Download "The Annals of Tristan da Cunha
1900
April:
The German ship M.C. Rickmers visits Tristan. The landing party ascertains a population of 63 souls.
September:
The British ship Wölfänger (?) calls at Tristan. It reports a population of 18 families.
October:
It appears that on the first days of this month the yacht Kwasinel (formerly the New York pilot-boat Elbridge T. Gerry) sailed from New Orleans, La., to search for treasure said to had been buried by pirates on Tristan or on Nightingale Island. On board was a certain Charles A. Spenny, who returned to New Orleans with a chest filled with bullion. He never let anybody know where the chest has been found, whether on Tristan, or in Nightingale Island: Some people considered the finding of this treasure a hoax, while some others relate the possibility on what is known about Capt. William H. Summers and his first mate Henderson.
December 25:
The whaling ship President , (Capt. Enos with Mrs. Enos, a native of St. Helena and old friend of many Islanders), calls at Tristan. They find a population of eighteen families and barter some goods. Over twenty men and boys went on board the President : Peter W. Green, the headman; continues to act as patriarch of the Community. At the time of Capt. Enos' visit the islanders had only a half barrel of flour. The British ship Lemorna calls at Tristan, from Montevideo to Melbourne, with the object of ascertaining whether there were any shipwrecked mariners temporarily residing ashore with the islanders. Seventeen islanders, on two canvas boats board the ship, led by Thomas Hill Rogers.
1901
November 19
H.M.S. Beagle calls at Tristan. Her Captain, H.V.Elliott goes ashore and finds a population of 74 souls, divided into 19 men, 26 women and 29 children, comprised in eighteen families. The "Governor" Peter W.Green is about 94 years old and mentally and physically very weak. Among various items of Capt. Elliott´s report we read:
"The inhabitants are in want of a telescope and a copy of the new "International Signal Book" The children's schooling is undertaken by Mrs. Swain, a widow who also on Sundays conducts a short service. The Islanders have livestock of about 500 head of cattle, 600 sheep and 50 pigs. They also have five boats. In the event of Peter W. Green's death a Mr. Samuel Swain, brother of Mrs. Swain, and as the oldest resident of the island would probably be looked upon as a leading man. Communication with passing vessels has been rather more frequent of late; in the last 12 months about 8 vessels were communicated with..."
November 21:
The Beagle steams away after unloading the stores destined for the island by the Board of Trade (See Dec. 21, 1899), consisting of various things, from grindstones to underwear, petticoats, books, seeds, peppers, tea, flour, etc., for a sum of £120.
1902
July 16
The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel informs Mr. J.Chamberlain of the Colonial Office that:
"After much trouble we have secured a clergyman for Tristan da Cunha. He is married, and the two after having had every difficulties put before them, are prepared to go out. We hope that a passage would be granted at The Cape, on board of one of H.M. Ships."
August 6:
The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel informs the Colonial Office that
"...the clergyman of which we had the honour to inform you with our[letter] of July 16 ult., has now declined to go there [to Tristan da Cunha] and at present we have no one else in view..."
December
During this month only one ship calls at Tristan.
1903
January 2:
An American sailing vessel communicates with the islanders.
January 5:
A steamer passes in sight of Tristan. Some Islanders get alongside but she refuses to stop.
January 12:
An American sailing ship heaves to in sight of Tristan.The Islanders do some bartering.
January 20:
An American sailing ship calls at Tristan. Some of her crew land for a few hours and take photographs.
January 26:
Another American sailing ship calls at Tristan, but no-one lands
January 28:
H.M.S. Thrush (Capt. H.L. Watts-Jones), calls at Tristan. The Captain, accompanied by Dr. F.F. Lobb, the ship's surgeon, lands to visit the settlement. They are soon informed of the death of the "governor" Peter W. Green (see December 1901) who represented for the Islanders the venerable patriarchof ages gone. In his report, Captain Watts-Jones, states:
"We found a population of 76 people, so constituted: 20 men (one cripple), 9 married women, 8 widows of over 55 years old, 1 single old woman, 6 unmarried young women, 16 male and 16 female children. All divided in 17 families. The two Islanders Andrew Repetto and Gaetano Lavorello with their own families are probably the best educated people on the Island. I baptized eighteen children, and the surgeon attended to a good many of the colony.They have 700 sheep, 100 donkeys, six boats: the service whaler sent by the President in 1897and five canvas canoes. The Island may in the future have a value, should a large carrying trade be established between South America and the Cape, as intermediate station for wireless telegraphy .No arrivals or departures since the Beagle´s visit"
January 30:
At dawn H.M.S. Thrush leaves the Island and takes on board as passage to the Cape the following Islanders:
Thomas Swain, son Sammy Swain,
Joe Beetham, nephew of Mrs. B. Cotton, 77 years old;
Frank and Charles Green, sons of Lucy Green and nephews of Peter W. Green
and William son of Peter W. Green and Martha Green.
January 30:
This is a list of the Islanders who said they would like to leave the island., unconditionally:
Mrs A.M. Hagan, widow, 56, daughter of Peter W. Green, and his daughter Mary;
Rebecah Swain, 27, daughter of Susan Swain and Sammy Swain, unmarried;
Charlotte Swain, 18, daughter of Susan Swain and Sammy Swain, unmarried;
Joseph Hagan, son of Mrs. Eliza Hagan, widow;
Thomas Rogers, son of Mrs. Rogers;Benjamin Swain, son of Mrs. Sammy Swain (cripple);
List of the people who do not wish to leave the Island:
Mr. Gaetano Lavarello, married, wife and four children;
Mrs. Caroline Swain, 74, unmarried;
Mrs. Eliza Hagan, 72, widow;
Lavarello afterwards said he supposed he should have to leave if others did.
List of the people, who wished to leave the island., if they could receive compensation or realise on their stock:
Henry Green, wife and four children: Stock 50 cattle, 50 sheep
John Glass and his mother : Stock 50 cattle, 50 sheep
Andrea Repetto, wife and five childre: Stock 12 cattle, 20 sheep
William Rogers, wife and two children: Stock 15 cattle, 23 sheep
Sammy (Samuel) Swain, wife and six daughters: Stock 40 cattle, 40 sheep
R.S. Swain, wife and two children: Stock 10 cattle, 22 sheep
William Swain: Stock 20 cattle, 40 sheep
Albert Green for Mrs.Lucy Green, his mother : Stock 30 cattle, 60 sheep
Albert Green for himself: Stock 20 cattle, 30 sheep
Thomas Rogers answering for Mrs.Rogers: Stock 20 cattle, 30 sheep
Miss Elizabeth Cotton: Stock 90 cattle, 72 sheep
Robert Green, wife and four children: Stock 20 cattle, 30 sheep
Andrea Hagan, wife and two children: Stock 20 cattle, 30 sheep
Andrew Swain, wife and five children: Stock 20 cattle, 30 sheep
Mrs. Susan Swain, widow, seven in family, not ascertained.
