The island of Ascension was uninhabited until 1815, when a British garrison was
placed there in order to prevent any escape of Napoleon I from the island of St Helena.
After the death of the Emperor, the garrison remained and the island became
a victualling station and sanatorium, among others for ships engaged in the
suppression of the slave trade around the West African coast.
In 1922 Ascension passed from the Admiralty to the British colonial office
and was made a dependency of St Helena.
At the same time effective controle was however entirely transferred to the
Eastern Telegraph Company - renamed Cable & Wireless Company in 1934 - which
had started its activities on the island in 1899. (1)
(1) For more details about the history and the activities of Cable & Wireless
see Cable & Wireless : A History
____________________________________________________________________________
BRITISH ADMINISTRATORS
Commanding Officers of H.M.S. Ascension
(The island was considered as a "stone" warship, hence the prefix "H.M.S.")
1869 - 1872 E. F. Kirby
1872 - 1874 J. B. Creagh
1874 - 1877 J. W. East
1877 - 1878 H. B. Phillimore
1878 - 1882 A. G. Roe
1882 - 1886 C. Parson
1886 - 1890 R. H. Napier
1890 - 1893 R. Evans
1893 - 1896 J. G. Jones
1896 - 1899 J. E. Blaxland
1899 - 1902 Capt. George Northmore Arthur Pochard 1847 -
1902 - 1905 Capt. R. K. McAlpine
1905 - 1908 Capt. R. H. Morgan
1908 - 1910 J. Dunstan
1910 - 1913 G. Carpenter
1913 - 1919 H. C. Bennett
1919 - 1920 H. G. Grant
1920 - 1922 C. A. Tennyson
____________________________________________________________________________
CABLE & WIRELESS ADMINISTRATORS
(period 1922 - 1945 only)
Chairmen of the Company
1917 - 1929 Sir John Denison-Pender 1855 - 1929
1929 - 1931 Sir Basil P. Blackett
1931 - 1936 John Cuthbert Denison-Pender
1936 - 1947 Edward Wilshaw 1880 - 1967
Managing Directors of the Company
1918 - 1929 H. W. Grant
1929 - 1932 Fred Kellaway, joint Managing Director
1929 - 1936 John Cuthbert Denison Pender, joint Managing
Director s.a.
1932 - 1936 Sir Norman Leslie, joint Managing Director
1934 - 1946 Edward Wilshaw, General Manager 1929 - 1932 ;
Chief General Manager 1932 - 1934 ; joint
Managing Director 1934 - 1936 ; sole Managing
Director 1936 - 1944 s.a.
1944 - 1946 Jocelyn Denison Pender, General Manager 1941 -
1944 ; joint Managing Director 1944 - 1946
1945 - 1946 Richard E. Relfe Luff, joint Managing Director
Superintendents - Managers of the Company on Ascension
(Holding also the post of Resident-Magistrates, representing the governor of St
Helena)
1922 - 1925 W. Haining
1925 - 1928 E. Lee Lander
1928 - 1929 Fred Wood
1929 - 1934 E. A. Willmott
1934 - 1936 Lionel Bartlett
1936 - 1938 Percy Edwin Bunker
1938 C. Nias
1938 - 1939 Percy Edwin Bunker (2x)
1939 - 1944 Stephen Harold Cardwell
1944 - 1947 Maurice Campbell Clarke
HOMEINDEX
