Today’s visitor to Norfolk Island hops on a plane and within a couple of hours is clambering down the steep aircraft staircase to touch the soil of this spectacular place. Although, I will mention here, that with the landing we experience, it’s a wonder I don’t crouch down and kiss the ground upon arrival! The landing Qantas visits upon us is largely due to the plane descending through thick cloud and not as my darling suggests, that the second officer is getting some practice in! However, some 250 years ago things were a mite more complicated.
“Just before sun-rising while I was yet asleep, Mr Christian, with the master at arms, gunner’s mate and Thomas Burkett, seaman, came into my cabin and seizing me, tied my hands with a cord behind my back, threatening me with instant death if I spoke or made the least noise...”. Wrote Captain Willian Bligh on 28th April, 1792. \
“I was hauled out of bed and forced on deck in my shirt, suffering great pain from the tightness with which they had tied my hands. I demanded the reason of such violence, but received no other answer than abuse, for not holding my tongue.” “ I asked him if this treatment was a proper return for the many instances he had received of my friendship? He appeared disturbed at my question, and answered with much emotion, “that, Captain Bligh, that is the thing; I am in hell- I am in hell.”
Fletcher Christian and the other mutineers had overtaken the ship, “HMS Bounty” after it left Tahiti where it had been holed up for six months effecting repairs following the long journey from London. The account goes that Bligh and his supporters were set adrift in a small overcrowded vessel. All the frustrations, abuses and incidents during the “Bounty’s extended expedition to Tahiti had finally come to a head. After a long night of indecision, despair and anger Christian and his followers deposed their commander - a hanging offence in late 18th Century England. Bligh, outraged by the uprising, was determined to survive, return to London, and tell the world his story. Christian’s ‘betrayal’, as Bligh saw it, was particularly galling and baffling: “Had their mutiny been occasioned by any grievances, either real or imaginary, I must have discovered symptoms of their discontent, which would have put me on my guard: but the case was far otherwise. Christian, in particular, I was on the most friendly terms with….” “It will very naturally be asked, what could be the reason for such a revolt?…. I can only conjecture that the mutineers had flattered themselves with the hopes of a more happy life among the Tahitians than they could possibly enjoy in England and this, joined to some female connections, most probably occasioned the whole transaction.”
“Just before sun-rising while I was yet asleep, Mr Christian, with the master at arms, gunner’s mate and Thomas Burkett, seaman, came into my cabin and seizing me, tied my hands with a cord behind my back, threatening me with instant death if I spoke or made the least noise...”. Wrote Captain Willian Bligh on 28th April, 1792. \
“I was hauled out of bed and forced on deck in my shirt, suffering great pain from the tightness with which they had tied my hands. I demanded the reason of such violence, but received no other answer than abuse, for not holding my tongue.” “ I asked him if this treatment was a proper return for the many instances he had received of my friendship? He appeared disturbed at my question, and answered with much emotion, “that, Captain Bligh, that is the thing; I am in hell- I am in hell.”
Fletcher Christian and the other mutineers had overtaken the ship, “HMS Bounty” after it left Tahiti where it had been holed up for six months effecting repairs following the long journey from London. The account goes that Bligh and his supporters were set adrift in a small overcrowded vessel. All the frustrations, abuses and incidents during the “Bounty’s extended expedition to Tahiti had finally come to a head. After a long night of indecision, despair and anger Christian and his followers deposed their commander - a hanging offence in late 18th Century England. Bligh, outraged by the uprising, was determined to survive, return to London, and tell the world his story. Christian’s ‘betrayal’, as Bligh saw it, was particularly galling and baffling: “Had their mutiny been occasioned by any grievances, either real or imaginary, I must have discovered symptoms of their discontent, which would have put me on my guard: but the case was far otherwise. Christian, in particular, I was on the most friendly terms with….” “It will very naturally be asked, what could be the reason for such a revolt?…. I can only conjecture that the mutineers had flattered themselves with the hopes of a more happy life among the Tahitians than they could possibly enjoy in England and this, joined to some female connections, most probably occasioned the whole transaction.”
