Pitcairn Island

Size: 30 sq m Popn: 60

History

Although this island shows signs of being occupied by a Polynesian people at one time, the Bounty mutineers finally settled here because it was uninhabited, remote and inaccessible. It was named after the young sailor who first sighted it from a British navy ship. On arrival, the company consisted of nine mutineers, six Polynesian men, nineteen Polynesian women and a baby. The mutineers gave some of the women English names and none of the children inherited Polynesian names although the dialect still spoken on Pitcairn and Norfolk Islands contains English and Tahitian words.

After living in complete isolation until 1808, the Pitcairn islanders were discovered by a passing ship and gradually established contact with the outside world. Their wish for a schoolteacher led to the disastrous period of control by Hill, and later three other men settled on Pitcairn and married islanders. The population expanded rapidly in the C19th leading to low food supplies and it was decided to evacuate in 1856. (There had been an abortive attempt to settle in Tahiti in 1831 during which 16 died of fever but the survivors all returned to Pitcairn). Norfolk Island was a former penal colony which had been abandoned. The move originally involved the entire population but several families subsequently returned home. Pitcairn had a population of 150 in 1960 although this was steadily declining as young people moved away, to New Zealand in particular. Norfolk Island has a population of about a thousand of whom about half are Bounty descendants and half immigrants from Australasia and England.

Mutineers

Polynesians

No pure Polynesian children were born and all the Polynesian men were dead by 1793. Thus all the children born on the island were at least half Tahitian until new blood was brought in. Sully, the daughter of Teio, came with her mother from Tahiti and may have been half English as the Bounty had spent some time there while waiting until the breadfruit which Captain Bligh had been ordered to collect was ready.

First Generation

Second Generation

Third Generation

Emma

After discovery in 1808, Pitcairn was quite frequently visited. Three men settled permanently and married native Pitcairners.

First Generation

Second Generation

Born On Norfolk Island

This collection of names was compiled by Kate Monk and is ©1997, Kate Monk.

Copies may be made for personal use only.