St Helena 1815: The East India Company, Slavery and Religion

St Helena halfpenny bearing crest of the East India Company

The East India Company and St. Helena's leading families were naturally apprehensive about the impact the detention of Napoleon would have on their remote, congenial world. Sir Hudson Lowe the new Governor, although technically appointed by the Company, was a Crown nominee and a servant of the Government. His appointment brought UK politics one step closer.

From the 1790's the anti-slavery and evangelical movements had a major impact on UK politics, and with that came increased pressure on the East India Company for the licensing of missionaries to save the souls of the heathen.

Bowl c. 1820 bearing slogan used by anti-slavers from the 1790's

The Company was painfully aware of the changing political climate. It had had an uneasy fight to get its charter renewed in 1812, and had been forced to open up India to missionary activity. (1) In a long letter addressed to Lowe in 1815 it addressed the very topical issues of slavery and of religion. (2)

On the issue of slavery the Company could make a case for its enlightened policies : there was no slavery in India, and the ban on the import of slaves into St. Helena preceded the much celebrated 1807 UK Slave Trade Act by 15 years. But 23 years after the import ban, slavery was still entrenched on the island, and over a third of the population were slaves. (3)

Poster advertising sale of Slaves in Jamestown, 1829

Nevertheless the 1815 letter to Lowe played down slavery's importance : their numbers were comparatively small", they were slaves "only in name" and "every indulgence is extended to them consistent with the safety and wellbeing of the Settlement."

The letter also indicated that the Company had issued orders to free the slaves altogether, but to its regret " obstacles have presented themselves to the complete Emancipation. " This was probably a reference to the rearguard action of Robert Leech and Sir William Doveton, leading magistrates who both attested to the good character of a slave-owner indicted for the murder of a slave in 1815. (4)

On matters of religion the Company shared the concerns of the Anglican Establishment and the Lord Liverpool Government about the rise of religious enthusiasm and the threats to Anglican dominance. It appointed chaplains to inculcate morality, order and loyalty amongst its soldiers and civilian employees, but it viewed missionary activity as a threat to the stability of its empire.

The letter to Lowe devoted much attention to the religious and moral climate on St. Helena which it claimed was improving. It prided itself on the creation in 1811 of two schools under the supervision of one of the chaplains.

The observance and inculcation of Religion both by precept and Example at St Helena has constantly been an object of the Court’s unremitting anxiety in furtherance of which they have for several years past maintained an Establishment of two Chaplains concerning whose religious principles and moral character they were 
 well satisfied at the time of their Appointment, their ordinary duties, the regular performance of Divine Worship on Sundays in the Town and Country Churches, to visit the sick in the Hospital and the Inhabitants of the Island as occasion may require, and otherwise to deport themselves in a manner becoming the Clerical Character.

The Company was though very concerned that the expected influx of population to guard Napoleon would bring in more non-Anglicans.

The subversion of the established Church we should consider as an evil and incalculable magnitude and we cannot too strongly recommend that the maintenance of our Established Religion be an object of your especial attention and unceasing Solicitude.

Coat of Arms of the Diocese of St Helena, established 1859

On this the Company's wishes were carried out. Anglican control of St. Helena outlasted both the East India Company and the institution of slavery. Not until mid-century were the Anglican defences breached, by the Baptists: St Helena's one and only native born Governor, Hudson Ralph Janisch (1873-1884), the son of a German Lutheran immigrant brought to the island by Lowe and named after him, became a Baptist as a young man. (5)

Today there is some diversity of religion on the island, but the other older non-conformist denominations, the Quakers, Methodists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists and Unitarians, have never established a presence there. As in England half a century ago, the overwhelming majority of Saints identify themselves as Anglican, but relatively few are regular churchgoers. (6)