On the Island there are four families of Swains, totalling 26 persons, without counting Mrs. Swain, 74, living with the Glass family; and four families of Greens totalling 16 persons.
We unloaded 33 cases of stores, 130 lbs. of flour, rice, sugar, chocolate, peppermint, castor oil , epsom salts, a telescope etc.
February 23:
On this date A.W. Moore, Rear-Admiral Commander-in-Chief on the Cape of Good Hope Station, writes to the Lords of the Admiralty:
"Though it may not at present be marked, there seems little doubt the Islanders [at Tristan daCunha] must suffer eventually from the conditions under which they live, and their removal is, I consider, but a question of time, and should, in fairness tothe people, be undertaken before they become less well fitted from a mental and moral standpoint to start elsewhere....It is very desirable a decision in the matter...in order that they may remain no longer than is necessary in any doubtas to their future..."
February (day?):
Joe Beetham, one of the Islanders who went to the Cape aboard H.M.S. Thrush (see above) to secure a schooner for use in the cattle trade with Tristan and the Continent, abandoned the scheme for reasons unknown, and returned to his ancestral home in the U.S.A
September:
Lord Joseph Chamberlain, then Secretary of State for the British Colonies, in a dispatch to the Governor of the Cape, suggests the removal of all the inhabitants of Tristan to the Cape, and that the Island be annexed - as a territory - to the jurisdiction of the Cape Colony.
December 25:
Ellen Mary Swain, 12 years old, one of the brightest island girls, daughter of Samuel Swain (Snr) & Lucy Swain, suffering asthma, dies of dropsy. James Farber, an American, while on a trip aboard a sailing ship from Santos (Brazil) to Adelaide (South Australia), lands with some of his crew on Tristan and spends few hours on the settlement among the Islanders. The ship remains there three days, in a stationary position without dropping anchor, about three miles offshore:
"An old man by the name of Swain was atthat time the legal head or patriarch, of the community, consisting of approximately 90 or 95 souls. We exchanged, for young pigs, chickens, vegetables and a variety of sea-birds, old clothes, old iron, nails, sugar, flour, matches and writing material...It was interesting to note that at that time these people did not smoke, or chew so had no use for tobacco offered them..."
1904
January 22:
The English four-masted ship Crown of Germany arrives at Tristan; whose inhabitants wish all to be reported well.
January 23:
H.M.S. Odin . (Capt. H. Pearce), calls at Tristan, in accordance with the suggestion of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Lord J.Chamberlain. On board was Mr. William Hammond Tooke who was commissioned by the Cape Government to make the following offer to the Islanders:
"Should all the inhabitants wish to leave the Island, the Cape and Home Governments would provide them with a free passage, purchase their live stock from them and settle them within 100 miles of Cape Town, allowing them about two acres of land onrent, and would advance them money on loan to start their homes...They would be near the sea coast, where they would be able to start fisheries to supply the people of Cape Town...and that in future they could not rely on a yearly visit from a man-of-war-"
January 24:
Captain Pearce,. Tooke and officers of the Odin went ashore and Mr. Tooke, assembling all the Islanders, makes known to them the proposals of the Cape and Home Governments, giving them 24 hours to decide. On the first day, N.W.S.H. Sequoia, the ship´s surgeon, vaccinated 20 children and the Captain baptised one child.
January 25:
After much discussion between the Islanders themselves and Commissioner Tooke only three families out of eleven, considered the Government's a good offer and accepted the Government's proposal, while seven decided firmly to remain on "their" island and one was neutral. In consequence of this Mr. Tooke withdrew the Government´s offer Afterards, the ship´s officers took a census of the entire population amounting to seventy seven people and this is the "List of the Inhabitants of Tristan da Cunha in January 1904:"
Elizabeth (Betty) Cotton
Martha Green, widow (of William lost in the disaster of 1885]Henry Green with four young children Mary Green
Lucy Green, widowAlbert, her sonMary Caroline Glass, widow of Thomas Glass
John, her son
Caroline Swain, about 75 years old
Andrew Swain
Annie Swain, daughter of Lucy Green with five young children
William Samuel Swain and Lucy Swain, sister of Tom Rogers, with their five unmarried girls
Charlotte, Lydia, Ruth, Lena & Maggie
Samuel Swain, jun. and Lena A. Swain, with three young children
Robert Green and Louisa Green with four young children
Susan Swain, widow, with her children: Benjamin, a cripple), William, Rebecca & Minna
Andrew Hagan and Susan Hagan with two children
Eliza Hagan, widow of William Swain-
Andrea Repetto
Frances Repetto, daughter of William & Martha Green, with five young children
James Henry Green and Mary Magdalene Green with four children
Gacetano Lavarello and Mary Jane Hagan Lavarello with four young children
Amy Matilda Hagan, nee Green, widow of Capt Hagan, who committed suicide (the second in the Island´s History; He, however was of unsound mind) with her children Mary Hagan & Joe Hagan
Thomas Rogers and Sarah Rogers, widow of Samuel Rogers, her son William and her two young children Jane
Population total: 74 people
viz.-: 12 men, 18 women & 44 children
January 26:
H.M.S. Odin leaves the Island in the early hours, taking on board Mrs. Amy Matilda Hagan, who declared to the Captain:
"I remained onthe Island as long my father (Peter W. Green) was alive to take care of him but that since he had died (See 1903) I have no more reason to remain here, and I desire to join my son at the Cape"
She brings with her all her father's documents, memoirs, and also the portrait her father received from the Queen Victoria. Captain Pearce left to the new "governor" Andrea Repetto a bound volume of forms to serve as a Register of Shipping; a register for recording births, deaths and marriages, and a new set of Naval Code Flags. Before heading for Simon's Bay the Odin steamed for Inaccessible Island, after having effected a landing on Nightingale Island, in order to secure some bags of guano for analysis. In Capt. Pearce's Report, we read:
"They (the Islanders) are abstemious, and many of them do not know "drink" or "smoke"".
