilst staying at the Briars. This has been covered in a number of previous posts.

Rosemary Plain/Rosemary Hall - This house was occupied by the Austrian and Russian Commissioners, Stürmer and Balmain. I never managed to identify this building. Montchenu the French Commissioner, the butt of everyone's jokes, lived in cheaper accommodation in Jamestown opposite Porteous House.

Fishers Valley/Valley of the Nymph The Nymph, Mary Anne Robinson, was the daughter of a farmer who lived in the valley and was spotted by Napoleon on one of his rides and given this name. (1) I believe that ruins of the farm house are still there.


Teutonic Hall Previously known as Mason's Stock House. The property of wealthy landowner Miss Mason, who always treated Napoleon effusively. Apparently she used to ride an oxen. She was still alive when the party came to recover the Emperor's body in the Belle Poule in 1840.

Porteous House The lodging house in Jamestown close to the castle in which Napoleon spent his first night. The building was destroyed by fire in the late nineteenth century.

Farm Lodge Apparently Hudson Lowe considered moving Napoleon there in 1818; but Gourgaud, in the period when he was cooperating with Lowe and trying to engineer a direct passage back to Europe, suggested that Longwood was easier to guard. (2) It is now a pleasant hotel.

Mount Pleasant - Sandy Bay, home of Sir William Doveton, to which Napoleon made his last outing on 4th October 1820. This has been covered in a number of posts.



Rock Rose - The house in which Count las Cases and his son, and later Gourgaud were housed by the Governor prior to their leaving the island.

Bertrand's Cottage - across the road from Longwood; now in the hands of the St Helena National trust; here Napoleon used to watch with his telescope the horse races that took place on Deadwood Plain. This has been covered in a number of posts.

Longwood New House - the house built for Napoleon close to Bertrands Cottage - as it may have looked in the nineteenth century! The house was demolished after the war. The modern visitor will just have to try to imagine it. It is virtually impossible to do so. Agricultural buildings now occupy its site.

The house itself was pre-fabricated, sent over from England and, after much delay, virtually completed in December 1820. Napoleon had always said he would not live there, and shortly before his death had been upset by the iron railings that Lowe had had installed. In the last hours of Napoleon's illness Lowe and his assistant Major Gideon Gorrequer waited there anxiously for news. Lowe had refused to believe that Napoleon was seriously ill until almost the end.

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1. Miss Robinson may have visited Longwood a few times; she certainly brought her newly married husband to say goodbye to Napoleon in July 1817. He was a sea captain named John Ives Edwards. Captain Edwards called on the Bertrands in 1821 just before Napoleon's death. Apparently he told them that the English people had no wish to keep Napoleon at St. Helena, and they felt that the ignoble way in which the Emperor was being treated was a slur on them. So at least Bertrand recorded in his secret diary.

2. The Las Cases had been sent to Cape Town, and had not had a very pleasant experience there before getting back to Europe. Gourgaud apparently wished to avoid this at almost any cost.

Views of St Helena

St. Helena from the terrace of the Castle by George Hutchins Bellasis
(1778-1822), soldier and amateur artist, from his Views of St Helena (1815)

Bellasis had been to St Helena twice, and he was probably trying to cash in on his knowledge of the island that had been chosen for Napoleon's exile.

this singularly romantic Island is the appointed residence of one of the most extraordinary men recorded in the annals of History.

As he was keen to point out, this particular view afforded a glimpse of the Briars:

the Briars, marked in this View, though not seen from the Roads ; this situation is the more interesting, as it is said to be the place intended for the residence of Buonaparte.

Presumably he was referring to the house just about visible at the base of the V shape made by the hills as you look up Jamestown valley.

I also found the dedication of this slender volume interesting.

I think we can safely say that Bellasis was not a Whig! (1)

Bellasis's second and final visit to St. Helena was in 1812. By the time of Napoleon's arrival, he had retired, and was living with his wife and 6 children in the villa he had built for himself in Bowness on Windermere in the English Lakes. Not a bad place to live!

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(1) It turned out that Bellasis knew Wellington from his days as a soldier in India. When Bellasis arrived in India, Colonel Arthur Wellesley, as he was then, was apparently recuperating from a severe case of the 'Malabar Itch' (a kind of ringworm) which had prevented him from fighting in Egypt. He and Bellasis were close neighbours, and knew each other quite well.

Mount Pleasant: Napoleon's last outing

Another interesting post by Michel (November 23rd 2009).

