St. Helena

St. Helena is well known as Napoleon's second and final island exile, but the rich and fascinating history of the island goes back to its discovery in 1502 by the Portuguese navigator, João da Nova. He named the unknown and uninhabited island in honor of Saint Helena, the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, since it was on her feast day that the island had been discovered. On May 5, 1659, the island was permanently settled by the English East India Company. Prior to the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, St. Helena was an important stop for water and refit for ships sailing in the South Atlantic.

Captain James Cook, Charles Darwin, Sir Edmund Halley, Captain Bligh, and many other famous explorers and scientists visited St. Helena. Zulu Chief Dinizulu was exiled to St. Helena from 1890 to 1897. The island was the home for thousands of Boer War POW's in the early 1900's. Today, the 5000 "Saints," as the residents of St. Helena call themselves, are an attractive mixture of peoples of originally European, Asian, and African origins.

The postal history of St. Helena extends well back into the days of stampless covers, but letters prior to 1815 typically bear no external indication of having come from or having passed through St. Helena. The first Post Office was established on St. Helena in 1815, and the first handstruck stamp was introduced shortly after the opening of the Post Office. The first adhesive stamps of St. Helena were introduced in 1856. The exceptional cover illustrated above is franked with a pair of St. Helena's first adhesive stamp of 1856. There is considerable scope for study and research in virtually all aspects of St. Helena philately and postal history. 
 
 
 

Ascension Island

Ascension is primarily a site for British and American military, satellite tracking, and communication activities. It is the only island of the three (St. Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha) with an airport and regularly receives military planes from England, the United States, the Falkland Islands, and Recife, Brazil. Ascension's first residents were British soldiers posted there during the exile of Napoleon to St. Helena. Today, several hundred "Saints" live and work on Ascension with expatriates. 

The postal history of Ascension arguably begins with covers franked with the Victorian issues of Great Britain and cancelled with Ascension cancels. Ascension's first adhesive stamps were the 1912-1922 stamps of St. Helena overprinted "ASCENSION" in red or black. Ascension's first stamps were issued in 1924. Modern military covers such as the 1987 cover shown above are particularly sought after by Ascension philatelists and postal historians. The philately and postal history of Ascension warrants study and research. 
 
 
 

Tristan da Cunha

Tristan da Cunha, often called the world's loneliest island, and one of the most popular stamp and postal history collecting areas, was brought to the world's attention as recently as 1961 when smoke began pouring out of a volcano near Edinburgh, the island's only village . Ships were diverted to the island for emergency evacuation of the 300 islanders. Later, the modern world proved to be a weak magnet to the islanders, who, after the return of geological peace to Tristan da Cunha, voted nearly unanimously to return home. 

The first stamps for Tristan da Cunha were the 1938-49 issues of St. Helena overprinted "TRISTAN DA CUNHA" in black. The first stamp issued by Tristan da Cunha on its own was the 1953 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II stamp. The postal history of Tristan da Cunha includes the area of stamps of other countries used from Tristan da Cunha and interesting covers prepared by scientific expeditions to some of the small islands in the immediate vicinity of Tristan da Cunha. The cover illustrated above is an example of the latter type of cover, one prepared by the 1955-1956 Gough Island Scientific Survey. The postal history and philately of Tristan da Cunha have attracted a very large following of enthusiasts. There is considerable scope for study and research. 

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