July 4:
W.H. Tooke (see January 23, 1904 and following) writes to the Lords of the Admiralty, among other things:
"I advocate the establishment of Tristan da Cunha (definitively) as a port of call and possibly as a coaling station; as a weather forecast station, fitted with a Marconi installation (wireless telegraphy);...and I suggest a drum to be hoisted on shore as a storm signal and warning to vessels who not knowing the many dangers would like to approach the Island..."
September:
The London Standard published an appeal, provoked by a letter written and consigned to Commander Pearce by Andrea Repetto and addressed "To the people of England":
"inviting a willing clergyman to go to the Island of Tristan da Cunha, as they had had no minister or missionary or schoolmaster for about sixteen years and the children are being left to grow up in ignorance."
1905
February 25:
The auxiliary yacht Pandora (Capt. T.C. Kerry) calls at Tristan, with a memorandum to the Islanders on account of their request for a schoolmaster. But, the main purpose of this visit is the exploration of Inaccessible and Nightingale Islands, and incidentally the ascent of "The Peak". During the Pandora´s stay, a young member of the crew, Ronald MacCann, while exploring the island west of a place named "Burn Wood" without a guide, somehow falls over the cliff and is drowned: alternately he may have been washed away by a high wave. A small wooden cross in the island cemetery the spot where he is buried "Ronald McCann, aged 19". His mother, in England, later made a bequest to plant fresh flowers on the grave each Christmas and Easter.
March 2:
The members of the Pandora visit the others Islands (Inaccessible & Nightingale) guided by Andrea Repetto.
March 4:
The Scottish barque Arethusa , bound from London to Australia, passes very close to Nightingale I., and hoves in sight of the south coast of Tristan. Rex Clements, the author of "A Gypsy of the Horn" was aboard as a sailor.
March 10:
The Pandora (Capt. Kerry), steams away headed for Table Bay. Andrea Repetto, in response to the memorandum sent to him by the British Ministry of the Colonies, gives Capt. Kerry a note in which, after having showning his disappointment in regard of
"a possible, however small payment in goods on the part of the Islanders to maintain a missionary",
says:
"I assemble(d) all the heads of the families before I write (wrote) my report....We islanders can not amount (afford) no salary atoll (at all); so we leave this matter for the present, if we (will) be able inthe future we will call for it..."
August 31:
The Rev. J. Graham Barrow, in a letter sent to the Colonial Office, offers his services as a missionary/clergyman and the services of his wife as a fellow-worker for Tristan da Cunha,
"because years ago my mother then a child of four was wrecked on Inaccessible I., and after four months the crew was rescued and cared for by the Islanders"
October (day?):
A vessel from Liverpool bound for Durban calls at Tristan to fetch fresh water. The population of the Island at the end of 1905 was of 80 souls. Another attempt is made by the British Government to take off the surplus of the population, but without success. On the Island are about 700 head of cattle, far more than there was pasture for- Between the months of May and November, nearly 400 die of starvation. This phenomenon occurred ever few years, but this was the worst ever occurrence. The number of sheep was about 800, with 30 donkeys, and many more pigs, fowls and geese.
1906
January 17:
The Earl of Crawford, ex President of the Royal Astronomical Society, calls at Tristan on his yacht Valhalla . Owing to the poor weather he is not able to land However he was met by Andrea Repetto, the"governor" with eleven Islanders in two boats, and they talk about the arrival of the Rev. J. G. Barrow. The Earl gives the Islanders the mail and stores that the Pandora was intending to give when she called on the voyage.Among these letters is a special message from the King to the Islanders.
April 8:
The English steamer Surrey from Cape Town with the Rev. J.G.Barrow, his wife, their housemaid Miss Ellen Holden and Tom Rogers, an Islander who was glad of the opportunity of returning to his home, calls at Tristan in the early morning. The islanders, headed by Lavarello, went in two of their canvas boats to meet them and help them to land and they are taken to Betty Cotton's house, the nearest to the shore.
April 8:
At dusk the Surrey steams away.
May 7:
The Rev. Barrow writes to the King on behalf of all the Islanders to thank him for the message sent through the Earl of Crawford, and to be mailed with the first passing vessel.
May 13:
For the first time in the Island history a church bell - given to Mrs.Barrow by the Congregation of St. Andrews, Malvern Common, Great Malvern, rings for church services and Sunday school.
July 10:
A sailing vessel bound for Australia brings to Islanders news of the terrible eruption of Mount Vesuvius and of the great San Francisco earthquake. The Captain, who seemes to have been a kind man, was able to let them have a barrel of flour, some boxes of biscuits and other small but necessary things.
July 22:
The "governor" Andrea Repetto writes a letter, to be consigned to the first passing vessel, to B.R.T. Balfour to pass to the Secretary of the Colonial Office stating the safe arrival of the Rev. J.G. Barrow and that
"we are more in need of provisions than in the past years, as the wind blights our plantation"
July 27:
The sailing ship Loch Katrine , from Glasgow to Australia, calls at Tristan. The Captain had tried several times in the last nine years to land, but the weather was always against him. He exchanges a large barrel of flour, biscuits, tea, coffee and sugar and some dainties.
July 28:
The Loch Katrine sails away.
August 26:
Frances Repetto writes to her cousins Andrew and Mary living at CapeTown:
"If I could only see you I would have many a tale to tell you what dreadful timeswe have this year....We have 195 cattle dead already...."
September 22:
A sailing ship passes between Inaccessible and Nightingale Islands and the main island of Tristan.
September 26:
A Scottish ship bound for Adelaide calls at Tristan. The Captain exchanges a barrel of flour, few bags of peas and beans, some butter and two books (one of which was "Youth and Duty" by Bishop Wellson) for some lambs.
October 31:
A French ship bound for Adelaide calls at Tristan. The Islanders go to meet her and exchange ships biscuits, a large quantity of rice and a little coffee and give her their mail. On this date Frances Repetto, on behalf of herself, her husband and her daughter, writes a second letter to her cousins Andrew and Mary, resident at Cape Town:
"We have lost 375 cattle dead now...We are having a hard time now, if we lose anymore I don't know what we shall do...."
November 8:
A steamer from Cumberland to Durban calls at Tristan. The Captain lets them have 300 lbs of flour and some other goods. He brings tothe Islanders the news of the death of Sir Wilfred Laws.
November 12:
A whaler from North America bound to Mauritius, calls at Tristan. She brings back Joe Beetham who left the island in 1903, lived awhile at Cape Town and then in his home country in the United States. He was Betty Cotton and Martha Green's nephew.
November 17:
After five days the Scottish whaler sails away.
December 4:
A whaler calls at Tristan. For three sheep and eight geese the Islanders only get a barrel of flour and some molasses.