Whether you’re a supporter of Christian or Bligh, what could have been a relatively minor episode, between two friends ‘falling out’ after a long and arduous sea voyage, suddenly exploded into armed rebellion and deadly threats. For more than two centuries historians have examined in great detail, the events preceding the insurrection and the unravelling of Bligh and Christian’s formerly close relationship. Some have painted William Bligh as a ‘double-dyed’ villain who was tyrannical and cruel, and Fletcher Christian as a Nobel hero pushed to the brink by his mentor’s dastardly deeds’. Others have cast Bligh as the wronged leader, ousted by Christian and his rebels so they could return to those tempting Tahitian women and a life of plenty. Between these ‘black and white’ portrayals lie many different interpretations of the whole voyage and probably the truth in the actual events.
So, an accident of history had unimagined future consequences. The mutiny irrevocably changed Bligh and Christian’s lives and resulted in the founding of a settlement on remote, mis-charted Pitcairn Island. Christian and his followers brought Tahitian men and women with them to establish a new utopia on the small tropical isle, but they had to remain hidden. The ship was scuttled in order to hide their occupation. Britain’s Navy then meted out the harshest penalties for rebellion, and once Bligh had been overthrown, the mutineers knew they could never go home.
Unfortunately paradise soon turned into hell. Fighting over land and women broke out, and in a few years all the Polynesian men and most of the mutineers had been killed. By 1808, when an American ship discovered the community, only one member of the Bounty’s crew, John Adams, was still alive. After all the bloodshed, chaos and over-indulgence in potent home-brewed spirits, Adams had turned to Christianity and was now the sole protector and patriarch to his former companions’ children and wives. Fellow survivor Ned Young had taught Adams to read from the Bounty’s bible, before dying in 1800 of a respiratory illness, and so Pitcairn had become a devoutly religious society.
However, the story didn’t end there. In 1855 the now pious Pitcairners were given a choice to occupy Norfolk Island's failed penal settlement, following an entreaty by them to Queen Victoria to solve their overpopulation difficulties on Pitcairn Island. Norfolk Island was handed to them by an Imperial Order-In-Council of June 1856, as a permanent home. On 3 May 1856, the entire population of 193 (plus a baby (Reuben Denison Christian) born en route; making it 194), together with everything they owned, began the five-week voyage aboard the Morayshire to Norfolk Island, arriving on 8 June 1856. These were the descendants of Tahitians and the Bounty mutineers.
Norfolk Island had experienced two earlier settlements emanating out of British environs. Firstly the British had sent farmers and settlers to the Island to establish food sources, which might supply the fledgling penal colonies in Port Arthur, Tasmania and Sydney town. The British farmers following their own farming practices and planting schedules which were at odds with the warm, sub-tropical climate experienced on Norfolk. As a result crops yielded were unsuccessful or failed entirely and within a mere 40 years the settlement was considered a failure. At this time Britain was at war with France and in an attempt to save the settlement from certain invasion, Britain offered the farmers 5 acres in Tasmania to every 1 acre they owned on Norfolk in an effort to entice them to a safer colony and away from the marauding French. Before leaving, anything which hadn’t been destroyed already, was demolished or burnt so that there would be no ease for the French in establishing their own settlement in the bones of the British attempt.
So, an accident of history had unimagined future consequences. The mutiny irrevocably changed Bligh and Christian’s lives and resulted in the founding of a settlement on remote, mis-charted Pitcairn Island. Christian and his followers brought Tahitian men and women with them to establish a new utopia on the small tropical isle, but they had to remain hidden. The ship was scuttled in order to hide their occupation. Britain’s Navy then meted out the harshest penalties for rebellion, and once Bligh had been overthrown, the mutineers knew they could never go home.
Unfortunately paradise soon turned into hell. Fighting over land and women broke out, and in a few years all the Polynesian men and most of the mutineers had been killed. By 1808, when an American ship discovered the community, only one member of the Bounty’s crew, John Adams, was still alive. After all the bloodshed, chaos and over-indulgence in potent home-brewed spirits, Adams had turned to Christianity and was now the sole protector and patriarch to his former companions’ children and wives. Fellow survivor Ned Young had taught Adams to read from the Bounty’s bible, before dying in 1800 of a respiratory illness, and so Pitcairn had become a devoutly religious society.