The Saints' Anglican identity is accompanied by a strong loyalty to Crown and mother country. The continuous cycle of disappointments and the dissatisfaction that constitutes the experience of many islanders seems not to have weakened this loyalty. Their approbation is however, not so often given to the representatives of British authority on the island, from the Governor down.
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1. The Anglican Establishment, closely intertwined with Tory/Loyalist politics, was however concerned not so much with saving souls as with maintaining the established social order. These aims seemed to be threatened by the growth of religious dissent and the associated campaigns to remove civil disabilities from Roman Catholics and Protestant non-conformists, as well as the campaigns for universal suffrage. Penelope Carson, The East India Company and Religion, 1698-1858 (The Boydell Press, Woodbridge, 2012) pp 117-118.
2. To Sir Hudson Lowe from the Court of Directors of the East India Company, East India House, 10th October 1815.
3.The letter to Lowe gave the full breakdown of the population - European Inhabitants 736,Garrison (Officers included) 891, Free Blacks
 420, Slaves
 1293, Chinese Labourers 247. Total 3587
4. The death of Leech and the sidelining of Doveton paved the way for the partial abolition that Hudson Lowe was able to declare in 1818. But slavery still remained an essential part of life on the island, most of the European families continued to own slaves, and it was not finally abolished until 1834.
5. For a history of the first Baptist missionaries on the island see Baptist Pioneers of St Helena.
6. According to the 2017 Social Attitudes study only 15% of the UK population now describes itself as Anglican, half as many as in 2000. 50% of the UK population describes itself as having no religion.

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.

St Helena 1811 - not a good year

I have been working through the Judicial Records for 1811 and also doing some background reading. It turned out to be a demanding year for the Governor, Alexander Beatson (1759-1830).

On taking up his post in 1808 Governor Beatson had found a population of 3600

living almost wholly upon the public stores; and obtaining most of the necessaries of life in profusion, at prices not exceeding one third of the prime cost.

The result was neglect of cultivation, a decline of industry, and a great increase in the costs of running the island, which had doubled between 1800 and 1808. He also claimed that he found

a garrison, as well as many of the inhabitants, immersed in the grossest intemperance .. from their excessive use of spirituous liquors.

From a perusal of the Judicial Records, 1811 seemed an uneventful year :

- a dispute over the property at Rock Rose Hill brought by Captain John Barnes against Major William Seale; the former appears to have been married at this time to the latter's widowed mother;

-one case of assault in which John Kay was awarded 5/- damages against John Knipe, rather less than the £500 he had asked for;

-William Balcombe and two others fined the sum of 40/- for not turning up for jury service;

- the usual reports by the wormers of cattle;

- a few coroners' verdicts, including one on "Peter a Slave. Verdict. Died by the Visitation of God".

Initial impressions were misleading. These were difficult times on the island.


Food, Spirits and a Not Very Happy Christmas

At one of the sessions of the court in 1811 the Governor tried to deal with profiteering from the sale of poultry. A Grand Jury was duly called and recommended to the court that the highest prices should be

Fowls 8s/- Geese 21s/- Ducks 10/- Turkeys 30/-

There were also shortages of flour and rice, and on December 11th a Proclamation was issued forbidding the sale of potatoes to ships, and restricting the price to 8/- a bushel.

These shortages triggered a major mutiny among the garrison on December 23rd. The Governor concluded that this was just a pretext:

the sole object of the late violent measures, was to compel this government to give spirits to the garrison; an object in which every drunkard on the island felt a deep and warm interest. (1)

The mutineers' harebrained plan was to seize the Governor and expel him from the island on a ship that was in port. Presumably this would have allowed them to drink themselves silly over Christmas before the inevitable retribution in the New Year. The Governor's reaction on hearing this was not to flee, but rather to order the ship to leave and to barricade himself and his family in Plantation House!

Prior to the mutiny a note was slipped under Mr Doveton's door presumably his house in Jamestown not Sandy Bay:

His it still your intension to percevere in your oppression and tyranney to wards the troops in this garrison, has hitherto you have done; if so you can expect nothing but an open rebellion.
I am autherized, by the troops of this island, to inform this Councel, if they do not immediately soply this garrison with liquor and provisions, in the same manner has Governor Brooks did (whose regulations you have voilated) you shall be made answerable for what will follow, except you make your escape good from this settlement.

It is in your power to prevent the impending vengeance which now hangs over your head's and save the lives of many poor souls, which will inevitably fall a sacrifice.

The mutiny, initially comprising some 250 soldiers, was soon put down, but not before the Lieutenant Governor, Colonel Broughton, had been seized by the mutineers at Longwood.