December 6:
A whaler calls at Tristan, and some Islanders set out to meet her, but finding that she was sending a boat ashore, they return. In the boat was the harpooner, a brother of Sam Swain, Snr. The brothers had not met for twenty four years. He and the boat's crew spend part of the day on the Island
December 13:
Another Scottish vessel calls at Tristan. Some Islanders go to meet her in the belt of kelp that encircles the Island some three miles out. She brings letters and a quantity of magazines and papers. Because a poor potato crop and the loss of 370 cattle between August and November the entire population of Tristan was brought to the verge of starvation. According the Census taken by Mrs.Barrow, the population of theIsland, in July 1906 was of 72 souls as shown below:
Mrs. Martha Green, widow 70
Miss Betty Cotton, 76
Lucy Ann Taylor Green, widow, 56
William Peter Green, 30
Mr. Henry James, 42, and Mrs. Mary Magdalene Green, 38, Children Alfred, 17, Ethel Mary, 15, Maria, 11, Johnny, 9, Christopher, 1
Mr. Andrea, 40, and Mrs Frances Caroline Repetto, 30, Children Mary, 11, Martha, 9, Susan, 7, Arthur, 6, William Peter, 5, Joseph Andrew Dudley, 1
Mr. William Sam, 49 and Mrs. Lucy Jane Gray Swain, Senior, 44, Children: Charlotte, 21, Lily, 19, Lydia Parker Ruth, 17, Selina, 9, Maggie, 7
Mr. Sam Robert, 32, and Selina Ann, 26, Swain, junior, Children: Harry, 7, Edith, 5, Tommy, 3, Eliza, 9 months
Mr. Guetano, 38, and Mary Jane née Hagan, 30, Lavarello: Children: John Baptist, 10, Robert Franklin, 8, William Joseph, 6, Percy Herbert, 4
Mrs Sarah Cox Rogers, widow, 55, and her son Thomas, 33
Mr. William Henry, 32, and Mrs. Jane Elizabeth, 28, Rogers. Children: Arthur, 6, Lizzie, 4, Jack, 10 months
Mr. Bob Edward, 27, and Mrs. Louisa Ann, 38, Green. Children: William Thomas Rogers, 15, Sophia Louisa Rogers, 11, Edward, 5, Charlie, 4
Mr. John Ryder, 37, and Mrs. Jemima Jane, 33, Glass Daughter: Florence Swain, 3
Mr. Andrew, 46, and Mrs Susannah Martha, 35, Hagan Children: Emma Matilda, 12, Mabel, 9, David, 3 months
Mrs. Mary Caroline Glass, widow 68, mother in law of Guetano Lavarello
Miss Caroline Swain 78,Mrs.Susan Martha Swain, 63, and her children: Ben, 35, Rebekah, 28
Mr. Andrew Edward, 42, and Selina Anna, 29, Swain: Children: Fred, 12, James, 9, George, 8, Rose, 5, Clara, 3
Eliza Hagan, widow, 75
Sheltered in thirteen homes, two of which were only occupied by Mrs. Lucy Green and Miss Betty Cotton
1907
February 2:
A Russian sailing vessel bound for Natal calls at Tristan. The Islanders trade a few items.
March 2:
The English schooner Greyhound , (Master James Stupington) belonging to Stephen Bros. of the Cape, with Mr. Casper Keytel of Cape Town and one of the owners aboard, calls at Tristan. Two Islanders, Willie Swain, (son of Susan Swain) and Charlie Green (son of Lucy Green, widow), who had been away for two or three years returned aboard the Greyhound . The British Government send the Islanders goods to the value of £100 i.e. 100 bags of flour, groceries and a large quantity of crockery. Other stores ordered from the Army & Navy Stores, London, and from Messrs. Cartwright of Cape Town also arrived safely. This expedition was sponsored by the Agricultural Department at Cape Town, and is described as: "The Relief Expedition". The Cape Meterological Commission sent an aneroid barometer, a mercurial barometer, a maximum and a minimum thermometer, a 5 inch rain gauge and a Stevenson's screen.
March 3:
The Rev. Barrow calls a general meeting of all the heads of families and tells them, according to instructions received, that if they stay the Government, could not promise to do anything further for them, and that therefore they must not look for help in the future. He put forth the advantages of going and the disadvantage of remaining, but vainly because the Islanders were unanimous in their decision to stay. One or two said they would rather starve here than at the Cape. Only the lonely widow Mary Caroline Glass (mother-in-lawof Gaetano Lavarello) said she would go if the Government would assure her a pound per week
March 12:
The Rev. Barrow, Mr. Keytel and 5 Islanders:, Sam Swain Snr, Andrew Swain, Tom Rogers, Repetto and Sam Swain Jun., ascend "The Peak".
March 19:
Mr. Keytel, after making some inquiries about the deposits of guano on Inaccessible Island, leaves Tristan in the Greyhound heading for Cape Town.
August 24:
A steamer, making her first voyage bound for Bombay, but calling at Durban, hoves to at Tristan for an hour, allowing aboard several Islanders, who barter.
September 10:
The sailing ship Loch Katrine calls for the second time atTristan. She gives the Islanders some butter and soap.
September 26:
Some Islanders row about fifteen miles to a ship, but the Captain will not stop for them to go aboard. He offers to take the mail but they were angey at his refusal to stop and refuse to give the mail to him. It was an Italian ship, and as a rule, foreign vessels carry very little surplus stock.
October 9:
An English whaler calls at Tristan. The first mate, a coloured man, lands with three letters from St. Helena, one of which was from the Bishop of St. Helena. The Captain and his wife send the Rev. Barrow a large bunch of bananas.
November 5:
The Rev. Barrow with some Islanders, goes to Inaccessible Island in three boats. They land on Salt Beach then go on the spot where the Blenden Hall was wrecked.
November 11:
The Rev. Barrow and the party return to Tristan from Inaccessible Island.
December 3:
The whaler Canton from New Bedford, Mass. and owned by Messrs. Wing Bros., bound for St. Helena calls at Tristan. Walter Swain, an islander who has sailed all over the world, with a home in New Bedford, lands at the settlement. The Captain, a coloured man gives six barrels of flour, one hundred pounds of soap, molasses and calico, in exchange for some beef and potatoes.
December 6:
The Canton sails away.
December 13:
A whaler sails very close to Tristan. Some Islanders go to meet her, and return with flour, material and some books:
Plutarch's Lives of Alcibiades and Coriolanus ;
Lucian: Trip to the Moon ;
Voyagers Tales by Richard Hakluyt;
Milton's Areopagitica ;
Plato's Banquet , and
E. Arnold's Light of Asia
"One would hardly expect to find such books on a whaler"
writes Mrs. K.M. Barrow, the missionary's wife.
