:: St Helena ancestry sources ::

SOURCES FOR ST HELENA ANCESTRY
by Rosemary Dixon-Smith

St. Helena, one of the South Atlantic islands, was discovered by the Portuguese in the early 1600s. The island was occupied by troops of the London East India Company between 1659 and 1836. In 1836, when St Helena became a Crown Colony, Company troops were replaced by regular British troops.

The island's most famous resident, Napoleon Bonaparte, died in enforced exile on St Helena in 1821.

In 1718 the population consisted of 542 whites and 411 slaves. By 1817 there were 821 white inhabitants and a garrison of 820. The rest of the population was made up of about 1500 slaves, over 600 indentured Chinese and 500 liberated blacks. After the abolition of slavery some freed slaves remained as settlers. Inter-marrying between the various groups on the island produced a mixed race of inhabitants. The degree of inter-marriage on St Helena complicates genealogical studies of its families.

Many St Helena islanders emigrated to other British colonies, including a high percentage to South Africa in various years. In 1871 the island's population was 5,838; this decreased to 3,342 in 1901. There are strong links historically-speaking between South Africa and St Helena. Numerous islanders came to South Africa as indentured servants, domestic workers etc.

Remember that the island was originally an English-speaking domain, and that the predominant religion was Anglican. The Diocese of St Helena falls under the Church of the Province of South Africa. Archives of the Diocese have been filmed and are held at the William Cullen Library, University of Witwatersrand. Contact Carol Archibald at Cullen Library Archibald.C@library.wits.ac.za Tel: 011 7171940 Fax 011 717 1927

In the late 1980s, South African archivist Anna Kotzé personally visited St Helena and transcribed baptisms, marriages and burials. Her book 'St Helena Journal' was published in SA in 1990 (ISBN 1 86814 180 2) and contains extracts of original registers including the burial of Napoleon at St James's Church on 9 May 1821. Another interesting set of records show the baptisms in the 1890s of the children of the Zulu King Dinizulu, who was held captive on St Helena by the British. Kotzé discovered some gaps in the years covered by the registers, notably between 1831-1833. Baptisms, which include those of slaves, go back to as early as 1680 and were indexed by the government archivist on the island, Cecil Maggott. Civil registration records date from 1852.

Explore the LDS (Mormon) Family History Library Catalogue for available films of St Helena records. The Catalogue is available on CD at LDS Family History Centres or can be accessed at www.familysearch.org

The National Archives, Kew, has numerous St Helena records, particularly under the Colonial Office (CO) classification. Check TNA's online catalogue for details. www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

The portal to St Helena online is http://www.archeion.talktalk.net/sthelena/ - an essential site for anyone researching St Helena ancestry, this offers some census records, passenger lists and much other information.

The Society of Genealogists, London, has wills and admons for St Helena 1706-1833, transcripts of monumental inscriptions from Anglican churchyards, and a useful staff list of the island for 1962 with birthdates and service records. www.sog.org.uk/sogcat/access/

Don't neglect the NAAIRS index, which includes many references to St Helena. www.national.archives.gov.za/

See Robin's Lists on Genealogy World for Names of Heads of Households from the 1814 Census of the Island of St Helena www.genealogyworld.net/robin/index.html

Some St Helena surnames featured in selected records include:

Doveton (see further reading below), Seale, Parker, Young, Paterson, George, Clarke, Ellis, Harrison, Truebody, Carrol, Solomon (Saul Solomon, born on St Helena in 1817, became one of Cape Town's MPs in the 1854 Parliament) Singer, Cumming, Slocum, Dallas, Pierie, Constantine, Walcott, Ricketts, Wrangham, Kay and many others.

FURTHER READING

Chaplin, A: A St Helena Who's Who: Or a Directory of the Island During the Captivity of Napoleon (1919)

Schulenberg, A H: St Helena: British Local History in the Context of Empire (in The Local Historian, 1998)

Cannan, E: Churches of the South Atlantic Islands 1502-1991 (1992)

Kitching, G C: Records of the island of St Helena (in American Archives vol 10, No 2 pp 151-171)

Carter, E: The Dovetons of St Helena (1973)

Pritchard, K J: The Pritchard Family in South Africa (1989)

Leask's Genealogical Guide to some Australian Families (1979) has pedigree of the Beale family of St Helena.

