Tristan da Cunha | ![]() |
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In 1816 Britain formally annexed the islands and administered them from South Africa. The islands were at first occupied by a British military garrison before a civilian population gradually built up. Whalers also set up on the islands as a base for operations in the South Atlantic.
With the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 Tristan da Cunha became more isolated as they were no longer needed as a stopping port for journeys from Europe to the Far East.
Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and second son of Queen Victoria, visited the island in 1867. The main settlement, Edinburgh of the Seven Seas was named in his honour. The present Duke of Edinburgh visited the island in 1957 as part of a world tour.
During World War II the islands were used by the Royal Navy station named HMS Atlantic Isle. The secret navy station monitored German shipping movements and weather in the South Atlantic.
In 1961 a volcanic eruption on the main island caused the evacuation of the entire population to Pendell Army Camp in Merstham, Surrey, England before moving to a permanent site at a former Royal Air Force station in Calshot near Southampton. In 1962, a Royal Society survey assessed the damage and reported that the settlement Edinburgh of the Seven Seas had been only marginally affected and almost all of the population returned to the island in 1963 led by Willie Repetto who was then head of the ten strong island council and Allan Crawford an island welfare officer.
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