The population of Tristan in 1907, as per the census given to the British Government by the Rev. Barrow in July shows an increase of 6 children on the census of July 1906. In all there ware 80 people plus the two Islanders Willie Swain and Charlie Green.
1908
January 30:
A small French fishing ketch, the J.B. Charcot (Capt. Raymond Rallier du Baty), from Boulogne France sailing to the Kerguelen Islands, calls at Tristan after having passed close to Inaccessible Island.
February 1:
The Captain's brother, with two of the J.B. Charcot lands andstays all day. At evening the small vessel sails away headed for Kerguelen. During the day a Norwegian vessel, bound for Adelaide, also calls at Tristan. Some Islanders board her and barter.
February 28:
The Islanders start to work at Andrea Repetto's house to turn it into a school-chapel. This house is really the Island church, as its history shows. It was built by William Daley, the American sailor who came ashore after the wreck of the sealer Emily, and was occupied by him and his family. When The Rev. Taylor came as the first missionary to the Island, the house was bought for his church. It was valued at £27 and nine men each gave £3. The nine were: Corporal Glass, Alexander Cotton, Thomas Hill Swain, Peter William Green, Richard Riley, Andrew Hagan, Charles Taylor, Peter Miller and W. Daley the owner. When the Rev. Taylor left the Island, in 1857 he told the people who remained they could do what they liked with the church. Therefore the nine buyers or their heirs each claimed a £3 share in it.
February 29:
All the Island men, except three go to Inaccessible Island for sealing.
March 2:
The men who went to Inaccessible return to Tristan, after having caught eleven seals. They also bring back some plants.
March 3:
An Italian ship hove in sight. Two Island boats got alongside but the captain refuses to stop.
March 10:
A large Scottish ship, 41 days out from London days and bound for Australia, is sighted opposite the Settlement. Some Islanders go to meet her, and the Captain allowed them several hours on board. He sends to the missionary two books, one of which was Miltons Poems.
March 26:
The Greyhound calls again at Tristan. On board are Mr.Keytel with seventeen people from the Cape:
Joe Glass, Bob Glass and Jim Hagan, all born on the island and who left it as young men to enroll in the army at the onset of the Anglo-Boer War In South Africa they married three white sisters and with their wives and children they numbered sixteen. The seventeenth was a young unmarried man, Joe Hagan (son of the late W.H. Hagan and Amy Matilda née Green), also born on the Island. Nearly all the men of Tristan and the Rev. Barrow are ready to embark for Gough Island, expecting to be away a fortnight, when the sea begins to roughen and the schooner is forced to move further out. In short time the schooner is lost from sight and the trip is called off.
April 2:
The Greyhound returns after very bad weather and with all the older men of Tristan (except John Glass), sails for Gough Island, which lies about 200 miles to the South-East.
April 4:
Caroline Swain, 79 years old, daughter of Swain, of Nelson fame, and sister of Eliza Hagan, dies and is buried by her nephew John Glass, the only man to remain on the island. As usual the British flag was used as a pall, which especially became a daughter of one of Trafalgar's heros. She is buried in the Island cemetery.
April 11:
The Greyhound returns to Tristan, never having reached Gough on account of a stormy sea and very bad weather.
May 5:
The Greyhound sails away, bound for Cape Town with a load of sheep. Mr.Keytel remains at Tristan. An old lamb-house of Henry Green has been converted into a comfortable cottage, which he occupies. He hopes to start, with the Islanders, a trade in cattle, sheep and dried fish.
July 11:
A ship passes between the islands without stopping.
September 5:
A French sealer, bound for Kerguelen, calls at Tristan. She exchanges meat and potatoes with spirits, three bags of biscuits and soap.
September 27:
A census shows that on this day the population of Tristan has reached 101 souls, Bob Glass having had a new baby boy.
October 7:
An American sealer, bound for Gough Island sails close to Tristan. The Islanders go to meet her and they get a barrel of flour for 5 lambs.
October 20:
A Norwegian ship bound for Adelaide calls at Tristan. Her Captain gives some books, one of which was "The Side Lights of the Bible".
October 24:
A small ketch, the Forget-me-not , from Dover, manned by Capt. Pearson, with his two brothers, an architect and a city clerk, a friend (secretary) Mr. Crumpton, and a Creole who wanted to work his passage to The Cape, calls at Tristan da Cunha. The object of this voyage was to know what the Tristan and Gough Island group could produce in the way of guano. The Forget-me-not filled her water-barrels.
October 25:
An American sealer calls at Tristan bound for Gough. The Islanders barter some flour from her.
October 26:
A steamer calls at Tristan, with a missionary aboard. The Islanders go to meet her, and return with a large bag of mail, 300lbs. of flour, rice, sugar, tea and soap.
October 27:
The aforesaid steamer leaves the Island, the sea having prevented the Captain from landing.
November 6:
The Pearsons go to Inaccessible Island, taking with them Andrea Repetto to show them where to find guano.
November 12:
The Pearsons return to Tristan. The architect has drawn plans for a Church on the Island.
November 18:
The Forget-me-not with the Pearsons aboard, sails away bound for The Cape, after spending eighteen days within half-a-mile of the Island,a record for Tristan waters.
November 20:
Mr. Keytel draws up a 3 year agreement with the Islanders to work for him farming cattle, shipping sheep and drying fish, inviting all the men of the Island to sign, except Bob Glass, with whom Mr.Keytel will have nothing to do, being a rather uncontrollable young man. All the Islanders sign the agreement.
November 26:
The Rev. Barrow starts an expedition on foot around the Island accompanied by Henry Glass.
November 28:
The Rev. Barrow, with Green, return at the settlement, having reached only Stony Beach, about 4 miles past Seal Bay on the south eaast coast of the island. This was on account of a wound on the missionary´s left knee.
November 30:
An American whaler calls at Tristan bringing mail for the Islanders. Two of the islanders also get letters from relatives in America. The Captain exchanges eight barrels of flour, a large quantity of biscuits and a barrel of molasses for a bullock, sheep, fowls, geese and a hundred bushels of potatoes.
December 14:
A ship passes close to Tristan and puts up a red flag, which the Islanders take to mean that she wants to communicate with them, but the sea was too rough for the men to launch a boat.
December 19:
The whaler Canton which called at Tristan on December 3, 1907 with Walter Swain on board, calls at Tristan, this time with mail and papers from St. Helena. The Postmaster of St. Helena sends two parcels of toys and some copy-books.