Among those commended by the Governor for their action against the mutineers was Major Hodson, later to be nicknamed "Hercules" by Napoleon. (2)

Nine of the ring leaders were court martialled and sentenced to death on Christmas Day. Six of them, Henry Sisell, Thomas Berwick, Archibald Nimmo, Robert Anderson, Arthur Smith, and Thomas Edgeworth were executed the same day at sunset on High Knoll; in what the Governor hoped would be seen as a manifestation of his mercy the remaining three, Peter Wilsey, John Seager and Richard Kitchen had their sentences remitted.

The court martial reconvened on 26th December, and convicted three more, of whom one only, named Hewitt, was executed before the whole garrison.

The Governor also detained a number of others, whom he determined to send off the island as soon as possible. (3) The remainder were granted amnesty. By the 31st December the Governor was satisfied that the mutiny was over.

Two Schools Created

On a more positive note was the creation of two separate schools " to improve the Religious and Moral Character of all Classes of the rising generation". The schools were apparently to be called "The Company's Upper School" and "The Company's Second School". The upper school which was to be open to " the Children of the Civil & Military Servants & of the most reputable inhabitants", was under the direction of our old friend, the Rev. Boys. The fees for the upper school were to be 3 guineas a quarter. An additional five shillings a quarter was to be charged for "Pens, Ink, Paper, Slate and Pencils – for those, only who learn writing and Arithmatick."

The lower school was under the direction of the Reverend Samuel Jones. The superintendent, Mr McDaniel, was to be paid £30 a year -enough to purchase 60 ducks or 20 turkeys at the prices previously quoted!

The children of the "lower classes of the inhabitants" were admissable to this school. The fees were to be 13s..6d, with 3 shillings for pens ink etc.
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1. A very full account of the mutiny is given in Tracts relative to the Island of St Helena, Alexander Beatson, London 1816
2. Major Charles Robert George Hodson (1779-1858) of St Helena Regiment, and Judge Advocate. The son in law of William Doveton, he was Town Major in 1811. Napoleon called on him in 1815, and he and his wife dined at Longwood in 1816. He was at Napoleon's burial and again at his exhumation. He attained the rank of Lt Colonel, retired to England and died in Bath.
3. Those detained pending being sent off the island were R.Kitchen, S. Cahill and T. Williams ofCaptain Cole's Company of Artillery; Jacob Desney, John Finnerty, John Grant, James Clark, Andrew Clarke, James Small,E. Richardson and E. Randalls of the Grenadier Company; D. Frazer, T. Sullivan, J. Kennelly, M. Maroney, John Hall, Nich. Coote, P. McGuire of the Light Company and J. Mackle, J. Ward and D. Finn.

Betsy Balcombe, Napoleon and the Briars

My life has been a chequered and a melancholy one ..- Betsy Balcombe (1802-1871)

Napoleon never ceased to be the preoccupation of my mother's life..suddenly thrown into close proximity with the most dramatic figure of the age, she was ill-prepared to withstand the resultant repercussions: glamorous, disturbing, intimate, even sinister . - daughter of Betsy Balcombe





Whilst still a baby Lucia Elizabeth Balcombe (known as Betsy) and her elder sister Jane were brought to St. Helena by her parents William and Jane Balcombe, and lived on the family's small estate at the Briars.(1) In subsequent years three brothers were born. Then, in 1815, when she was still only 13, Napoleon came to stay in the pavilion in the garden, and for her things would never be the same again.

Napoleon stayed a couple of months until his new home was ready. Living in close proximity to the Balcombe family was to be his happiest time on the island. When Napoleon left for Longwood Betsy was heartbroken, but was comforted by Napoleon's insistence that she should come and visit him at Longwood.

William Balcombe (portrait below) acted as a purveyor for Napoleon's household, and so the family were able to make frequent visits to Longwood House and to Mme Bertrand. In 1818 however, they left the island, ostensibly because of Mrs Balcombe's health, but at least in part because of Hudson Lowe's suspicions about William Balcombe's dealings with Napoleon. (2) Betsy was again in tears. For Napoleon this was one of a number of departures which increased his isolation. In saying goodbye he told them that he would surely die on the island he hated.



Balcombe's subsequent efforts to return to St. Helen were frustrated, and the family lived in very straitened circumstances in England. Finally, after agreeing to testify on Hudson Lowe's side in the anticipated court case with O'Meara (Napoleon's doctor), Lowe removed his objections to Balcombe's preferment, and he obtained a government post as Colonial Treasurer in New South Wales in 1823.

