Serendipity in St. Helena : a genetical and medical study of an isolated community / Ian Shine, with the assistance of Reynold Gold ; and a foreword by Max Rosenheim.

  • Shine, Ian.
Date:
1970
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: Serendipity in St. Helena : a genetical and medical study of an isolated community / Ian Shine, with the assistance of Reynold Gold ; and a foreword by Max Rosenheim. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    SERENDIPITY IN ST. HELENA the slavers with the same enthusiasm that she had previously applied to the trade itself, and in consequence large numbers of West African slaves were brought to the island where they were techni¬ cally freed. Some were returned to Africa, most were sent to the West Indies, and an uncertain number remained on the island. Thus a century or a century and a half ago approximately one-half of the islanders were African, one-quarter were European and one-quarter Chinese. The races then mixed one with the other so that there are now very few individuals of pure descent and very few traces of Chinese or African culture or language remain. The island's population reached its maximum at the time of Napoleon's exile, partly because of the large garrison, partly because he attracted many visitors and also because it was then an important fuelling station receiving several ships every day. The island's importance may be judged from the Governor's salary, which was 12,000 at that time. The garrison, numbering 2182, was greatly reduced after Napoleon's death and withdrawn altogether by Lord Haldane in 1906. After 1820, apart from a small number of slaves taken from captured slavers, there was virtually no immigration; and from this time on the island's prosperity dwindled, the visible consequence of which was a steady emigration that is still continuing. It is recorded that 120 persons emigrated to the Cape Colony as apprentices to farming in 1838; 280 persons went in 1872, and in 1873, 258 people went to the Cape and 442 to Natal. Table 1. Population Census of St. Helena between 1659 and 1966 * 16