The Annual Cost of Keeping the Former Emperor Napoleon Captive
on the Island of St. Helena.
By Tom Holmberg
Introduction
Napoleon noted that "The expenses of my captivity will certainly
exceed ten millions of francs a year." In 1815 24 francs equaled
£1, putting the total expense, by the calculations below, at over 2.2
million francs. (Kaplan, Herbert H. Nathan Mayer Rothschild and
the Creation of a Dynasty: The Critical Years, 1806-1816. Stanford
Univ., 2006. p. 170) By one estimation the roughly £92,032 of annual
expense to imprison Napoleon would come to £4,860,281
in 2005. The British government later raised the subsidy to
Napoleon's household to £10,000 from the £8,000 given below. Governor
Lowe estimated that the cost of Napoleon's household was closer to £20,000
per year.
(1.) Estimate of the probable Annual Expense of the Island of St. Helena,
during the period of its continuing to be the Residence of Napoleon
Buonaparté, and his Suite.
Military Charge:
Pay of a Battalion of 1,000 Rank and File, according to the Rates
established for the East India Company's Service in St. Helena.
£34,789 11s. 10d.
Pay of the Staff; viz.
2 Aides de Camp. £347 14s. 0d.
1 Secretary. £695 8s. 0d.
1 Brigadier General. £1,043 2s.
0d.
1 Deputy Adjudant General. £695 8s.
0d.
1 Deputy Inspector of Hospitals. £869 8s.
0d.
Total..... £3,996 11s. 0d.
Total Military Charge: £38.786 2s.
10d.
Ordnance:
Pay of a Company of Royal Artillery, according to the Rates above specified.
£4,317 12s. 6d.
Civil:
Salary of the Governor, including all his Civil and Military Allowances,
Table Money, &c. £12,000 0s. 0d.
Estimated Annual Expense of Buonaparté and his Suite. £8,000
0s. 0d.
Total Civil: £20,000 0s.
0d.
Probable Expense of Provisions for the Troops, calculated at the Rate
of 2s. 6d. for each Ration. £54,750 0s.
0d.
Total Charge: £117,854 15s.
4d.
Deduct Average Annual Expense of the Garrison of St. Helena, previous
to its becoming the residence of Napoleon Buonaparté. £80,384
0s. 0d.
Total: £37,470 15s. 4d.
For the probable Expense of the Naval Force employed at St. Helena,
vide the annexed Letter from Mr. Croker to Mr. Goulburn.
(2.) Copy of a Letter from Mr. Croker to Mr. Goulburn, dated Admiralty
Office, 11th of April 1816.
Admiralty Office, 11th April 1816.
SIR:--In reply to your letter of the 9th instant, communicating lord
Bathurst's desire that a statement should be transmitted to his office,
showing the amount of expense per annum, in the naval department,
on account of the additional ships of war employed at St.
Helena during the residence of Buonaparté in the island, as distinguished
from former periods: I am commanded by my lords commissioners of the
admiralty to acquaint you, that as it is not possible to state
the precise disposition which the admiralty commanding on the Cape
of Good Hope station may make of the squadron under his orders, it cannot
be exactly calculated how much of the whole expense is attributable
to the service of St. Helena; but an estimate of the expense on this
latter account may be thus formed: the whole expense of the squadron
on the station is £131,275 9s. per annum;--the expense
of that part which would, if there were no St. Helena squadron, be restored to
the Indian station, and employed in performing the ordinary duties
of the Cape of Good Hope station, including the Mauritius, &c. is
£76,712 13s. 1d., which being
deducted from the first sum, leaves £54,562 15s.
11d. as the expense of the St. Helena squadron, contradistinguishing
it from the whole force of the station; but it is possible that the
admiral may find that the service can be carried on with a less amount
of force, in which event a further deduction will be made from the above
stated expense. I am, &c.
(Signed) J.W. Croker.
Source: Hansard. Parliamentary Debates from the Year 1803 to the
Present Time. Vol. XXXIV. (London: Hansard, 1816). House of
Commons. Wednesday, May 8 1816. p.364.
Placed on the Napoleon Series: Mayy 2006
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