NORFOLK ISLAND — "THE MADEIRA OF THE PACIFIC

Chronicle (Levin), 10 May 1947, Page 3

NORFOLK ISLAND — "THE MADEIRA OF THE PACIFIC

In this, the fourth and final chapter in a short history of Norfolk Islahd, it is proposed to deal with the period oi settlement from the time of the second penal settlement to the present day. in 1844 the control of Norfolk passed from New South Wales to Tasmania. It continued to be used as a convict station, but soon after the exposures and agitations of prison reformers led in the first piace to substantiai ameiiorations and subsequently to suggestions that the island should agam be abandoned. Various reasons, social and economic, were urged for the evacuation, but the adoption of this policy was at last hastened by the fact that there was in waiting a ready-made community, anxious and prepared to enter into occupation. Accordingly, preparations for removal were expedited and, in May, 1855, the last load of convicts, guards and settlers left for Tasmania. Xhe next occupation, which has continued uninterruptedly to the present day, was by the inhabitants of Pitcairn Island, an isolated spot lying far to the east of Norfolk. Thqir history dates back to 1799 and forms a conunuation of the narrative . of the mutiny of the "Bounty." Subsequent to the mutiny, and after many- vicissitudes, Fietcher Christian, who had organised it, with eight of his confres, thirteen Tahitian women and six men (four of the same race) made their way in H.M.S. "Bounty" to Pitcairn, arriving there in January, 1790. The soil and the sea provided ample food, and there they remained for almost twenty years. After 1808 casual visits of ships of wai* and whalers supplied them with food and took word of their progress to the people of England, who showed remarkable interest in these folks. Three Englishmen at various times tnrew in their lot with the Pitcairn Islanders and the population gradually increased. In 1831 the British Government, believing these people would be happier if removed to Tahiti, provided facilities for their transport there, but a few months there created an overwhelming nostalgia for Pitcairn and before the end of the year they were baek there. By the year 1852 the defects of the island as a place for a community of any size were becoming nianifest. Sickness was rihs droughts and gales ruined their crops and destroyed their coconuts, the water supply became precarious and altogether their situation was deplorable. Though deeply' attached to Pitcairn, the people were forced to seriously consider the prospect of removal again, and in 1853 they approached the British Government with the request that some uninhabited island, "exempt from the probable visitations of famine," should be placed at their disposal for their own use.

Fortunately for them Norfolk Island, a place very much larger than their Pitcairn, and fitted to sustain a - much larger population, was about to be vacated. On May 3, 1856, the whole population of Pitcairn was embarked on the "Morayshire," a ship provided by the British Government, and on June 8 following, there landed at their new home 40 men, 47 womth, 54 boys and 53 girls, a total of 194. Notwithstanding the- superior facilities and opportunities of their new abode, some were unable to overcome their regrets for the land of their birth and in 1858 and 1863 no less than 46 persons returned to Pitcairn. The new chapter thus opened required constitutional changes, and on June 24, 1856, Norfolk was withdrawn from the colony of Tasmania and created a separate settlement, with the Governor of New South Wales as its Governor also. In 1896 New Zealand put forward a claim to the control of the island, but it was not supported oy the Colonial Office, and in 1897 an Imperial Order-in-Council, referring to Norfolk, declared that the existing form of Government should be continued "in prospect of the future annexation of Norfolk Island to the colony of New South Wales, or to any Federal body of which that colony might thereafter form part." In 1913 arrangements were made. for the acceptance Of Norfolk as a territory by the Commo'nwealth of Australia, and in 1914 this was consummated, control being vested in the GovernorGeneral. The island is now administered by the Prime Mlnister of the Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, acting through an appointed administrator. There is an Advisory Council of eight members elected by the people. No history of Norfolk Island would be complete without mention of its long association with the Melanesian Mission. In 1867 their headquarters were established on the island and the mission Chapel of Saint Barnabas was built. The chapel is quite unique. The marble work and decorations in shell mosaics done by the native students from the island are really beautiful, stained glass windows by rBurne-Jones being among many other splendid gifts and bequests made by the people in England to this romantic outpost. For half a century the headquarters of the Bishop of Melanesia remained on Norfolk, after which . they were moved to the Solomon Islands. This completes a few .of. the more interesting facts of a short history of Norfolk Island, "The Madeira of the Pacific," compiled by six young vrfbAn while' waiting for a troopship. A very interesting book could be written on the history of this interesting and romantic island, which lies but 630 miles from Auckland.