Edinburgh of the Seven Seas

The settlement was founded on the island of Tristan da Cunha in 1816 by Sergeant William Glass from Kelso, Scottish Borders, who named it after Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the second son of Queen Victoria, in honour of his visit to the island in 1867 following UK annexation of Tristan da Cunha.^[3]

A military garrison was maintained on the islands to assist in guarding against French attempts to rescue Napoleon, who was briefly imprisoned on Saint Helena. The garrison remained until the end of World War II.

The settlement was damaged in a volcanic eruption on the island in 1961, destroying the island's original crayfish factory and forcing the population to evacuate to Calshot, United Kingdom (UK); most islanders returned in 1963. The village's harbour was subsequently named Calshot Harbour after the British town.^[4]

Edinburgh of the Seven Seas remains the only permanent settlement of Tristan da Cunha, and contains a small port, the administrator's residence, post office, school (St. Mary's school), and church (St. Joseph's church). It also has an internet café, a bar, a supermarket, a golf club, and a swimming pool.

There is one road, nicknamed the "M1" after the namesake motorway in the UK, which connects the village with the Potato Patches (or The Patches), the primary agricultural area, and is used by the few private cars on the island.^[8] Paved paths provide walking access to buildings around town. A bus service called Potato Patches Flier (using a 24-seat Isuzu mini school bus from Cape Town, South Africa^[9]) is available for free to pensioners to travel to the Patches and other stops along the road.^[10]

All motor vehicles on the island have Tristan da Cunha plates consisting of "TDC" followed by two or three digits.^[11]

The settlement has a small port named after the village of Calshot, where the population of Tristan da Cunha stayed during the 1961 volcanic eruption, with berths accessible by small vessels only. The island has around 10 scheduled ship visits per year for tourists and island residents to travel to and from the island on multi-day trips (typically 6-10 days) from South Africa or Namibia.^[12]

Graphic artist Rolf Weijburg produced an etch of Edinburgh of the Seven Seas^[13] and other places on the island of Tristan da Cunha.^[14][15]

The island's local affairs are managed by the Tristan da Cunha Island Council, an 11-member administration that meets six times a year and is elected every three years.^[16]

Most buildings in town are small, single-story structures, with the Crayfish Canning Factory as the largest by floor area and St. Joseph Catholic Church as the tallest.

• St Mary's Anglican Church – built in 1923^[17]
• St Joseph Catholic Church – built in 1995–96 to replace an earlier church from 1983^[17]
• St Mary's School – built in 1975, educates children between 3–16^[18]
• Camogli Hospital – built in 1971 to replace Station Hospital (c. 1940s)^[19]
• Calshot Harbour – built in 1967, with reinforcements and renovations done in 2008–2009^[4]
• Prince Philip Hall and the Albatross Bar – built in 1957 and refurbished as a pub in the 1980s^[20]
• Tristan Thatched House Museum – built in 2013, began by pensioners in January 2009^[21]
• Agriculture Department warehouse^{[citation needed][clarification needed]}
• Tristan Island Store – only supermarket on the island^[22]
• Tristan Post Office, Tourism Centre and Café da Cunha – opened 2009^[22]
• Administration Building – home to Island Council^[23]
• Crayfish Canning Factory – built 1963^[24]
• Park 61 – volcanic park site^[25]
• The Potato Patches – an area with potato farms have been used for over 150 years. In the area are camping huts.^[26]

• 
  Northern coast of Tristan da Cunha, with ESS and Calshot Harbour in the lower foreground, and Queen Mary's Peak in the background.
• 
  Central ESS, with St Joseph Catholic Church in the left foreground.
• 
  Eastern ESS, as seen from offshore.
• 
  Eastern ESS, with the cemetary in the forground.
• 
  St Joseph Catholic Church.
• 
  Longboats in front of the administrator's residence.
• 
  The Mabel Clark Guest house, used to house visitors.
• 
  Tristan Island Store, the island's only supermarket.
• 
  RV Maria S. Merian, a German research vessel.

• William Glass (1786–1853), founder of the settlement^[27]
• Harold Green (1934–2025), first Chief Islander^[28]
• Lewis Glass (1948–2019), former Chief Islander^[29]
• Anne Green (born 1952), Chief Islander^[28]
• Conrad Glass (born 1961), police officer^[30]
• James Glass (born 1961), Chief Islander^[28]