St Helena

St Helena History & Postal History

St Helena is perhaps best known for being the place Napoleon spent his final time in exile. The island was originally discovered in 1502 by a Portuguese explorer named João da Nova. He named the island Saint Helena because she was the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine and his discovery was made on her feast day.

In 1659 the island was settled by English East India Company employees as, in the days before the Suez Canal, St Helena's location was strategically important for ships sailing to the South Atlantic and around the Cape.

St Helena has been visited by many of the great explorers including Captain James Cook, Charles Darwin and Captain Bligh (of Mutiny on the Bounty fame). St Helena was also used to accomodate large numbers of Boer War POWs.

St Helena's postal history can be trace back to well before the introduction of postage stamps in 1840 although early, pre-victorian stampless covers rarely show any markings to evidence having been posted or transited through St Helena until 1815 when the first Post Office was opened on the island.

St Helena's first postage stamps were issued in 1856 and the island's long and varied postal history offers a fascinating and chalenging subject to research and collect.

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More St Helena Links from the Web

Herrick Stamp | St Helena Stamps | St Helena Stamp | Stamp Dealer
Herrick Stamp, the largest dealer of St Helena Stamps ... Image: Description: Purchase: ST. HELENA - Scott 286A Churchill S/S MINT F/VF NH STHE286aH8
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ST.HELENA Stamps
ST.HELENA Stamps Buy/Sell/Auction/Trade Marketplace for Buying, Selling ST.HELENA Stamps, Trading Collectible ST.HELENA philately, Stamps, Postal History, FDC.
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Worldwide Stamps > S Stamps > St Helena
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