This time about Mount Pleasant, Sir William Doveton's fine home overlooking Sandy Bay, and the scene of Napoleon's last outing. (1)

Particularly interesting is the transcript from the Hudson Lowe papers which Michel describes quite justifiably as "un chef d'œuvre de bêtise et de vanité" ( a masterpiece of stupidity and vanity. ) The transcript includes those passages crossed out, which are every bit as revealing as those left in.

In this document, Sir William variously describes himself as"I", " the old gentleman" "Sir William" "the good knight" (crossed out!) and "Worthy Venerable Knight" ("Worthy" crossed out).

The visitor is of course usually referred to as "General", but also as "Napoleon" or "Bonaparte"; references to him as "Emperor" are enclosed in quotation marks to indicate that the term was used only by Napoleon's party. It is also noted that like Napoleon but unlike his companions, Sir William kept his hat on! These things were very important to Sir Hudson Lowe.

The report was written for Sir Hudson Lowe but also with an eye to posterity. After all, how many people could claim to have met both Napoleon and the King? The only defense is perhaps that at the advanced age of 67, Sir William had, as Gilbert Martineau put it, become "somewhat simple minded". (2) He was to linger on another 23 years! Apparently Napoleon tweaked his ear - something I thought that he did largely to children! (3)

Nevertheless it provides an interesting account of what turned out to be Napoleon's final social encounter with those outside his entourage. It notes Napoleon's appearance: his fat face and thighs, his paleness and Montholon's comment that he was suffering from a liver complaint.

For the anoraks among us the document does confirm that Napoleon had previously visited Mount Pleasant.

Anyway, this document which as far as I know has never been published in full, is well worth a read - and is of course in English!


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1. This house and Sir William have featured on a number of previous posts that I have made. On my visit I described it as a sort of "dormer bungalow" and realised that it must have looked quite different when Napoleon visited. Sure enough, it was reconstructed by W.A. Thorpe in 1904. The Thorpe family, which has arrived on St Helena since Napoleon's time, is now probably the leading commercial family on the island.

2. Gilbert Martineau, Napoleon's St. Helena, John Murray 1968, p. 156

3. Clearly Sir William had heard differently: I have heard, that General Bonaparte’s custom of taking children by the nose, and grown persons by the ear is considered as a mark of in token of favour approbation . This passage from the document was clearly amended a number of times and then finally crossed out.

Jamestown as you've never seen it before - courtesy the Observer

I mentioned in my previous post that the Observer seems to have printed a mirror image of Jamestown -and here's the evidence.
All the familiar bits are there, but in the wrong places.

Valley of the Tomb: Napoleon's Burial Place on St. Helena

On the death of a great man like him, we should only feel deep concern and regret

- Hudson Lowe

I assume that you will not wish to place an inscription upon the tombstone, because it would be necessary to use titles and that I cannot allow

- Hudson Lowe

After Napoleon's death Longwood had been opened for the public, civilians and military alike, to come and pay their respects; large numbers came:-

They came in groups of four, six, or ten persons at a time, and left after a few minutes. The majority touched the Emperor's hand. Several women or officers were unable to restrain their tears, recorded Grand Marshall Bertrand in his diary.

One young soldier tried on Napoleon's hat: He must have had an extraordinary wide head, for it would not fit me when put on square (the way he always wore it).
The same soldier was suprised at the living conditions he found at Longwood: I could not have lived as he did, I am sure, half the time he did.

Napoleon's body was sealed within the inner of four coffins. It is said that with the air excluded the body will be preserved for centuries confided Bertrand to his diary.

So to the Geranium Valley/Sane Valley.

Napoleon chose this as his resting place, if he could not be buried in France.

It is very close to Hutts Gate, but involves a good walk down to the bottom from the road.









It looks a little different from nineteenth century pictures.











This is a very beautiful, peaceful place.

It is a very fertile green valley, where even bananas grow.

Napoleon used to send a servant here every day to fetch drinking water from the stream.

He himself visited it often.



We visited twice. It was a pleasure to meet the attendant, another of nature's gentlemen.




Michel has a very interesting picture of "Charlie" on his blog (see links on left - then on Michel's site look for entry headed Exposition "L'abondance" par Andrew Parker).

It looks as if the artistic life of St. Helena may be about to blossom! Sometime I will talk a little about art on St. Helena, but that must wait for another day.

This place has witnessed two great occasions.


The first, the funeral(May 9th 1821), must have been the biggest event that has ever occurred on St. Helena -perhaps a little grand for a mere "General".

The second event, the exhumation(16th October 1840), although not as large, was in its own way just as remarkable.