Briars, Saint Helena

Briars is the small pavilion in which Napoleon Bonaparte stayed for the first few weeks of his exile on Saint Helena in late 1815 before being moved to Longwood House.

The pavilion was in the garden of William Balcombe, an English merchant who became a purveyor to Napoleon. His 14-year-old daughter Elizabeth Lucia ("Betsy") Balcombe was the only family member who spoke French and she became the family translator. Because of his family's closeness to Napoleon, Balcombe attracted the suspicion of Governor Hudson Lowe, and in 1818 he was forced to leave the island and return to England.^[1] The Briars was then used as the home for the Admiral assigned to St Helena.^[2]

^ Balcombe, Betsy (2005). To Befriend an Emperor : Betsy Balcombe's Memoirs of Napoleon on St Helena. Welwyn Garden City: Ravenhall Books. ISBN 1905043031.
^ Benhamou, Albert. "Inside Longwood - Key Habitations in St. Helena". www.inside-longwood.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

[1] Balcombe, Betsy (2005). To Befriend an Emperor : Betsy Balcombe's Memoirs of Napoleon on St Helena. Welwyn Garden City: Ravenhall Books. ISBN 1905043031.

[2] Benhamou, Albert. "Inside Longwood - Key Habitations in St. Helena". www.inside-longwood.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

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