Tristan da Cunha Fund

The Tristan da Cunha Fund was set up c 1886, by Douglas M Gane, a London solicitor. The purpose of the fund was to send aid to Tristan da Cunha following the failure of the potato crop and the loss of 15 of the islands best boat men at sea. The fund provided provisions for the islanders including wood, food and candles. Gane, Honorary Secretary of the Fund, who had visited the island aboard the clipper Ellora, repeatedly wrote to The Times in London to ensure the islanders were not forgotten. The Fund survived Gane's death in 1935, and his son, Irving B Gane, took over as Honorary Secretary. The Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Empire Society were the Fund's trustees. The fund was wound up sometime after 1951, as changes on the island meant that it was no longer dependant upon the Fund for survival.