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 About Us > Dependent Territories St Helena, Emerald isle of the south atlantic ocean |
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Ascension Island 700 miles Northwest of St Helena is Ascension Island; one of the dependent territories of St Helena. The island mostly consists of barren rock and ash. It has 6 large lava flows and 44 major craters. It covers an area of 34 square miles. Green Mountain however rises to a height of 2800 feet and has a top covered with vegetation and trees. In 1501 when Joao Da Nova discovered the island he named it Conception. It is thought that Alphonse D’Albuquerque in 1503 renamed the island to Ascension. The island was unoccupied until 1815 when the royal marines and the royal navy, to prevent the French from utilising it as a base from which to attempt a rescue of Napoleon Bonaparte who was in exile on St Helena, garrisoned it. After Napoleon died in 1821 the function of the Garrison changed to provide victuals to the naval ships that were engaged in suppression of the West African slave trade and to provide accommodation to any of their crewmembers with fever.  
Status: Dependency of St Helena 
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Representation in Europe: Tristan Da Cunha Tristan Da Cunha is approximately 1300 miles south south west of St Helena. It is a volcanic island, conical in shape and about 20 miles in circumference. The peak rises to 6760 feet and the inhabited part of the island is four miles long, about one mile wide and 100 feet above sea level. The island was discovered in 1506 and named after the Portuguese navigator who discovered it. It was uninhabited until 1811 when Jonathon Lambert, an American, arrived with some companions and called himself king of the island. In 1816 a small British garrison arrived to prevent the French from utilising the island as a base from which to rescue Napoleon Bonaparte from his St Helenian exile. They found only one of the people from the 1811 colonisation. The garrison was withdrawn in 1817 due to food problems but Corporal William Glass, a Scotsman, decided to stay with his family and a few others stayed with him. By 1826 the population had increased to 14 and in 1827 captain Simon Amm of the sv Duke of Gloucester returned to the island with five women from St Helena for the five bachelors.
Governor: His Excellency Michael J. Clancy (resides in St Helena)
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