Betsy herself married Edward Abell at Exminster in May 1822 and they had a daughter. (3) Her husband soon deserted her and she left with her family for Australia. On the journey her sister Jane died.

William Balcombe remained in Australia until his death in 1829.


Her mother (portrait left) briefly returned to England with Betsy and Betsy's daughter, to petition the Government for a settlement; she was rewarded with £250 and promised government posts for her children. The three then returned to Australia.

Betsy and her daughter finally returned to England in 1834, but her mother and her three brothers remained in Australia for the rest of their lives.






The second son, Thomas Tyrwhitt Balcombe (b.1810) became a distinguished artist, but took his own life in October 1861 in his house in Paddington, New South Wales, which was appropriately named Napoleon Cottage. Betsy's youngest brother, Alexander Beatson Balcombe (b 1811), named after the governor of St Helena, became a successful landowner and gave the name "The Briars" to his house at Mount Martha near Melbourne.(3)

For Betsy the rest of her life was to be a struggle. She met Napoleon's brother Joseph and his nephew (soon to become Napoleon III), and in 1844 published her Recollections of the Emperor Napoleon . (5) She was later given a grant of land in Algeria, which she never visited, and died in gentile poverty in London.

The Recollections is a delightful read, although not a completely accurate historical record. I have included a number of extracts in the next section.

Betsy Balcombe and the Emperor

Those who have a preconceived view of Napoleon are likely to be as surprised by Betsy Balcombe's account of her friendship with Napoleon, as she herself was surprised when he failed to live up to the advance billing.

The name of Bonaparte was still associated, in my mind, with every thing that was bad and horrible.
I had heard the most atrocious crimes im-
puted to him ; and if I had learned to
consider him as a human being, I yet still
believed him to be the worst that had ever
existed. Nor was I singular in these feelings;
they were participated by many
much older and wiser than myself; I might
say, perhaps, by a majority of the English
nation. Most of the newspapers of the
day described him as a demon; and all
those of his own country who lived in Eng-
land were of course his bitter enemies ; and
from these two sources alone we formed our
opinion of him.

Over a quarter of a century later she reflected

I think his love of children, and the delight
he felt in their society, — and that,
too, at the most calamitous period of his
life, when a cold and unattachable nature
would have been abandoned to the indul-
gence of selfish misery, — in itself, speaks
volumes for his goodness of heart. After
hours of laborious occupation, he would
often permit us to join him, and that
which would have fatigued and exhausted
the spirits of others, seemed only to recruit
and renovate him. His gaiety was often
exuberant at these moments; he entered
into all the feelings of young people, and
when with them was a mere child, and, I
may add, a most amusing one.

Among her recollections is her brother Alexander sitting on Napoleon's knee and calling him "boney".

One day Alexander took up
a pack of cards, on which was the usual
figure of the Great Mogul. The child
held it up to Napoleon, saying, " See, Bony,
this is you." He did not understand what
my brother meant by calling him Bony.
I explained that it was an abbreviation —
the short for Bonaparte, but Las Cases inter-
preted the word literally, and said it meant
a bony person. Napoleon laughed and
said,. " Je ne suis pas osseux,"

She also recalls the story of old Huff:

This old man, since the arrival of Napo-
leon, had taken many strange fancies into
his brain ; among others, that he was des-
tined to restore the fallen hero to his pris-
tine glory, and that he could at any time
free him from thraldom. All argument
with this old man upon the folly of his
ravings was useless; he still persisted in
it, and it soon became evident that old
Huff was mad, and, though strictly watched,
he found an opportunity one fatal morning
to destroy himself. An inquest was held
on him .. and his body was ordered to be
interred in the spot where three cross roads
met. The nearest to the scene where the
act was committed was the road leadingr
to the Briars, and there they buried the
old man.

I had amongst many other follies a ter-
ror of ghosts, and this weakness was well
known to the emperor, who, for a consider-
able time after the suicide of poor Huff,
used to frighten me nearly into fits. Every
night, just before my hour of retiring to my
room, he would call out, " Miss Betsee, ole
Huff, ole Huff." The misery of those nights
I shall never forget ; I used generally to
fly out of my bed during the night, and
scramble into my mother's room, and re-
main there till morning's light dispelled
the terrors of darkness.