Street's Indian & Colonial Mercantile Directory (various years) has extensive name lists

Gray, R: Journals of two visitations in 1848 and 1850 (2nd ed London : Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1852) [Available at Killie Campbell Library, Durban]

Kilmurray, W: St. Helena : the prison of Napoleon and Cronje (1861) [Available at Killie Cambell Library]

Teale, P L: The island of St Helena (Durban, 1974 p. 127-130 article from: Chartered surveyor. - Vol. 107, no. 5 Dec 1974) [Available at Killie Campbell Library]

Teale, P L: Saint Helena : a history of the development of the island with special reference to building civil & military engineering works (Durban, 1972 Spine title: Saint Helena : a history of the island. Thesis (M.Arch)-University of Natal, Durban, 1972)

Curtis, H: A first list of the regiments stationed in Natal, South Africa, 1838-1914, and some reference to regiments stationed elsewhere in South Africa and St. Helena (London 1930) [Available at Killie Campbell Library]

Jackson, E L: St. Helena: the historic island (London: Ward, Lock) [Available at Killie Campbell Library]

Le Cordeur, B A: The Relations between the Cape and Natal, 1846-1879 and Agency and Island : John Company and the twilight years of the Cape- St. Helena trade, 1822-36 by Marcus Arkin (Pretoria : Govt. Printer, 1965 Archives year book of South African history 1965, vol 1) [Available at Killie Campbell Library]

Beatson, A: Tracts relative to the Island of St. Helena: written during a residence of five years (London : Nicol, 1816 "Illustrated with views engraved by Mr. William Daniell, from the drawings of Samuel Davis") [Available at Killie Campbell Library]

Langham-Carter, R.R.: Inter-marriages in some St. Helena families. Familia, vol. 19, no. 4, 1982, p. 92.94.

Snell, Glennis: Baptism: the Practice on St. Helena Island. Familia, vol. 41, no. 1, 2004, p. 27.

Snell, Glennis: My grandmother was a saint. Familia vol. 36, no. 3, 1999, p. 117-122.

FOOTNOTE:
Author Lawrence Green tells some fascinating tales of escape by sea from St Helena in his book 'South African Beachcomber'. Among the legends is one concerning Saul Solomon, who reportedly sent Napoleon a silken ladder rolled up in a teapot, presumably to aid the famous captive in an escape down the cliffs to a waiting boat. Another is that Napoleon is said to have planned a getaway by hiding in a cask, in which he was transported by accomplices to the windward side of the island, to be picked up by an American whaler. British troops examined the cask and the plot failed. These stories may have no foundation in fact, but the English East India Company were certainly not enthusiastic about Napoleon's incarceration on the island, believing that escape in a boat from anywhere along St Helena's lonely coastline would be easy.

There were successful escapes made at various times by deserting soldiers, slaves and by at least one Boer prisoner-of-war - a reminder that more than 5000 Boer POWs were interned on St Helena.

Rudyard Kipling wrote:
'How far is St Helena from the field of Waterloo?
A near way - a clear way - the ship will take you soon.
A pleasant place for gentlemen with little left to do.
(Morning never tries you till the afternoon!)'

Napoleon died in exile on St Helena in 1821, and was buried in St James's churchyard

Saul Solomon, born into a Jewish family on St Helena in 1817, later became an MP for Cape Town in 1854, serving until 1883. His election manifesto declared his 'opposition to all legislation tending to introduce distinctions either of class, colour or creed'. Among many business interests, he founded the printing firm of Saul Solomon & Co and was a founder of SA Mutual. Solomon died in Scotland in 1892.

Saul Solomon & Co established the South African Photographic Saloon in Cape Town in St George's Street, October 1863. Said to be the most up-to-date photographic studio in the country, "it was equipped with blue curtains so that the abundance of light on each side of the room could be subdued for the production of perfect portraits. So effective was this arrangement that good negatives could now be ensured at the first sitting. 'To see the interesting process of photography carried on under such favourable circumstances' wrote the Cape Argus 22 October 1863, 'will alone well repay a visit' ". ('Secure the Shadow' by Bull & Denfield). In 1861, Solomon & Co produced a photographic record of the visit of Prince Alfred to South Africa in 1860; these included photographs of paintings by Thomas Bowler and Thomas Baines.

Dinizulu, eldest son of Cetshwayo, exiled to St Helena 1890-1898. Several of his children were born on the island

The Trial of Dinuzulu - Transcribed from South Africa Magazine 5 December 1908 - by Ellen Stanton