The 250 years old Register of the Church of St John Figtree in Nevis was discovered, not unsurprisingly, to be in a most fragile condition, with the majority of pages brittle and stained on their edges.

Nelson's marriage entry of 22 March 1787 is at the top left. An asterisk was later placed beside the entry, and it has been deduced from letters and a ship's log held in the Royal Archives, that this was placed by HRH Prince Alfred, the first Duke of Edinburgh, and a son of Queen Victoria, probably when a young naval officer under training in HMS St George, which visited the island on 19 March 1861.

After a successful reconnaissance visit in Autumn 2018, led by retired RN Captain John Wills, permission was granted by the Diocese of NE Caribbean to release the Register for conservation. The painstaking cleansing and delicate repair of the Register pages is presently being undertaken by Alison Fairburn under guidance of her departmental Director, Gary Brannan of the Borthwick Institute for Archives, a faculty of the University of York, which is most generously donating their time without charge.