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Napoleon’s Longwood letter has experts debating

A letter written by Napoleon at Longwood – in English – has set commentators off on a debate about whether he was any good at his captors’ language. The letter is tipped to fetch in the region of...

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Civil service versus the can-do culture: a governor’s view

In the third extract of an address to the Friends of St Helena, former governor Andrew Gurr reflects on the island’s emerging private sector, optimism and – just briefly – education. Read part one of...

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Slavery expert is to rescue island’s ancient archives

Unique St Helena records dating back more than 300 years are to be rescued from possible “catastrophic loss”. Many of the ancient documents in the archives at The Castle in Jamestown are already in...

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Airport supply ship set to make island history

History is set to be made on St Helena this Wednesday, when the Basil Read supply ship is due to be become the first cargo vessel ever to dock at the island. The finishing touches have been applied to...

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Napoleon seeks Friends

It had to happen: Napoleon Bonaparte, the Emperor of Longwood, has got a Facebook account. He calls himself Napoleone Buonaparte, but apart from failing to spell his name correctly in English, it’s the...

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Rebuilding lost steeple – next job for church fund-raisers?

After more than a decade of restoration efforts, a group of church fund-raisers are braced for their most ambitious project yet – to replace the missing steeple on Jamestown’s historic parish church....

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Who ‘disarmed’ the Boer War bomb in the tower?

In his column in the St Helena Independent, Julian Cairns-Wicks recalled the saga of the unexploded bomb that was discovered in the old round tower on Ladder Hill. But what happened to it? Here’s the...

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How Napoleon could have escaped exile by submarine: Smuggler ‘was offered...

Tom Johnson claimed he was offered £40,000 in 1820 to rescue Napoleon Emperor exiled by British to heavily-guarded St Helena after Waterloo loss Escape plan involved mechanical chair and Napoleon...

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Are there places more British than the UK?

The Falkland Islands are not the only far-off territory to still feel British, writes Vanessa Barford in the BBC News Magazine. While the world’s media focuses on the referendum on the Falklands, she...

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AUDIO: new St Helena Britannica is a tribute to island historian

The widow of the late St Helena historian, Trevor Hearl, has been presented with the first copy of a new book that brings together the results of his research over many years. Click here to listen to...

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RFA Darkdale: Mystery of the torpedo that failed to explode

The German submarine U-68 fired off four torpedoes at the RFA Darkdale, then sped quickly away to escape the attention of the gun crews positioned above Jamestown. The logbook recorded that all four...

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Revisit the stories of 2013

Click the pic for a month-by-month look back at the stories that made 2013 on St Helena and her sister islands – then follow the links for more detail. SEE ALSO: 2013 in picturesFiled under: Ascension,...

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Time-lapse videos recall historic landing

Look back to a key moment in St Helena’s airport project by watching two time-lapse videos of the NP Glory 4 becoming the first ocean-going ship ever to dock on the island, in July 2012. The first, by...

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Writer rescues Napoleon: was America ready for him?

What would the Americans made of Napoleon, had he escaped from St Helena and started a new (and longer) life in the young United States? The idea is explored in a debut historical novel by writer...

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Carnival honours the memory of St Helena exiles

The exile of Zulus and Boer War prisoners on St Helena has been commemorated in a carnival and march led by the premier of KwaZulu-Natal Province in South Africa. Before the event at Woodburn Stadium...

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No PE teacher? Appoint one of the pupils: first head recalls the challenges...

JOHN BIRCHALL has proud memories of his time setting up “a school like no other anywhere else in the world” on St Helena. He shared a few of them in a special assembly to mark on the 25th anniversary...

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The ‘merchant king’ suspected of intrigue with Napoleon

Saul Solomon founded a business empire that has dominated commercial life on St Helena for more than two centuries. He was also suspected of smuggling a silk ladder to Napoleon, to help him escape from...

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Lost Solomon’s deeds found after 160 years

For years, it had been believed that the deeds of several historic houses on St Helena had been destroyed by fire. But then someone pulled out a drawer from a desk in Jamestown, and made a most...

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Jonathan’s birthday… what ancient history never taught us

We hate to disappoint the newspaper readers of Holland, but Jonathan the Tortoise will not be celebrating his birthday on 7 February… regardless of what it may say on  the Wikipedia website. Since...

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Were there black prisoners in the Boer camps of St Helena?

Little is heard of the black Africans who lived and died in the prison camps of the Anglo Boer War. One man is engaged on a search for what traces remain – and he’s heading for St Helena. Twin Mosia is...

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