One evening, when my mother, my sis-
ter and myself were quietly sitting in the
porch of the cottage, enjoying the coolness
of the night breeze, suddenly we heard a
noise, and turning round beheld a figure in
white — how I screamed. We were then
greeted with a low gruff laugh, which my
mother instantly knew to be the emperor's.
She turned the white covering, and under-
neath appeared the black visage of a little
servant of ours, whom Napoleon had insti-
gated to frighten Miss Betsee, while he
was himself a spectator of the effect of his
trick.

The stories about Napoleon's romping with Betsy got back to Europe, inspired largely by reports by the French Commissioner, about whom nobody seems to have had a kind word to say:

After Napoleon had been on the island
a few months, some newspapers arrived
containing anecdotes of him, and all that
occurred during his stay at the Briars.
Amongst other sottises, was a letter written
by the Marquess de Montchenu, in which he
described all the romping games that had
taken place between Napoleon and our fa-
mily, such as blindman's buff, the sword
scenes, and ending his communication by
observing, that "Miss Betsee" was the
wildest little girl he had ever met ; and ex-
pressing his belief, that the young lady was
foue.

Napoleon offered her a present if she revenged herself by applying caustic to a pigtail on Montchenu's wig, a suggestion forbidden by her mother. On being told that she had followed her mother's advice Napoleon pinched her ear, and said, " Ah, Miss Betsee, tu commences à être sage ", and he gave her the present anyway.

One well known episode shows Betsy mocking Napoleon for his fall from power

I recollect exhibiting to Napoleon a cari-
cature of him in the act of climbing a ladder,
each step he ascended represented some
vanquished country ; at length he was seat-
ed astride upon the world. It was a famous
toy, and by a dexterous trick Napoleon ap-
peared on the contrary side tumbling down
head over heels, and after a perilous de-
scent, alighting on St. Helena. I ought
not to have shewn him this burlesque on
his misfortunes, but at that time I was
guilty of every description of mad action,
though without any intention of being un-
kind ; still I fear they were often deeply felt.

For this Betsy's father decided she should spend a week in a dark cellar:

the excavation swarmed with rats, that leaped
about me on all sides. I was half dead
with horror, and should most certainly
have been devoured alive by the vermin,
had I not in despair seized a bottle of
wine, and dashed it amongst my assailants;
finding that I succeeded in occasioning a
momentary panic, I continued to diminish
the pile of claret near me, and kept my
enemies at bay. As the first faint light of
morning dawned through my prison bars, I
was startled to perceive what my victory
would cost my father, for I was surrounded
by heaps of broken bottles, and rivulets of
wine, and either from exhaustion, or the
exhalation from the saturated ground of
the cellar, I was found by the slave who
brought me my breakfast in the morning,
in a state of stupor from which I was with
difficulty aroused. My father was too happy
at my escape to blame me for the means I
resorted to to preserve myself from my
hungry foes ; and I was forgiven my ill-
judged pleasantry to the emperor.

Today Mr Balcombe would surely have received a visit from a Social Worker! At least it is pleasing to know that Napoleon judged the punishment too harsh.

The latter [Napoleon] expressed regret at my severe punishment for so trifling an offence, but was much amused by my relation of the battle with the rats;

And so those of us with regard for historical truth await the forthcoming film of Betsy and the Emperor with some trepidation, although it will be interesting to see how Al Pacino plays Napoleon.

Postscript
Did William Doveton really take a coffin made of St Helena wood with him when he visited London in 1818 - just in case? And was the decision to give him a Knighthood only taken by the Prince Regent after a meeting with him? Or was Mrs Abell's memory letting her down in this case?
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1. There seems to be some uncertainty as to when the Balcombes arrived on St. Helena. usually it is put as 1807, but one recent source suggests he was there by 1805.

2. There was a lot of speculation that Balcombe was the natural son of a member of the Royal Family. Dame Mabel Brookes , great grandaughter of William Balcombe, suggests that although he and his brother spent a lot of time at Carlton House in their youth, they were actually sons of a naval officer lost at sea. Whatever the truth, William Balcombe was obviously well connected.

