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I must be a lucky Seychellois being born in Mansfield, England, this way I still appreciate the weather when I go to
the Islands to see my family. I havn't been over for a long time but still get plenty of emails as to whats going on. When
I was running the Sonny Morgan site ( www.sonnymorgan.com) for my cousin Sonny, I used to get a lot of emails from people wanting to get in touch with other relatives, where
to buy Sega music and sometimes just want photos of the Islands. I even had a half sister contact me through the site that
I had never met! Anyway for those who don't know much about the Seychelles, here is a brief intro I wrote a few years
ago that seems now to pop up on several sites.
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| Sarah on La Digue |
The Seychelles are made up of 115 Islands, the easiest way to locate them is to look north of Madagascar and to the East
of Zanzibar Island (off the East African coast). It has always been rumoured that Persian and Arab seafarers visited the islands
hundreds of years before Christ was even born, but with no physical evidence most people look to the ninth century when the
Seychelles appear for the first time on Arab charts as the "Tall Islands". A few hundred years later they had the first name
change to "Zarin"; the Sisters.
The first British acknowledgement was made by John Jourdain in 1609, but in 1742 Lazare
Picault the first Frenchman visited, he renamed the Island of Mahe; Ile d'Abondance ( "Isle of Abundance" ) due to the amount
of natural resources including fresh water, coconuts and tortoise.
Due to the military importance of the position of the
Islands, the French made claim to the larger Islands and renamed them after Jean Moreau de Sechelles who was the minister
of finance for King Louis XV from 1754 to 1756. Later in 1790 the inhabitancy declared independence from France laying claim
to the whole of the Seychelles group as a single country.
Independence didn't last long, in 1794 the French moved back
in to control, then moving into the 1800's the ownership changed between French & British control 7 times! Finally in
1903 Seychelles became a Crown Colony, with the new British Governor, Mr Sweet-Escott. The event was commemorated by erecting
a clock tower in the centre of Victoria that can still be seen today, this was modelled on the clock standing outside Victoria
railway station in London.
Seychelles natural beauty has not been spoilt regardless of its turbulent past, with conservation
tasks included in some area's to stop any new buildings being taller than the coconut trees, from the sea the Islands still
look sparsely populated. Land reclamation has taken place to give more flat ground for housing and industrial development,
as the Main Island is predominantly mountainous volcanic rock.
The International airport was opened in 1971, this was an
important step for building the tourism industry which had previously relied on ships arriving via Africa. Visiting today,
tourists can appreciate that almost 50% of the Islands are Nature Reserve or Parks. The beauty, friendly local ambience and
fantastic weather normally leave most people with the wish to visit again and enjoy 'Paradise'.
Sarah having a paddle, just before I told her about the sharks
The picture at the top shows my wife Sarah with my Aunt Senna, she died a little while ago which is a great shame as
she was always a perfect host. Another loss was my Grandfather; Mark Paul Morgan of La Digue. When I first met him we had
an instant bond and I can say he was the only person in my life I wrote to regularly, unfortunatly he was the Seychelles version
of Mr Burns from Simpsons in looks and personality and certainly was never an angel in his younger days.
My Grandfather Mark Morgan & me
This is probably the best page to explain where Seylec comes from;
Seychelles Electrical,
it was my natural father, Gilbert Marcel Morgan's company name in Seychelles. He seemed to do well with the business
and even worked on Peter Sellers house over there.
And now almost 40 years later, Seylec has moved to the not quite as sunny Essex coast in England.
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| Gilbert Morgan seylec business card from the early 1970s |
Now just to resolve any confusion about my dad, people in Seychelles and family around the World know
Gibert was my father, but people in the UK know Tony Jack Morgan as my father, both are correct!
Due to a variety
of reason's, when I was a few months old I was actually raised by Gilberts brother Tony and wife Joan
who did an excellent job if I do say so myself.
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| Gilbert Morgan, me and Tony Morgan (jnr) |
The Gilbert Morgan Mystery
A lot of Seychelleois still speak fondley of Gilbert, his fate is mentioned in a book called 'Paradise
raped' by James Mancham and on the above link, but a clear picture of the circumstances has never arisen and unfortunatly
due to the political nature of the Seychelles at the time, will probably never be resolved.
My natural mother Sandra still comes to see us when she can, when Gilbert first met her he said his name was Marcel and
he was from Italy as nobody knew where the Seychelles where in the 1960s! I actually got married on Mahe to
my English rose, Sarah. It was a good o pportunity for my wifes family to meet mine. Her parents, Aunt, uncle
and friends all went over in September 1995.
Mark my Grandfather was a witness as was Sarah's brother Nigel Lee.
Tony
was my best man but sadly Joan who had raised me with Tony since I was a baby died a few weeks before the
wedding which was on September the 14th, her birthday.
We always say she had a word when she got 'upstairs' as we were fortunate enough to have a honeymoon pregnancy,
9 months later Anthony David Marcel was born, named after all 3 grandads!
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| Sarah, Tony, Blanche (my Grandmother) and Joan at Burnham on Crouch |
I will try to expand the Seychelles section when I have more time as the Sonny Morgan site generated a lot of interest
with people who just wanted to say hello from around the World or find contact details for other Seychellois.
Recently I have had an email from George Francoise on Mahe who is writting an Ebook on Seychelles. He would
like to hear from Seychellois in England and elsewhere and can be contacted on: phillip_francoise@yahoo.com
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| Family and friends at our wedding on Mahe in 1995 |
And a few links to Seychelles related websites for travel and general info.
The Official Seychelles website
Nice website with useful information and good general information as to what to do and where to stay.
Seychelles Weekly
Seychelles Weekly covers current affairs and issues which Seychellois like to keep in touch about around the World.
Air Seychelles
Air Seychelles are probably the Best Airline I have flown with to the Islands. I have used British Airways, Air France
and Aeroflot on previous journeys but highly recommend Air Seychelles.
Seynews
Seynews gives you general information with what is going on in Seychelles daily with other useful links on
the site as well.
A few more of my family photos on facebook
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