72-585: Cornelis de Houtman (2 April 1565 – 11 September 1599) was a Dutch merchant seaman who commanded the first Dutch expedition to the East Indies . Although the voyage was difficult and yielded only a modest profit, Houtman showed that the Portuguese monopoly on the spice trade was vulnerable. A flurry of Dutch trading voyages followed, eventually leading to the displacement of the Portuguese and
144-614: A 191-year old tortoise, confirmed by the Guinness World Records to be the oldest living land animal. He toured the island, met residents, ceremonially opened the island's airport , and gave an address in the island's capital, Jamestown. Situated in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge , more than 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) from the nearest major landmass, Saint Helena
216-476: A Dutch trading expedition to the East Indies. Their initial inspiration had been the publication of a series of maps that appeared to show the route to the East Indies. These charts were provided by noted Dutch cartographer, Petrus Plancius , who indicated he had obtained them from Spain's royal cosmographer, Bartolomeo de Lasso. That same year, Pauw sent Houtman to Lisbon along with his brother Frederick. It
288-541: A decent profit by reselling it throughout Europe. However, in the 1590s Spain, which was at war with the Netherlands, was in a dynastic union with Portugal, thus making continued trade practically impossible. This was intolerable to the Dutch who would have been glad to circumvent the Portuguese monopoly and go straight to Indonesia, but the sailing directions needed in order to reach Indonesia were jealously guarded by
360-547: A legacy of former industry, but there are some original trees augmented by plantations, including those of the Millennium Forest project, which was established in 2002 to replant, particularly with indigenous gumwood , part of the lost Great Wood and is now managed by the Saint Helena National Trust . When the island was discovered, it was covered with unique indigenous vegetation, including
432-663: A merchant. His job was to confirm Plancius' charts and see if he could find any more information on the East Indies. Then, in September 1592, Jan Huyghen van Linschoten returned from an extended stay in Goa , India , and soon after, in collaboration with noted traveler Bernardus Paludanus , he published an account of his journeys that included a large amount of information on the East Indies that confirmed all of Plancius' charts and added more besides. In early 1594, de Houtman returned from Lisbon. The Amsterdam merchants now had all of
504-508: A remarkable cabbage tree species. The island's interior must have been a dense tropical forest but the coastal areas were probably also quite green. The modern landscape is very different, with widespread bare rock in the lower areas, although inland it is green, mainly due to introduced vegetation. There are no native land mammals, but cattle, cats, dogs, donkeys, goats, mice, rabbits, rats and sheep have been introduced. The dramatic change in landscape must be attributed to these introductions. As
576-649: A result, the string tree ( Acalypha rubrinervis ) and the Saint Helena olive ( Nesiota elliptica ) are now extinct, and many of the other endemic plants are threatened with extinction. Some 22 named rocks and islets are offshore: Castle Rock, Speery Island, the Needle, Lower Black Rock, Upper Black Rock (South), Bird Island (Southwest), Black Rock, Thompson's Valley Island, Peaked Island, Egg Island, Lady's Chair, Lighter Rock (West), Long Ledge (Northwest), Shore Island, George Island, Rough Rock Island, Flat Rock (East),
648-427: A stopping point on a longer journey to Europe". The number of ships calling at the island fell from 1,100 in 1855 to only 288 in 1889. On 11 April 1898, American Joshua Slocum , on his solo round-the-world voyage, arrived at Jamestown. He departed on 20 April 1898 for the final leg of his circumnavigation, having been extended hospitality by the governor, R. A. Sterndale . He presented two lectures on his voyage and
720-419: Is composed largely of rugged terrain of volcanic origin (the last volcanic eruptions occurred about 7 million years ago). Coastal areas are scattered with vegetation on volcanic rock and are warmer and drier than the centre. The highest point of the island is Diana's Peak at 818 m (2,684 ft). In 1996 it became the island's first national park . Much of the island is covered by New Zealand flax ,
