Napoleon’s Garden Island reveals the amazing botanical history of one remote Atlantic island.
Though the South Atlantic island of St. Helena is best known as the site of Napoleon’s exile following his final defeat in 1815, this remote locale also has a rich gardening heritage and a population of highly diverse flora, both exotic and endemic. This is due to St. Helena’s history as a stopover for the vast East India Company fleets on their way to Europe, whose cargo holds carried not only spices but also plants from China, Malaysia, and India. As a result, St. Helena became a botanical hub and the island’s private plantation houses cultivated a number of extraordinarily varied gardens.
Illustrated throughout with drawings, maps, and archival materials, Napoleon’s Garden Island looks to St. Helena’s past and future alike. McCracken explores the island’s native and introduced flora, ultimately appealing for the establishment of a new permanent garden to showcase this singular botanical blend. Turning away from the military matters that characterize most other books about St. Helena’s history, Napoleon’s Garden Island highights how a dazzling assortment of plants have thrived thousands of miles from their nearest neighbors.
Author(s): Donal P. McCracken
Publisher: Royal Botanic Gardens
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 392
City: London
Contents
List of Tables, Figures and Illustrations
Foreword ~ St Helena’s flora today by Colin Clubbe
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1 ~ St Helena within the global botanical network
Section I. East India Company Days
Chapter 2 ~ East India Company gardens
Chapter 3 ~ St Helena’s old private gardens
Chapter 4 ~ The St Helena Botanic Garden
Section II. The Napoleonic Era
Chapter 5 ~ The big three: Burchell, Beatson and Roxburgh
Chapter 6 ~ Napoleon’s gardens
Chapter 7 ~ Grande salle d’état
Chapter 8 ~ The Company’s twilight years
Section III. Crown Colony
Chapter 9 ~ The new order
Chapter 10 ~ The long decline
Postscript ~ The way through the woods
Appendices
I. ‘A Catalogue of Trees and Shrubs growing in the Honble East India Companys New Botanic Garden in Jamses Vally, St Helena, 1789’
II. Catalogue of trees and shrubs growing at Plantation House [1789]
III. Catalogue of trees and shrubs growing at High Ridge [1789]
IV. Burchell: Catalogus plantarum quæ Sta Helena variis hortis inveniuntur (c. 1809)
V. Garden sightings of Napoleon and garden references recorded by Captain Nicholls, 15 October 1818 to 9 February 1820
VI. Plants shipped from the Cape to St Helena during the Captivity, June 1816
VII. Old country houses of St Helena
Notes
Bibliography
Indices