However, the story didn’t end there. In 1855 the now pious Pitcairners were given a choice to occupy Norfolk Island's failed penal settlement, following an entreaty by them to Queen Victoria to solve their overpopulation difficulties on Pitcairn Island. Norfolk Island was handed to them by an Imperial Order-In-Council of June 1856, as a permanent home. On 3 May 1856, the entire population of 193 (plus a baby (Reuben Denison Christian) born en route; making it 194), together with everything they owned, began the five-week voyage aboard the Morayshire to Norfolk Island, arriving on 8 June 1856. These were the descendants of Tahitians and the Bounty mutineers.
Norfolk Island had experienced two earlier settlements emanating out of British environs. Firstly the British had sent farmers and settlers to the Island to establish food sources, which might supply the fledgling penal colonies in Port Arthur, Tasmania and Sydney town. The British farmers following their own farming practices and planting schedules which were at odds with the warm, sub-tropical climate experienced on Norfolk. As a result crops yielded were unsuccessful or failed entirely and within a mere 40 years the settlement was considered a failure. At this time Britain was at war with France and in an attempt to save the settlement from certain invasion, Britain offered the farmers 5 acres in Tasmania to every 1 acre they owned on Norfolk in an effort to entice them to a safer colony and away from the marauding French. Before leaving, anything which hadn’t been destroyed already, was demolished or burnt so that there would be no ease for the French in establishing their own settlement in the bones of the British attempt.
Some 20 years later the British again tried to establish settlement. This time, they sent only soldiers to establish a garrison. Eventually convicts were also consigned to this isolated place. These convicts were drawn from more recalcitrant inmates from Tasmania together with any criminals in Britain who were proven to be tradesmen whose skills might meet the requirements to establish the colony on Norfolk. Initially these prisoners weren’t put behind high walls, as it was clear that the only way off the island would be by boat which wasn’t made available to them. They were employed to build bridges and other infrastructure like dwellings for officers and eventually their own prison facilities and the garrison for their guards. Surrounded by high walls and a very civilised sewerage system necessary with more than 1,000 prisoners held there, this became one of the severest penal settlements ever established.
The third occupation of ill-fated Norfolk Island was the Pitcairners who initially occupied many of the buildings remaining from the penal settlements, and gradually established their traditional farming and whaling industries on the island. Although some families decided to return to Pitcairn in 1858, the island's population continued to slowly grow as the island accepted settlers, often arriving with whaling fleets.
By 1863 after the two disaffected groups returned to Pitcairn - ancestors of the small population still living there today - the majority of Bounty descendants remained on Norfolk. Here they established a simple and peaceful life of fishing, farming the fertile land and whaling. Most of the Norfolk locals trace their lineage from the Pitcairn family names of Christian, Quintal, McCoy, Adams, Young, Buffett, Evans and Nobbs and are very proud to do so. The cemetery proudly displays headstones which chart these original names.
After the building of the airstrip in World War II, the Islanders began welcoming more and more tourists, eager to visit convict ruins or learn about links to Fletcher Christian and his shipmates. Precious Bounty artefacts including the kettle and canon from the ship are exhibited at the Pier Museum as are all the relics of those early years. One such relic is the ring used in marriage. According to Pitcairn historians and island tradition, soon after the nine mutineers landed at the island on 15th January 1790, they were married to their Polynesian wives by Fletcher Christian. For the ceremony, he used a Church of England Prayer book and the only ring brought with them, which belonged to Midshipman Edward Young. It is recorded that in marrying the first generation of Pitcairn islanders, John Adams also used the ring, which had united every couple on the island since its first settlement. When Captain Beecher of HMS Blossom married John Adams to second wife Teio, or Mary, in 1825 he too is believed to have the used the ring, which not long afterwards, disappeared. It has been surmised that perhaps Teio was buried with the ring.
In 1940/41 Mrs Honor Maude, a resident on Pitcairn was given a small plot of land on the site of John Adams’ house and close to his wife’s grave. One day while breaking up soil with her hands, the hapless gardener found what the islanders stated was the original Bounty ring. The Pitcairn community decided that Mrs Maude should keep this ring and gave her a Certificate confirming its finding signed by the Chief Magistrate and the owner of the land. It is now displayed for all to see in the Pier museum and represents a significant period of history for the descendants of the mutineers.