792-409: Is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha , a remote British overseas territory . Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean , some 1,874 km (1,165 miles) west of mainland Africa, with Angola and Namibia being the closest nations, geographically. The island is located around 1,950 km (1,210 mi) west of
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#1732771904716864-574: Is outside the tropics 2,430 kilometres (1,510 mi) to the south. The island, in the Western Hemisphere , has the same longitude as Land's End (west Cornwall , England), and western Spain . For sharing several trading patterns , and climate effect traits, the island is grouped under West Africa /Africa in most projects, committees and papers of the United Nations . The island is 122 km (47 sq mi) in area, and
936-514: Is remote. The nearest port on the continent is Moçâmedes in southern Angola ; connections to Cape Town, South Africa are used for most shipping needs via the regular cargo ship that serves the island, the MS Helena . The island is on the same ridge as two other islands in the southern Atlantic, also British territories: Ascension Island , about 1,300 kilometres (810 mi) due north-west in more equatorial waters, and Tristan da Cunha , which
1008-466: Is unclear whether Houtman had legitimate business in Portugal or went primarily as a commercial spy to gather information about Portuguese spice trade in the East Indies. While they were gone, another Dutch merchant, Jan Huygen van Linschoten , returned to Amsterdam after spending almost nine years in Goa . He brought back extensive information about the region including crucial details on navigation and
1080-455: The Duifje . All told, there were 248 officers and men on the expedition. The ship's government was to be carried out by a Ships' Council consisting of the skippers of the ships, merchants who were assigned to each ship, and a few others. Some had preferred status, allowing them to speak first on an issue and break a tie; Cornelis de Houtman was one of these. Before the ships left, all of
1152-472: The Bantamese to raise their prices to absurdly high levels. They were also denied access to water, and when some of them went to Sumatra to get more, a number of men, including de Houtman, were captured and held until ransomed. De Houtman, by this time, was the de facto leader of the expedition, most of his opponents having been either killed or disgraced by this time. After being ransomed, he bombarded
1224-623: The Dutch also began to frequent the island. The Portuguese and Spanish soon gave up regularly calling at the island, partly because they used ports along the West African coast, but also because of attacks on their shipping, the desecration of their chapel and religious icons, killings of their livestock, and destruction of their plantations by Dutch pirates. The Dutch Republic formally claimed Saint Helena in 1633, although no evidence indicates they ever occupied it. The Dutch lost interest in
1296-649: The Indian subcontinent in 1502. For about four centuries, the island was an important stopover for ships between Europe and Asia while sailing around the African continent before the opening of the Suez Canal . Saint Helena is the United Kingdom 's second-oldest overseas territory after Bermuda . Until the opening of its airport in 2017, the primary method of reaching Saint Helena was a 6-day journey by sea on
1368-684: The Malacca Strait , which was controlled by the Portuguese, but through Sunda Strait . De Houtman was introduced to the Sultan of Banten, who promptly entered into an optimistic treaty with the Dutch, writing "We are well content to have a permanent league of alliance and friendship with His Highness the Prince Maurice of Nassau, of the Netherlands and with you, gentlemen." The local Portuguese traders became very suspicious when De Houtman did not buy any black pepper, and wanted to wait on
1440-523: The RMS St Helena . Saint Helena is known for being the site of Napoleon 's second exile, following his final defeat in 1815. According to long-established tradition, the island was sighted on 21 May 1502 by the four ships of the 3rd Portuguese Armada , commanded by João da Nova , a Galician navigator in the service of Portugal, during his return voyage to Lisbon, who named it Santa Helena after Saint Helena of Constantinople . This tradition
1512-415: The 248 sailors had died, most of scurvy. The Madagascan bay where they were anchored is now known as the Dutch cemetery. After the death of one of the skippers, quarrels broke out among the captains and traders, one was imprisoned on board and locked up in his cabin. In June 1596, the ships finally arrived at Banten , a northwestern port at Java . Jan Huyghen van Linschoten had told them not to pass through