December 20:
The Captain of the Canton lands on Tristan. At dusk, after bartering some potatoes for ten barrels of flour, he returns aboard and leaves the Island for his home port.
December 22:
A four-master vessel is almost wrecked on the rocks off Hottentot Point (see Map) on this very wet and foggy morning. When the fog lifts for a short time the ship heads out to sea as fast as it could.
1909
January 5:
Six Islanders go to Inaccessible, hoping to catch seals.
January 10:
The six men who went to Inaccessible return without any seals. One of them sets fire to the tussock grass which till this day is still burning and is visible on Tristan, 25 miles to the north east.
January 15:
A whaler, believed to be on fire, proved to be a whaler melting the blubber of a Southern Right Whale caught the night before. Several Islanders go on board.
January 16:
A Norwegian whaler, bound for Australia calls at Tristan, after a run of fourteen days from Rio de Janeiro, anchoring on the east side of the Island, waiting for sheep and potatoes in exchange for flour, sugar and biscuits.
January 18:
The Norwegian whaler sails away in the evening. Another whaler is sighted, but the sea is too rough for the men to meet her.
January 28:
A new house is to be built. This is the first to have been put up for at least ten years, and will increase the number of houses on Tristan to 16, including Mr. Keytel´s cottage and the house occupied by the missionary, his wife and their maid.
February 10:
Most of the Islanders go off to Inaccessible, which has been on fire for a month.
February 12:
The Islanders came back from Inaccessible after having caught only four seals. An English merchant vessel bound for Melbourne calls at Tristan. The Islanders go on board to barter.
February 13:
Another English ship also bound for Melbourne calls at Tristan. Andrea Repetto asks the Captain if he would give the Rev. Barrow, his wife and maid a passage, but he says he had no room, as he already has a passenger.
February 15:
The Rev. Barrow gives Andrea Repetto who:
"is quite a doctor - and surgeon too",
and a clever man, the Bishop's commission to hold a servic every Sunday, to perform baptisms and marriages. He is the islander´s spokesman, and has always exercised a very good influence in the colony
March 15:
A ship from London bound for Australia calls at Tristan. Several Islanders go to meet her, and the Captain tells the men that the Pandora will soon arrive with the mail.
March 31:
More Norwegian whalers call at Tristan, the largest one, (the "mother-ship"), is the Svend Foyn a whaler of 4,000 tons and commanded by Capt. Mikkelsen. They are returningfrom the South Shetland Islands, between Graham Land and the South Orkney Islands, Weddell Sea, where they had taken 392 whales, yielding over 8,000 barrels of oil which they are taking to Cape Town to be sent onwards to British markets..
April 5:
Capt. Mikkelsen and his small fleet steams away, headed for the Cape. The Rev. Barrow, his wife, the maid leave aboard the Svend Foyn , leaving Tristan for ever, to the sorrow of all the Islanders. With them also go Mr. Keytel and Joe Hagan, an islander, who returned to Tristan in 1908
Editor's note: 1910 - 1919 Although the unpaginated manuscript appears continuous, Professor Faustini's material for the missing period has apparently been lost.
1920
December 15:
A whaler calls at Tristan, and exchanges lumber and flour for some sheep. The population is now 119 inhabitants.
1921
February:
Mr Douglas M. Gane, a London a solicitor of Gray's Inn, and deeply interested in the welfare of the people of Tristan, publishes an appeal in the London Times and the Manchester Guardian for a missionary and schoolmaster to go to the Island,.
1922
April 1:
The Rev. Henry Martin Rogers, formerly curator-in-charge at Alexton, Leicestershire and his wife reach Tristan da Cunha from Cape Town, aboard the Japanese mail ship Taesma Maru , of the Osaka Shosen Kaisha Line. The Imperial Japanese Government permitted the steamer to divert to Tristan course to land the missionary. This ship is the first Japanese vessel to ever call there, and the first after eighteen months of complete isolation from the outside world. The Rev. Rogers lands with 150 cases of stores (for the church, the school, and other household wares), with groceries for a year and a tiny frame house to erect as a shelter for the missionary and his wife. At dusk the Taesma Maru steams away.
April 2:
The Rev. Rogers assembles all the people of Tristan in front of Mrs. Reppeto's house, and reads them a letter from King George V, sent via Winston Churchill, then Secretary of State for the Colonies. It expressed His Majesty's hope that the Islanders would listen to the Reverend's instructions, and assured them of the King's interest in their welfare.
April 8:
After having levelled an area of ground, forming an outside stone wall on three sides as a shelter (all done by Tom Rogers and some other Islanders), the missionary's little house is erected near a brook and near the house of Tom Rogers and his family.
May 2:
The first Tristan Troop of Boy Scouts (Penguin Patrol), named after the antarctic seabird, is launched. Donald Glass is named Patrol Leader, and Joe Glass Second-in command. Both are sons of Robert & Charlotte Glass. Sir Robert Baden-Powell had made a special grant for uniform and equipment, and gave Rev. Rogers his autographed portrait.
May 19:
The members of the ill-fated Shackleton-Rowett Expedition, aboard the R.Y.S. Quest (commanded by Capt. Frank Wild) lands at Tristan after the death of Sir Ernest Shackleton. The ship was anchored in the inner part of Falmouth Bay. The expedition was on its way home from South Georgia, and the Quest is only the second ship to call at Tristan since December 1920.
May 20:
The small bay where the Quest anchored was christened "Quest Bay" by the Islanders, as a complement to the ship and to her distinguished members. Three Islanders board the Quest : Bob Glass, his brother John Glass and Henry Green. Acting as pilots and guides, they go to Nightingale Island. A party comprised of George W. Wilkins, Chief Scout J.W.S. Marr, G.V. Douglas and C.R. Carr go ashore with John Glass and Henry Green. On the same day, Middle Island iss visited by Douglas and Green. No landing was made on Stoltenhoff Island, on account of a rough sea. At the same time, the other members of the Quest land on the main Island and explore it.
May 21:
Douglas, the Quest ´s geologist, accompanied by the two Islanders Robert Lavarello and Arthur Rogers as guides, makes an ascent of "The Peak" with Wilkins, Carr and Marr.
May 22:
On this day is made an official presentation of the Boy Scouts' flag specially created for the Tristan Troop, by Chief Scout Marr. The flag is received by Patrol Leader Donald Glass.
