Tristan da Cunha Island

Tristan da Cunha is a remote volcanic island in the South Atlantic, rising steeply above a narrow strip of lower ground. Its cliffs and surrounding waters lie far from the coasts of both Africa and South America. The Portuguese admiral Tristão da Cunha reached the islands that bear his name in 1506 while sailing towards the Cape of Good Hope.

Whaling and sealing ships later called at Tristan. In 1810 Jonathan Lambert of Salem brought a small party to establish a trading station. Britain stationed a garrison on the island in 1816, concerned that it might be used to threaten the confinement of Napoleon on St Helena. When the garrison withdrew the following year, Corporal William Glass and his family remained, becoming founders of a lasting community.