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#17327719047161584-701: The British Overseas Territory was renamed Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha . In 2021, a ministerial system was introduced in Saint Helena after UK's approval of a constitutional amendment. In January 2024, Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh visited the island. "Prince Edward is the first royal trip to the island since Princess Anne , the Princess Royal visited in 2002. Other royal guests include King George VI , Queen Elizabeth II , Prince Philip , Princess Margaret and The Queen Mother ." While there, he visited Jonathan,
1656-789: The British government selected Saint Helena as the place of exile for Napoleon Bonaparte , after the Battle of Waterloo , his second abdication (on 22 June 1815) and his final surrender, to Captain Frederick Maitland , on HMS Bellerophon (15 July 1815). He was taken to the island in October 1815. Napoleon stayed at the Briars pavilion , on the grounds of the Balcombe family 's home, until his permanent residence at Longwood House
1728-416: The British parliament passed legislation to abolish slavery in the colonies. Between 1791 and 1833, Saint Helena became the site of a series of experiments in conservation, reforestation, and attempts to boost rainfall artificially. This environmental intervention was closely linked to the conceptualisation of the processes of environmental change and helped establish the roots of environmentalism. Under
1800-579: The Cape, carrying passengers both ways and supplies of wine and provisions back to the island. Napoleon praised Saint Helena's coffee during his exile on the island, and the product enjoyed a brief popularity in Paris in the years after his death. The importation of slaves to Saint Helena was banned in 1792. In 1818, the governor freed children born of slaves on the island. The phased emancipation of over 800 resident slaves took place in 1827, some six years before
1872-697: The Dutch would fully take over the spice trade in and around the Indian Ocean. On his second trip to the East in 1599, for a different company, De Houtman and his troops arrived in Aceh . The Sultan accepted him peacefully until de Houtman insulted him. He had already clashed with the Banten Sultanate in northwest Java before his arrival in Aceh, and, feeling arrogant, escalated the situation by challenging
1944-672: The EIC received a royal charter , giving it the sole right to fortify and colonise the island. The fort was renamed James Fort and the town was called Jamestown , in honour of the Duke of York , later King James II . Between January and May 1673, the Dutch East India Company seized the island, but British reinforcements restored EIC control. The island was fortified with about 230 gun turrets. The British government sent some settlers and gave them land that they could farm, but
2016-446: The Portuguese ships arriving at Saint Helena in the period 1502–1613. The Portuguese found the island uninhabited, with an abundance of trees and fresh water. They imported livestock, fruit trees, and vegetables, and built a chapel and one or two houses. The long tradition that João da Nova built a chapel from one of his wrecked carracks has been shown to be based on a misreading of the records. They formed no permanent settlement, but
2088-519: The Portuguese. However, in 1592 the cartographer Petrus Plancius published a series of charts showing, in exact detail, the route to the Indies. Soon after these charts were published, three Amsterdam merchants began meeting in secret, plotting an expedition to Indonesia. Their names were Jan Jansz Carel , Hendrick Hudde , and Reynier Pauw . One of the first things these men did was to send Pauw's cousin, Cornelis de Houtman , to Lisbon, posing as
2160-671: The Spanish in 1500, before either João da Nova or Estêvão da Gama sailed for India. The suggestion that da Nova discovered Tristan da Cunha and named it Saint Helena is discounted. A 2015 paper notes that 21 May is the feast day of St Helena in the Eastern Orthodox and most Protestant churches, but the Roman Catholic one is in August, and the day and the month were first quoted in 1596 by Jan Huyghen van Linschoten , who
2232-631: The Sultan. This led to his defeat at the hands of the first woman admiral in modern world, Admiral Keumalahayati , and her Inong Balee Army. English Dutch First Dutch Expedition to the East Indies The First Dutch Expedition to the East Indies (Dutch: Eerste Schipvaart ) was an expedition that took place from 1595 to 1597. It was instrumental in opening up the Indonesian spice trade to