3. The date of this marriage is sometimes given as 28th May 1821, but a search of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Days Saints genealogical site gives the year as 1822. Her husband was apparently a former officer in the Madras Army, who had left in 1816. I have been unable to find out anything else about him.

4. The Briars is now a National Trust property and houses a museum of Napoleonic and early Australian history, See also Briars Park Mornington Peninsula. For useful information on the Balcombe family see Australian Dictionary of Biography

5. Mrs Abell, Recollections of the Emperor Napoleon is available online. The modern version, To Befriend an Emperor , edited by J. David Markham, has been reviewed by Tom Holberg for the Napoleonic Society. In the same series is an account of Napoleon's relationship with children on St Helena, which puts the friendship with Betsy in its proper context.

Sandy Bay St. Helena : The Emperor Napoleon's Last Outing

It is time to visit Sandy Bay, at the opposite end of the island from Jamestown.

The name itself might conjure up images of deck chairs, beaches, picnics and sand castles, but Kauffmann had prepared me for it:

Bones, pebbles, wreckage, mounds of seaweed lie on the black sand. ... All the gradations of black and grey are strewn in dull profusion.
(Kauffmann, Harvill Press 1999, p.219)

Somehow appropriate that this was the scene of the Emperor's last outing, although he viewed the sea only from the green, upper reaches of the bay.




On our way we buy some food for a picnic.

Small country shops seem a little easier to find on St. Helena than in the U.K.





The road from Hutts Gate goes through beautiful fertile countryside.

Soon though we are in a mountainous desert landscape.





















We park the car at the end of the tarmac road, and ask some workmen which of the two tracks leads to Sandy Bay.

"This is Sandy Bay" they reply.













According to a press release from the Chief Secretary's office, dated 2003, Sandy Bay Beach is being transformed into a tourist attraction.

While the beach will not end up being covered with white sand and the sea is not safe for swimming, the area has many interesting features to offer. These include fortifications, interesting walks, geological aspects and spectacular scenery. Now, trees are to be planted at the back to create shade and to help beautify the area.

The promised irrigation pipelines are in place, but some of the trees look as if they have given up the struggle


One of St. Helena's fire engines is parked down by the shore. This must be one of the last places on earth where a fire could do any damage.

After I have dipped my toes in the Atlantic we sit down to have our picnic, not as sumptuous as the one the Emperor had on that visit. My wife jumps up with a scream. A mouse jumps out of her bag, as frightened as she is.

Evidently there is some life down here.



On our way back we spot what looks like a dormer bungalow, and turns out to be Mount Pleasant, in the early nineteenth century the home of Sir William Doveton. (1) In those days it must almost certainly have been a two storey building.

This was the place which Napoleon visited on October 4th 1820 with Montholon and Bertrand. Apparently it has the most beautiful view of the bay.

They sipped champagne on that lawn, and invited Sir William Doveton and his family to share the meal they had brought with them. Sir William reported it all to Sir Hudson Lowe, who had not met Napoleon since 1816: the food and drink they had consumed; Napoleon's jokes about Sir William's alcohol intake which did not go down too well; Napoleon's physical appearance - apparently he was as fat as a Chinese pig.

He struggled to ride back on his horse, and was glad to be offered a carriage at Hutts gate. So he returned to Longwood House, never again to leave it.

Whatever temporary diversion his gardening had given him was over. He had been seriously ill in July. His entourage which had already been seriously reduced by the departure of Gourgaud, O'Meara, Mme Montholon and Las Cases, was now threatened with further loss. Montholon and Bertrand were talking of leaving: Fanny Bertrand hated the island - "The devil shat this rock when he passed from one world to the next" she is supposed to have said.

_______________________________________________________

(1) Sir William Doveton(1753-1843); magistrate and judge, the only St. Helenan resident ever to be knighted(in 1818). According to Las Cases Napoleon had visited here once before, January 3rd 1816: "As we were on the point of sitting down to dinner[at Plantation House], we were, to our great surprise, informed that the Emperor, in company with the Admiral, had just passed very near the gate of Plantation House; and one of the guests (Mr. Doveton of Sandy Bay) observed, that Napoleon had, in the morning honoured him with a visit, and spent three quarters of an hour at his house." (Memorial of St.Helena Vol I, Part II, p. 95)