The third occupation of ill-fated Norfolk Island was the Pitcairners who initially occupied many of the buildings remaining from the penal settlements, and gradually established their traditional farming and whaling industries on the island. Although some families decided to return to Pitcairn in 1858, the island's population continued to slowly grow as the island accepted settlers, often arriving with whaling fleets.
By 1863 after the two disaffected groups returned to Pitcairn - ancestors of the small population still living there today - the majority of Bounty descendants remained on Norfolk. Here they established a simple and peaceful life of fishing, farming the fertile land and whaling. Most of the Norfolk locals trace their lineage from the Pitcairn family names of Christian, Quintal, McCoy, Adams, Young, Buffett, Evans and Nobbs and are very proud to do so. The cemetery proudly displays headstones which chart these original names.
After the building of the airstrip in World War II, the Islanders began welcoming more and more tourists, eager to visit convict ruins or learn about links to Fletcher Christian and his shipmates. Precious Bounty artefacts including the kettle and canon from the ship are exhibited at the Pier Museum as are all the relics of those early years. One such relic is the ring used in marriage. According to Pitcairn historians and island tradition, soon after the nine mutineers landed at the island on 15th January 1790, they were married to their Polynesian wives by Fletcher Christian. For the ceremony, he used a Church of England Prayer book and the only ring brought with them, which belonged to Midshipman Edward Young. It is recorded that in marrying the first generation of Pitcairn islanders, John Adams also used the ring, which had united every couple on the island since its first settlement. When Captain Beecher of HMS Blossom married John Adams to second wife Teio, or Mary, in 1825 he too is believed to have the used the ring, which not long afterwards, disappeared. It has been surmised that perhaps Teio was buried with the ring.
In 1940/41 Mrs Honor Maude, a resident on Pitcairn was given a small plot of land on the site of John Adams’ house and close to his wife’s grave. One day while breaking up soil with her hands, the hapless gardener found what the islanders stated was the original Bounty ring. The Pitcairn community decided that Mrs Maude should keep this ring and gave her a Certificate confirming its finding signed by the Chief Magistrate and the owner of the land. It is now displayed for all to see in the Pier museum and represents a significant period of history for the descendants of the mutineers.
Those seeking to uncover exactly what happened on the expedition to Tahiti, and which events and misunderstandings turned two friends into mortal enemies and led to insurrection, may never agree. All we do know is that English mutineers and Tahitian wives forged a new community on Pitcairn, and their descendants eventually brought a unique culture and way of life to Norfolk Island.
In the 2016 Census, the median age of people in Norfolk Island was 49 years. Children aged 0–14 years made up 16.9% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 23.8% of the population.
English and Norfuk are the official languages. In 2004 an act of the Norfolk Island Assembly made Norfuk a co-official language of the island. It is said to meld the old English language with Polynesian lilts. In Norfolk Island 45.5% of people only spoke English, while 40.9% spoke Norf’k-Pitcairn at home, originally introduced by Pitkern-speaking settlers. Proof of a seemly meld between the two cultures.
Bounty Day (named after the ship) is a national holiday primarily celebrated by islanders of Pitcairn heritage on 8 June, held in the World Heritage area of Kingston remembering the day that the descendants of the mutineers arrived on the island. The Islander's re-enact the landing of the Pitcairners on the island.
In 2016, the most common religious affiliation in Norfolk Island were Anglican 29.5%, No Religion, so described 26.8%, Catholic 12.6%, Uniting Church 9.6% and Not stated 9.6%. In Norfolk Island Christianity was the largest religious group reported overall (68.5%) a true representation of the island’s original intrepid settlers.
A wonderful example of the successful settlement of peoples is the amazing St Barnabas Chapel. We visit it on a tour of the Island’s sites, as we did on our previous visit in 2013. The restored chapel hasn’t changed at all. The Rose stained glass window shines light over the altar and those who gather to worship every Sunday at 9.00 a.m., but it is the four ancient windows above the altar depicting the four apostles, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John which mark out this chapel as having something very rare indeed. The likenesses of the four were fashioned by using female models and as such, the depiction has a very feminine tone. Instead of the usual depiction of the apostles where they are all supplied with full manly beards, a decidedly clean-shaven four look down on today’s parishioners.. The windows are purportedly worth millions for dollars and the outside of the windows is protected by bullet-proof glass. We surmise that even if the windows were able to be removed and secreted off the island, there would be a limited demand for such artefacts. We are requested by our tour guide to not ring the bell in the bell tower, despite the rope being located in easy reach to the out-buildings explorer. The ringing of this bell indicates Death. So we leave without feeling any need to ring anybody’s bell!!
