Tristan Islanders
Whaling History Connects Distant Communities
James Glass recently traveled from his home on Tristan da Cunha to visit relatives in New London, Connecticut. A descendant of Corporal William Glass, the founder and first leader of the British colony on Tristan, James Glass was the subject of an article in The Day, the New London newspaper. The paper described his famous […]
Storms over Tristan
On Friday April 14, 90 mm of rain (about 3 and 1/2 inches) fell on Tristan da Cunha, causing minor flooding. According to a news post on the Tristan website by the Administrator, Sean Burns, the storm cut an important roadway. The storm evidently surprised some Tristan Islanders, who told Mr. Burns that they had […]
Dental Nurse Training for a Tristan Islander
The Scotsman published a news story on December 3 about a young Tristan Islander who has enrolled in a dental nursing program at the University of Dundee. The daily Scottish newspaper wrote that faculty and staff members in the School of Dentistry at Dundee warmly welcomed Michelle Green from Tristan into their program. For over […]
Tristan to Be Modernized
News sources in the United Kingdom reported the winner of a design competition that was established to build the foundations for a more sustainable future for the Tristan Islanders. The winning firm, Brock Carmichael Architects in Liverpool, prepared plans that the Islanders chose out of 37 proposals from architectural firms that had responded to an […]
A Bicentenary on Tristan
Last week the Tristan Islanders marked the bicentenary of British rule over the island by having a variety of festivities and by reading a letter from H.R.H. Prince Philip. The history is important to the Islanders. During the Napoleonic Wars (called the War of 1812 in the U.S.), American privateers had used Tristan as a […]
Female Hysteria on Tristan da Cunha [journal article review]
Doctors in the 1930s described a series of fainting spells by women on Tristan da Cunha as female hysteria, a diagnosis that would no longer be acceptable to medical authorities. Instead, Lance van Sittert analyzes them as political expressions. In a recent journal article, the Associate Professor of Historical Studies at the University of Cape […]
Tristan Parties in the New Year
The Tristan Islanders celebrated the last day of the old year with traditional merry making—parties, two elaborate receptions, and a speech by the Administrator.
Tristan Has No Crime
An orientation program on the Isle of Man has sharpened the perceptions of Dawn Repetto about better ways to promote tourism for Tristan da Cunha. As Tourism Coordinator for Tristan, she has been participating in an exchange program supported by the Manx government. Last week she discussed the values tourists could take away from visits […]
Problem Drinking on Tristan da Cunha
Norwegian sociologist Peter Munch noticed during his fieldwork on Tristan da Cunha in 1937–38 that the Islanders consumed no alcohol. The reason, he wrote in his book The Sociology of Tristan da Cunha (1945), was that they “attach much importance to dignity in every situation (p.68).” As a result, they not only would not consume […]
Designs for Energy Efficiency
An unusual architectural design competition was launched last week by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) to create a more sustainable future for the people of Tristan da Cunha. The Independent, a prominent British newspaper, reported that architects worldwide have been invited to submit their ideas for ways to redesign buildings in The Settlement, […]
