Tristan da Cunha Tristan da Cunha Resettlement 1963 Overprint
On April 9, 1963 fifty-one islanders from Tristan da Cunha returned to their island on the S.S. Boissevain. The new administrator who accompanied them had the Post Office reopened and on April 12, 1963, Tristan da Cunha issued a set of thirteen definitives from St. Helena overprinted "Tristan da Cunha Resettlement 1963." The post office had been closed since October 11, 1961.
The remainder of the returning settlers set sail in October of 1963 on the M.V. Bornholm. Covers commemorating the resettlement with a Tristan da Cunha cancellation and a cachet for the ship are dated November 10 and November 11, 1963.
On October 9, 1961 a volcanic eruption had occured which precipitated the evacuation of the population of the island aboard a Dutch ship, the M.V. Tjisadane, two days later. The volcano had been dormant since before the island's discovery by the Portuguese Admiral Tristao da Cunha in 1506.
Bibliography Conoley, Ken. Stamps their lure and lore. Don Mills, Ontario: Longman's Canada, 1967. Kloetzel, James E. "Tristan da Cunha." 2009 Standard Stamp Catalogue. 2008. "Tristan Da Cunha Refugees Vote To Return To Home Isle." Star-News. 26 Dec. 1962: 4.
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