Cornelis de Houtman - Misplaced Pages Continue
2304-514: The city with cannon fire and raided several spice-carrying ships coming into Bantam from Banda and Borneo . Outraged, the Bantamese, sent men throughout the surrounding islands, warning them about the Dutch. At Sidayu , near Surabaya , the ships were boarded by natives and twelve men were killed in the ensuing battle, including the skipper of the Amsterdam . Soon after, at Madura , when
2376-402: The coast of southwestern South Africa , and 4,000 km (2,500 mi) east of Rio de Janeiro , Brazil. Saint Helena measures about 16 by 8 km (10 by 5 mi) and has a population of 4,439 per the 2021 census. It was named after Helena, mother of Constantine I . It is one of the most remote major islands in the world and was uninhabited when discovered by the Portuguese enroute to
2448-454: The company found it hard to attract enough settlers, despite advertisements in London and free tracts of land. By 1670, the population was only 66, including slaves. Also unrest and rebellion occurred among the inhabitants. Ecological problems, such as deforestation, soil erosion, vermin, and drought, led Governor Isaac Pyke to suggest in 1715 that the population be moved to Mauritius , but that
2520-466: The company import workers from China to supplement the rural workforce. Many were allowed to stay, and their descendants became integrated into the population. In 1810, Chinese labourers began arriving, and by 1818, there were 650 in St Helena. An 1814 census recorded 3,507 people on the island. Many of the labourers were allowed to stay, though the need for their services had reduced by 1836. In 1815,
2592-583: The diversion of Far East trade away from the traditional South Atlantic shipping lanes to a route via the Red Sea (which, prior to the building of the Suez Canal , involved a short overland section). In 1840, a British naval station established to suppress the Atlantic slave trade was based on the island, and between 1840 and 1849, over 15,000 freed slaves, known as "Liberated Africans", were landed there. In 1858, French emperor Napoleon III purchased, in
2664-538: The establishment of a Dutch monopoly on spice trading in the East Indies. Cornelis de Houtman was born in 1565 in Gouda, South Holland . His father, Pieter de Houtman, was a brewer. Cornelis had a younger brother, Frederick de Houtman , born in 1571 and two sisters. In 1592, Houtman's wealthy cousin, Reynier Pauw, and several other prosperous merchants in Amsterdam formed a company, Compagnie van Verre , to finance
2736-523: The government took over control of the education system. The first secondary school opened in 1946. The American construction of Wideawake Airfield generated numerous jobs for St Helena; the sale of flax for rope also generated revenue for the island. However, the industry declined after 1951 because of transport costs and competition from synthetic fibres. The decision in 1965 by the British Post Office to use synthetic fibres for its mailbags
2808-556: The information they needed, and they set about raising capital to fund the expedition. They recruited six other merchants and with them formed the Far-distance Company : Pieter Hasselaer , Jan Poppen , Hendrick Buick , Dirk van Os , Syvert Sem , and Arend ten Grootenhuys . The Company was able to raise 290,000 guilders , and used it to build and equip four ships: the Mauritius , Amsterdam , Hollandia , and
2880-548: The island after establishing their colony at the Cape of Good Hope . In 1657, Oliver Cromwell granted the East India Company (EIC) a charter to govern Saint Helena. The following year, the company decided to fortify the island and settle it with planters. A theory, which had its origins in the early 20th century, that the early settlers included many who had lost their homes in the 1666 Great Fire of London ,
2952-551: The island in 1775 on the final leg of his second circumnavigation of the world. St. James' Church was built in Jamestown in 1774, and Plantation House in 1791–1792; the latter has since been the official residence of the governor. Edmond Halley visited Saint Helena on leaving the University of Oxford in 1676, and set up an astronomical observatory with a 7.3-metre-long (24 ft) aerial telescope , intending to study
Cornelis de Houtman - Misplaced Pages Continue
3024-473: The island on 12 May 1589, he reported seeing carvings made by visiting seamen on a fig tree that were dated as early as 1510. The Portuguese probably planted saplings rather than mature trees, and for these to be sufficiently large by 1510 to carry carvings suggests the plants were shipped to the island and planted there some years earlier, possibly within a few years of discovery. A third discovery story, told by 16th-century historian Gaspar Correia , holds that
