ile maurice

louis sylvain ferdinand rosette + valerie rosette

my grandad left the small island of mauritius in the early 1960s. he travelled to london where he then met my granny - anne rosette.

mauritius is an island known for the sun, the sea, and the white sand. it is in the indian ocean, along the south-east coast of africa.

mauritius has a horrific past of slavery. it was at first a dutch colony, and then french, and was then colonised by the british in 1810.

le morne is a mountain that stands as a memory of mauritius' past. escaped slaves used le morne as a hiding place. it was a dangerous climb up.

when slavery was abolished, former slaves hiding in le morne were told they were free. however, fearing they were lied to, many slaves jumped to their deaths to avoid recapture.

'le morne' translates to 'the mournful one'.