Habitation names

Tristan da Cunha The island is named after the Portuguese admiral Tristão da Cunha, who discovered it during a voyage from Lisbon to East Africa and India in 1506. It was first indicated on an anonymous map from c. 1509 and subsequently on various Portugues charts. In 1810 Jonathan Lambert landed on the island with two other men. He soon issued a proclamation (published in the Boston Gazette, 18 July, 1811), in which he called himself king of the island and declared that its future name should be the Island of Refreshment.

Edinburgh or the Settlement The settlement was named 'Edinburgh' after Prince Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh, who visited the island in 1867. Sometimes 'The Houses' is used, too.

Fort Malcolm This earthwork, of which only remnants exist to-day, was erected by Captain Cloete in 1816. Cloete named the fort after Sir Pulteney Malcolm, Rear-Admiral and Commander-in-chief for the West Coast and Cape Station.

Pike's House This is the place where Jim Hagan ('Old Pike') built a simple hut when he once had to spend the night outside the Settlement.

Shateller's Hut This is one of the rare examples of a formal reduction of a name on Tristan. It was originally Charlie Taylor's Hut. Taylor came as a sick man to Tristan in the late 1830's and built his house near the Patches.

Tommy's Eyeloose This is anotrher example of a formal reduction. The name was earlier Down-by-Thomas's-Oil-House, after Tomaso Corri, an Italian, who had stored oil drums in his hut here before the British garrison arrived in 1816.