3096-554: The island was an important rendezvous point and source of food for ships travelling by the Cape Route from Asia to Europe, and frequently sick mariners were left on the island to recover before taking passage on the next ship to call at the island. Visits by British explorers followed and, once Saint Helena's location was more widely known, British ships of war began to lie in wait in the area to attack Portuguese India carracks on their way home. In developing their Far East trade,
3168-425: The island was found by Portuguese nobleman and warrior Dom Garcia de Noronha , who sighted the island on his way to India in late 1511 or early 1512. His pilots entered the island onto their charts, and this event likely led to the island being used as a regular stopover for rest and replenishment for ships en route from India to Europe, from that date until well into the 17th century. An analysis has been published of
3240-595: The island would be governed by a governor, a commander-in-chief, and an elected executive and legislative council. In 2002, the British Overseas Territories Act 2002 granted full British citizenship to the islanders and renamed the dependent territories (including Saint Helena) the British Overseas Territories. In 2009, The St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Constitution Order 2009 gave all three equal status;
3312-462: The island's king. They managed to obtain a few pots of peppercorns on 26 February 1597. Two of the crewmembers stayed on the island. At Bawean one of the ships, the Amsterdam was purposely set on fire, and the crew divided over the other three ships. When the sailors had enough of the exhausting voyage, it was decided not to go to the Moluccas and return to Holland. That evening another one of
3384-629: The merchants that eventually formed the Dutch East India Company , and marked the end of the Portuguese Empire 's dominance in the region. During the 16th century the spice trade was extremely lucrative, but the Portuguese Empire had a stranglehold on the source of the spices, Indonesia. For a time, the merchants of the Netherlands were content to accept this and buy all of their spice in Lisbon , Portugal, as they could still make
3456-672: The name of the French government, Longwood House and the lands around it, the last residence of Napoleon I (who died there in 1821; his remains had been returned to France in 1840.) It is still French property, administered by a French representative and under the authority of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs . A 2020 report states that the island's prosperity ended after 1869 when "the Suez Canal shifted trade routes north". A 2019 report explained that "ships no longer needed
3528-676: The navigators were trained by Petrus Plancius. The chief navigator was Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser . The fleet sailed from the port of Texel on April 2, 1595. They made good time at first, passing the Canary Islands on April 26 and landing at the Isla de Mayo on April 19, but soon the wind died, and they were able to make only slow progress. They did not cross the equator until June 4, and did not sight Africa until August 2. In October, they landed at Madagascar , where they were forced to stay for six months, losing many men to illness; by
3600-474: The next harvest. Unfortunately, De Houtman was undiplomatic and insulting to the sultan, and was turned away for "rude behaviour", without being able to buy spices at all. The ships then sailed east to Madura , but were attacked by pirates on the way. In Madura, they were received peacefully, but De Houtman ordered his men to brutally attack and rape the civilian population in revenge for the unrelated earlier piracy. The ships then sailed for Bali , and met with
3672-404: The notables were Piet Cronjé and his wife after their defeat at the Battle of Paardeberg . The resulting population reached an all-time high of 9,850 in 1901. By 1911, however, that had declined to 3,520 people. In 1906, the British government withdrew the garrison; the island's economy suffered when spending by the soldiers stopped. A local industry manufacturing fibre from New Zealand flax
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#17327719047163744-524: The other crown colonies as British Dependent Territories . For the next 20 years, many could find only low-paid work with the island government, and the only available employment outside Saint Helena was on the Falkland Islands and Ascension Island . The Development and Economic Planning Department (which still operates) was formed in 1988 to contribute to raising the living standards of the people of Saint Helena. The Commission on Citizenship
