Overview

As English adventurer Francis Drake and his contemporaries opened up seaborne trade with Asia and the East, so dreams of untold wealth fuelled the appetites of European nations. A new form of co-operation arose between governments and entrepreneurs - the merchant company. Vital to the entire commercial and colonial endeavour, part of the story of Empire lies in the outposts they established.""The Company's Island"" focuses upon one such company colony - St Helena. With no indigenous population on the island, the East India Company had to establish a society from scratch but far from settling 'in love and amity' a repressive and turbulent regime ensued. The civilian population rebelled, the garrison mutinied, assassinating the governor, and a rebellion by black slaves was savagely punished. The result is a vivid, compelling tale involving issues of race, morality, gender, trade and defence within the context of Empire. Drawing on new archival material, the author sheds fresh light on an important yet little known aspect of the colonial endeavour.

Full Product Details

Author:   Stephen Royle (Queen's University Belfast, Belfast)
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint:   I.B. Tauris
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 2.30cm , Length: 23.40cm
Weight:   0.513kg
ISBN:  

9781845116125

ISBN 10:   1845116127
Pages:   240
Publication Date:   19 December 2007
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Figures - vii Tables - ix Acknowledgements - xi 1. Trading Companies and the Colonial Endeavour - 1 2. 'The Honourable English East India Company Doe Take Possession of the Island and with Drum and Trumpett Proclaim the Same': St Helena and the East India Company - 11 3. 'Carry Free Planters to St Helena (If Any are Willing to Go)': Peopling the Company Colony - 44 4. 'Uncivil Actions, Attempting to Breach Her Chastity and Being Guilty of Horridble Swearing': Law and Morality on St Helena - 56 5. 'You May Kiss There': Gender Relations on St Helena - 73 6. 'Ye Assistance and Labour of Negroes': Slavery on St Helena - 84 7. 'Tending Even to Sedition': Resistance, Riot and Rebellion - 103 8. 'I Bestowed a Broadside on Them': Defence and the Imperial Imperative - 127 9. 'The Duties and Obligations Inherent in the Exercise of Sovereignty Cannot Be Borne by a Private Company': The Failure of Company Colonies - 156 Appendix 1. 'Exhortation, Admonition or Reproof': Sources for the Study of Early St Helena - 163 Appendix 2. St Helena Timeline - 167 Appendix 3. Tables - 169 Notes - 191 Index - 219

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Author Information

Stephen A. Royle is Reader in Geography at Queen's University Belfast. He is Director of Queen's University Centre of Canadian Studies and a past President of the Geographical Society of Ireland.

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