May 24:
The wireless operator of the Quest, aided by other members of the Expedition and by nearly all the men of Tristan, tries to erect a wireless aerial between Tom Rogers' house and the missionary's house. The wireless equipment, with which it had been hoped to break the almost complete isolation of Tristan, was a gift to the Islanders by the people of Cape Town, from a suggestion by the local staff of the Educational Department. It had arange of 1,000 to 1,500 miles. Howver the aerial, made up of lengths of hollow steel piping, proved to be of insufficient length. The colony was never able to make much use of it and it was in any case erected in an unsuitable spot. The Islanders were frankly nervous of it, fearing it would attract lightning in those high latitudes. One day when Tom Rogers was putting new windows in his house, he quietly disconnected the wires, and he was careful never to reconnect them. The Rev. Rogers
"grumbled, but not very seriously,as he did not think we should get calls in any case." (Mrs. Rose A. Rogers).
May 25:
The Quest leaves the Island bound for Gough Island.
May 28:
On this day is a solemn opening of Tristan´s "Parliament". The Rev. Rogers uses the Islanders' own custom of the "Meeting of the heads of families", and endeavours to evolve a system of local government. He feels should induce a sense of corporate responsibility among the Islanders, and took theo pportunity of the Quest´s visit to call a ageneral meeting of all the island men, constituting himself as chairman, controlling the debate and putting motions. In this way he wished to lay the foundations of an institution in which all matters affecting the school, roads, boats, houses, and other topics of general welfare affecting public matters could be presented and discussed.
June 18:
The Rev. Rogers launches a campaign to build a permanent substantial Church on the Island.
June 22:
The Rev. Rogers calls a meeting to discuss the idea of the building of the new church. It is decided that as soon as winter is over and the oxen were thought strong enough to pull stones, that building work should commence.
September 22:
A son is born to the Rogers. He is the first English baby ever born on the island, and all the available Union Jacks are hoisted, some 5 in number. He is named Edward Lyon Tristan Charles Rogers by the common consent of the Islanders after H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, who is greatly admired by the Islanders.
October 24:
The public baptism of Edward Rogers.
October 30:
On this day, digging the foundations of a church 50 feet long and 14 feet wide was almost completed, on ground between Mrs. Repetto's and Tom Rogers' houses in the the middle of the Settlement.
November 5:
The laying of the foundation stone of the new "Church of St. Mary" in an imposing ceremony. The Islanders bury small silver coins in a tin box under the stone as it was placed in position. The stone itself was given by Mrs. Repetto, and was one of the stones of the Rev. Dodgson's original attempt to built a church. After fifty years a dedicated church was a reality for Tristan.
November 22:
Four small whaling steamers, Truls, Barroby, Southern Cross and Storm Vogel , all bound from Cape Town for Sough Georgia, call at Tristan. They land several cases of goods; a church harmonium, and bags of letters. One of those was from the Princess Mary, thanking the Islanders for their good wishes to herself and Viscount Lascelles on the occasion of their wedding. One of the vessels takes the Islander's mail aboard to post at South Georgia.
1923
February 23:
The Rev. Rogers makes an expedition to Inaccessible Island. He discovers the first specimen known to science of a strange bird, a flightless rail, now in London´s Natural History Museum, and which has been named Atlantisia Rogersii .
March 26:
H.M.S. light cruiser Dublin (Capt Shipway) calls at Tristan. On board are:
Bishop Holbect, Bishop of St. Helena;
Mr. Lawrence Green, Jun. of The Cape Argus ;
Mr. Sara of the South African Film Co.;
Mr Andrew Kemm, who married a Tristan girl;
Mr. Hagan, former resident of Tristan
(the last two visiting their relatives.) They land, accompanied by the Rev. Kent, the ship's chaplain, Surgeon-Commander Rickard, and the ship's doctor, to visit the Settlement. H.M. the Queen sent copies, with inscriptions, of The Prince of Wales' Tour of the East and 25 tons of privately funded stores are landed on Little Beach. The visit of the Dublin took place in answer to an appeal made by Mr. Douglas M. Gane to Mr. Amery, then First Lord of the Admiralty. Gane had collected a large quantity of stores but was unable to find no means of shipping them to Tristan. Surgeon-Commander Rickard was sent by the Government to furnish a report on the conditions of life of the Islanders. The Bishop confirms 73 people.
March 27:
H.M.S. Dublin steams away headed for the Cape.
May 12:
Most of the Islanders go to Inaccessible for sealing and fishing.
May 19:
The Norwegian whaling steamer Herkules of the "Union Whaling and Fishing Co., Durban, and bound for Durban from South Georgia, calls at Tristan for fresh meat and water. The Captain comes ashore with the Mate, and traded various stores and paint (for their boats) with the Islanders for sheep and a calf,
May 20:
The Herkules steams away heading for Durban with two bags of mail from the Islanders.
July 5:
The Church is complete in every detail. The interior is divided into nave and chancel, with a small sanctuary railed off by Communion rails. In addition, there was a tiny vestry, a large altar, a lectern and a font, brought to the Island by the Rev. Dodgson. All except the altar and the font are made on the island. The Church has six windows, a zinc roof, and on the gable end a large white cross. On the altar stands a beautiful Oberammergau crucifix donated by a Lady in England. A harmonium, given by the people of Cape Colony, is placed near the altar.
July 8:
Dedication Day, and the first service. The Rev. Rogers utters a Prayer especially composed for the solemn occasion. On this day two events occur: the first baptism and the first two marriages in the new church. The first child to be baptized is William Glass, son of Robert Franklin and Charlotte Glass; and the weddings of his elder sisters Violet and Dorothy respectively to WillieLavarello and to Ned Green.