3816-659: The protection of vessels of the Royal Navy . James Cook ’s ship HMS Endeavour anchored and resupplied off the coast of Saint Helena in May 1771 on its return from the European discovery of the east coast of Australia and the rediscovery of New Zealand. The British brought an estimated 25,000 slaves from west Africa to the island, in addition to the 3,000,000 they transported to the New World. The importation of slaves
3888-486: The provisions of the 1833 India Act, control of Saint Helena passed from the EIC to the British Crown, and it became a crown colony . Subsequent administrative cost-cutting triggered a long-term population decline; those who could afford to do so tended to leave the island for better opportunities elsewhere. The latter half of the 19th century saw the advent of steamships not reliant on trade winds , as well as
3960-468: The royal family sailed out to meet to Dutch, the Amsterdam opened fire, killing the prince, the priest, and many others. At this point, the entire expedition was on the brink of disaster. Only 94 of the original 248 men were still alive, and the leaders were split into two factions, one led by de Houtman and the other by Jan Meulenaer , who disagreed on where the fleet should go next. When Meulanaer suddenly died under mysterious circumstances, de Houtman
4032-544: The same year. Although the expedition did not bring back as much as expected – 245 bags of pepper, 45 tons of nutmeg, and 30 bales of mace – spice prices had become so inflated that the expedition was still profitable. All in all, the voyage suffered from bad leadership, but was still instrumental in opening up the East Indies to the Dutch. Saint Helena Saint Helena ( / ˌ s ɛ n t ( h ) ɪ ˈ l iː n ə , ˌ s ɪ n t -, s ə n t -/ , US : / ˌ s eɪ n t -/ )
4104-493: The skippers died. De Houtman was accused of poisoning him. Portuguese ships prevented them from taking on water and supplies at Saint Helena . Out of the 249 men crew, only 87 returned, too weak to moor their ships themselves. Though the trip was a humanitarian disaster and financially probably just broke even, it was a symbolic victory. It may be regarded as the start of the Dutch colonisation of Indonesia. Within five years, 65 more Dutch ships had sailed east to trade. Soon,
4176-442: The spice trade. The merchants determined that Bantam provided the best opportunity to buy spices. On 2 April 1595, four ships left Amsterdam: the Mauritius , Amsterdam , Hollandia , and the Duifje . The voyage was beset with trouble from the beginning. Scurvy broke out after only a few weeks, due to insufficient provisions. At Madagascar , where a brief stop was planned, seventy-one people had to be buried. The 71 of
4248-646: The stars of the Southern Hemisphere . The site of this telescope is near Saint Mathew's Church at Hutt's Gate in the Longwood district. The 680-metre-high (2,230 ft) hill there is called Halley's Mount. Throughout that period, Saint Helena was an important port of call of the EIC . East Indiamen would stop there on the return leg of their voyages to British India and China. At Saint Helena, ships could replenish supplies of water and provisions and, during wartime, form convoys that would sail under
4320-479: The time they left, 71 men had died. Among the dead was the skipper of the Hollandia , Jan Dignumsz. His death set off a bitter feud over who would succeed that ended only when one of the officers, Gerrit van Beuningen , was put in irons for the remainder of the voyage. In June 1596, the fleet reached Bantam ( Banten ), Java but were received poorly due to the machinations of the Portuguese, who persuaded
4392-526: Was "too raucous with its taverns and brothels", St Paul's Cathedral was built outside the town. Eighteenth-century governors tried to tackle the island's problems by planting trees, improving fortifications, eliminating corruption, building a hospital, tackling the neglect of crops and livestock, controlling the consumption of alcohol, and introducing legal reforms. The island enjoyed a lengthy period of prosperity from about 1770. Captain James Cook visited
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#17327719047164464-650: Was a further blow, contributing to the closure of the island's flax mills in 1965. From 1958, the Union-Castle shipping line gradually reduced its service calls to the island. Curnow Shipping, based in Avonmouth , replaced the Union-Castle Line mailship service in 1977, using the RMS St ;Helena , which was introduced in 1989. The British Nationality Act 1981 reclassified Saint Helena and