In following days, we plan to engage in a couple of island traditions. First we will attend the “Fish Fry” located atop cliffs and set against the setting sun glimpsed through the Norfolk Island Pine trees. We will be entertained by girls demonstrating the Polynesian dancing as we enjoy the local fish prepared as islanders love to eat it. We will also attend a “Progressive Dinner” which allows us a glimpse into three islander’s homes. Their hospitality will include stories about their family descendants and how their home was constructed. All items have to be brought onto the island by ship or air. As the waters surrounding the island are generally rough, transferring building materials and other heavy items had to be effected via crane from a supply ship to long boats (often lashed together), known as ‘lifers’, which had always represented challenges which the islanders meet all the time. Finally, we will also attend a “Lantern Lit Ghost tour” held in the Island’s cemetery -a fitting blend between the old and the new as we investigate this island paradise. Maybe we might yet hear the ringing of the St Barnabas’ Chapel bell!
In the 2016 Census, the median age of people in Norfolk Island was 49 years. Children aged 0–14 years made up 16.9% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 23.8% of the population.
English and Norfuk are the official languages. In 2004 an act of the Norfolk Island Assembly made Norfuk a co-official language of the island. It is said to meld the old English language with Polynesian lilts. In Norfolk Island 45.5% of people only spoke English, while 40.9% spoke Norf’k-Pitcairn at home, originally introduced by Pitkern-speaking settlers. Proof of a seemly meld between the two cultures.
Bounty Day (named after the ship) is a national holiday primarily celebrated by islanders of Pitcairn heritage on 8 June, held in the World Heritage area of Kingston remembering the day that the descendants of the mutineers arrived on the island. The Islander's re-enact the landing of the Pitcairners on the island.
In 2016, the most common religious affiliation in Norfolk Island were Anglican 29.5%, No Religion, so described 26.8%, Catholic 12.6%, Uniting Church 9.6% and Not stated 9.6%. In Norfolk Island Christianity was the largest religious group reported overall (68.5%) a true representation of the island’s original intrepid settlers.
A wonderful example of the successful settlement of peoples is the amazing St Barnabas Chapel. We visit it on a tour of the Island’s sites, as we did on our previous visit in 2013. The restored chapel hasn’t changed at all. The Rose stained glass window shines light over the altar and those who gather to worship every Sunday at 9.00 a.m., but it is the four ancient windows above the altar depicting the four apostles, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John which mark out this chapel as having something very rare indeed. The likenesses of the four were fashioned by using female models and as such, the depiction has a very feminine tone. Instead of the usual depiction of the apostles where they are all supplied with full manly beards, a decidedly clean-shaven four look down on today’s parishioners.. The windows are purportedly worth millions for dollars and the outside of the windows is protected by bullet-proof glass. We surmise that even if the windows were able to be removed and secreted off the island, there would be a limited demand for such artefacts. We are requested by our tour guide to not ring the bell in the bell tower, despite the rope being located in easy reach to the out-buildings explorer. The ringing of this bell indicates Death. So we leave without feeling any need to ring anybody’s bell!!
In following days, we plan to engage in a couple of island traditions. First we will attend the “Fish Fry” located atop cliffs and set against the setting sun glimpsed through the Norfolk Island Pine trees. We will be entertained by girls demonstrating the Polynesian dancing as we enjoy the local fish prepared as islanders love to eat it. We will also attend a “Progressive Dinner” which allows us a glimpse into three islander’s homes. Their hospitality will include stories about their family descendants and how their home was constructed. All items have to be brought onto the island by ship or air. As the waters surrounding the island are generally rough, transferring building materials and other heavy items had to be effected via crane from a supply ship to long boats (often lashed together), known as ‘lifers’, which had always represented challenges which the islanders meet all the time. Finally, we will also attend a “Lantern Lit Ghost tour” held in the Island’s cemetery -a fitting blend between the old and the new as we investigate this island paradise. Maybe we might yet hear the ringing of the St Barnabas’ Chapel bell!