September 23:
On this day occurs the dedication of a new plot of ground given by the members of the Glass family for an extension to the old cemetery, which is now full and cannot be used any more. A stone wall is erected around the new cemetery and a gate fitted. In early 1923, Betty Cotton, aged 94 years, dies. She was one of the daughters of Alexander and Frances Cotton, his mother being one of the St. Helenian women who saw Napoleon in the flesh, and came to Tristan with Capt. Amon, in 1827. She never married; and was a gentle and pious woman all her life. Near the end of the year also died Rebekah Swain, daughter of Samuel and Susan Swain, aged 47 years. Here follows the census of Tristan in 1923, according to the Rev. Rogers. This is the largest population ever recorded in Tristan´s history and totals 135 people. The figures after some names denote their age. People are recorded by families and in alphabetical order-:
Glass, Gordon & wife Susan: Children Lily, Timothy, Clement, Violet;
Glass, John & wife Jemima: Children Florence, Gordon, Herbert;
Glass, Robert Franklin & wife Charlotte: Children Robert Frank, George, Donald, Sidney, Godfrey, Wilson;
Green, Alfred & wife Lily: Children Alice, Nelson, Ellen, Margery;
Green, Charles & wife Emma: Children Frederick, Hilda, Silvia, Maggie, Dorothy;
Green, John & wife Sophia: Children Catherine, Douglas Haig, Herbert;
Green, Henry & wife Minnie: Children Christopher, Ernest;
Green, Robert & wife Louisa: Children Charles, Annie, Gertrude Ellen;
Green, Ned (Edward) & wife Dorothy married July 8, 1923
Green, William Peter & wife Selina: Children William Philip;
Hagan, Andrew & wife Susannah;
Hagan, David & wife Elizabeth;
Lavarello, Gaetano & wife Jane: Children Percy, Margaret, Lawrence;
Lavarello, John Baptist & wife Maria: Children Laurie, Cissie;
Lavarello, Robert & wife Mabel: Children Eldon, Olive;
Lavarello, William & wife Violet; married July 8, 1923;
Repetto, Francis, widow: daughter of William & Martha Green: Children William Peter, Joseph Dudley, John Henry;
Repetto, Arthur & wife Edith: Children Arthur Patrick, Martyn;
Rogers, Arthur & wife Martha;
Rogers, Tom, son of Rogers, Sarah, widow, 81;
Rogers, Jack (John) & wife Rosa;
Rogers, William Henry & wife Jane: Children Patrick, Victor, Maud;
Rogers, William & wife Agnes:
Joseph, Thomas & May Glass (stepchildren);Cyril, Kenneth, Rudolph & Reginald(twins)-;
Swain, Samuel (old Sam Swain 67) & wife Lucy: Children Ruth, Rachel & Norman
Swain, Andrew & wife Annie: Children James, Clara, Richard, Elsie, Agnes, Beatrice, Leslie;
Swain, Harry & wife Ethel: Children Ceril Henry, Ernest;
Swain, Frederick & wife Mary: Children Victoria, Alice, William, Frances Rose (Baby);
Swain, George & wife Maggie: Children Walter, Baby (unnamed);
Swain, Susan, widow, 78: Children Ben, (deformed);
Swain, Robert * wife Selina: Children Tom, Eliza, Christopher, Mabel, Edward;
Glass, Mary, widow, 86;Green, Martha, widow, 87;
Rev. Roger´s Note: There have been several births since this census
1924
January 31:
The Rev. Rogers explores little known Nightingale Island, accompanied by 27 Islanders. He ascended the previously unclimbed small but very difficult peaks on the island and which are about 900 to 1,000 feet high; he calls the higher "Bancroft's Peak" after his old school near London.
February 4:
The Rev. Rogers and his party return to Tristan.
September 9:
A great avalanche of stones and boulders falls from every side of "The Peak", with a terrific thundering noise. Though alarming there were no human casualties. Since 1922 so many stones and boulders have fallen that the island looks quite different
November 7:
All the men of Tristan da Cunha go to Inaccessible, to catch birds for food and to collect wood.
November 10:
The Islanders return to the Settlement.
November (the end):
The Islanders wall in the old and new cemetery grounds, and thirteen new boats are completed or built. They also work on the roads, make new wagons, construct pews, a pulpit and a new Communion rail for the church, During the last six or eight months, wind and rainstorms do great harm to the potato crop, and food supplies are acutely short. The children hasten to any kitchen were a meal is prepared. These months were perhaps the hardest the Islanders had experienced in the last three years. They have to ration food, which is of poor quality, and everyone begins to lose weight and look very thin. The following are excerpts from a petition, sent by the Rev. Rogers to the - Secretary of State for the Colonies through the good offices of Mr. D.M. Gane; and signed by the forty one male adult members of the colony:
"We undersigned inhabitants of Tristan da Cunha, beg to Call your attention and that of H.M. Government to the difficulty that this British Colony is placed in by the extreme infrequency of letter mails to this island It is now two years since we received any mail and above twelve months since we were able to dispatch any letters or parcels...Few or no vessels can be induced to call in at the island...We are thrown upon our own very slender resources, and while the island produces sufficient food to maintain life, yet our health suffers from the impossibility of obtaining a variety of food such as flour, rice, tea or sugar....We look to get all our stores from passing vessels...and in the absence of such we suffer great hardships which press most heavily upon the women and children and more particularly upon sick persons here...We desire to again assert our loyal affection to H.M. the King and to H.M.Government..."
During the same year the Exhibition ship British Trade intended to call at Tristan but failed to visit the Island. For the first time Tristan, is well represented at the British Empire Exhibition, at Wembley, in the "South African Pavilion" by a stall at which the native spinning-wheels, cradles, socks, moccasins and other examples of local industry are shown.
1925
January 16:
There have been no ships since May 1923. The food is now very bad and the general shortage of everything is acute.
"The result of the almost complete absence of ships at Tristan da Cunha, makes it almost like living in the moon..."
February 4:
The freighter Ramon de Larrinagoe (Capt.J.V. Jones) of the Larrinaga Line in Liverpool, bound for Durban and Australia, and returning from South America, calls at Tristan to try to get fresh meat. The Captain announces that he will remain off the island for two hours to give an opportunity for a little trading, to permit the islanders to send him the mail, and also offers the Rev. Rogers and his family passage to Durban. He and some of his officers (including the Marconi officer and the Chaplain) come ashore. The Chaplain marries two couples: Rose Swain to Jack Rogers, and Lizzie Rogers to David Hagan who had intended to be married on the 22nd, the Rev. Rogers' birthday. In the afternoon the Ramon de Larrinaga steams away with the Rev. Rogers and family, reaching Durban in nine days.
March 23:
E.J. Harding, Acting Secretary of State for the Colonies sends Mr. Gane, a letter in answer to the petition sent by the Islanders. In this he states:
"The Secretary of State will lay before H.M. the King the expression of loyalty to his Majesty conveyed in the petition, and a letter will be sent to the islanders when an opportunity occurs. H.M's Government have, of course, every sympathy with the desire of the petitioners to obtain an annual mail, and the question of the possibility of providing more regular and frequent communication with the island has recently been under careful consideration....It is feared, however, that having regard to the considerable expense and other difficulties involved the Lords of the Admiralty cannot undertake to arrange for a yearly visit of one of H.M.'s ships to the island....Such a visit can be made every three or four years....It does not seem possible to provide any extra facilities at present but every opportunity will be taken to make use of such means of communication with the island as may present themselves...".
For the second time Tristan da Cunha is represented at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley.