4536-467: Was completed in December 1815. He died there on 5 May 1821. Following Napoleon's death, the soldiers and other temporary residents linked to his presence on the island were withdrawn and the EIC resumed full control of Saint Helena. Between 1815 and 1830, the EIC made the packet schooner St Helena available to the government of the island, which made multiple trips per year between the island and
4608-476: Was established in 1992, restoring the islanders' rights including the right of abode. In 2002, the right to British citizenship was restored. In 1989, Prince Andrew launched the replacement RMS St Helena to serve the island; the vessel was specially built for the Cardiff – Cape Town route and featured a mixed cargo/passenger layout. The Saint Helena Constitution took effect in 1989, and provided that
4680-399: Was invited to Longwood by the French consular agent. By the end of 1899, St Helena was connected to London by undersea cable; this allowed for telegraph communication. In 1900 and 1901, over 6,000 Boer prisoners were held on the island, during the Second Anglo-Boer War . A 2019 report stated, "no traces remain of the two POW camps", but added, "the Boer Cemetery is a poignant spot". Among
4752-509: Was made illegal in 1792, but the horrific conditions of slavery on St Helena were not abolished until 27 May 1839, when the 'Ordinance For the Abolition of Slavery in the Island of St Helena' was enacted. Rupert's Valley was the embarkation area for slaves; in 2008, when the road to the airport was being built, over 9,000 skeletal remains of slaves were uncovered in a mass burial area. They were reburied en masse in 2022 without ceremony of any kind. Governor Robert Patton (1802–1807) recommended that
4824-461: Was not acted upon. The company continued to subsidise the community because of the island's strategic location. A census in 1723 recorded 1,110 inhabitants, including 610 slaves. In the peak era, about 1,000 ships per year stopped there, leaving the governor to try to police the numerous visitors and to limit the consumption of arrack , a distilled alcoholic drink made from potatoes. There were two mutinies, perhaps fueled by alcohol. Because Jamestown
4896-425: Was probably mistaken, because the island was discovered several decades before the Reformation and the start of Linschoten's Protestant faith. An alternative discovery date of 3 May is suggested as being historically more credible; it is the Catholic feast day of the finding of the True Cross by Saint Helena in Jerusalem , and cited by Odoardo Duarte Lopes and Sir Thomas Herbert . When Linschoten arrived at
4968-550: Was reviewed by a 2022 paper which concluded that the Portuguese chronicles published at least fifty years after the sighting are the sole primary source for the discovery. Although contradictory in describing other events, these chronicles almost unanimously claim that João da Nova found Saint Helena sometime in 1502, although none of them gives a precise date. However, there are several reasons to doubt that da Nova made this discovery: The 2022 paper also reviews cartographic evidence that Saint Helena and Ascension were known to
5040-461: Was seized and put on trial by the Ships' Council. On grounds of insufficient evidence, he was released, but by this time the Amsterdam was in such bad condition that it had to be set adrift and burnt. The fleet was in such bad shape that it was decided to head south, making one last stop at Bali , and then sail back to the Netherlands. The crew found Bali to be quite amiable, and set sail for home on February 26, 1597, reaching Texel on August 14 of
5112-429: Was shown to be a myth in 1999. The first governor, Captain John Dutton, arrived in 1659, making Saint Helena one of Britain's earliest colonies outside Europe, North America and the Caribbean. A fort and houses were built: Jamestown had been founded, "in the narrow valley between steep cliffs". After the Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in the kingdoms of England , Scotland and Ireland took place in 1660,
5184-667: Was successfully re-established in 1907 and generated considerable income during the First World War . Ascension Island was made a dependency of Saint Helena in 1922, and Tristan da Cunha followed in 1938. During the Second World War , the United States built Wideawake Airport on Ascension in 1942, but no military use was made of Saint Helena except maintenance of its defences. Attendance at school became mandatory in 1942, for ages 5 to 15 in 1941, and
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