Pitcairn Island, a Haven in the South Pacific

Jan 17, 2012
Brian Cross

Pitcairn Island Flag - Image from World Flag Database

Pitcairn Island is an isolated and remote place in the South Pacific. In 1789 it was also uninhabited. That made it an ideal home for the Bounty mutineers.

Lying midway between New Zealand and South America, Pitcairn Island has a fame that belies its small size and minor significance. That fame originated when in 1789, mutineers led by Fletcher Christian took control of HMS Bounty as it sailed from Tahiti, cast their captain Lieutenant William Bligh and those loyal to him adrift in a ship’s boat, and set out looking for a home.

Mutiny on the Bounty

After taking charge of the Bounty, the mutineers fell out with the local Tahitian people, took aboard a number of them and sailed west in search of a place to settle. They would find it two months later when Pitcairn Island was sighted. The total contingent was 27 – nine mutineers, 12 Tahitian women and six men, the latter taken aboard effectively as slaves.

When Pitcairn Island was named by Captain Philip Carteret on HMS Swallow in 1767, it was uninhabited. Caberet could not land due to the ocean swell, but filed a report on his discovery. Fletcher Christian was aware of that report, and after failing to find a safe haven further to the north, the mutineers made for this isolated island. They found evidence of ancient Polynesian settlement but now had the island to themselves - a long way from British justice.

For the mutineers, there was no turning back. The Bounty was set ablaze to remove all trace of their occupation of Pitcairn. The hilly island had little flat land and no sheltered harbour, but they worked to make it their home. For the band of outlaws and the Tahitians they took with them, and for the children that came along in time, life would be tough on Pitcairn. By 1800 murder, killing in self defence, illness and accident had claimed all but one of the mutineers. The survivor was John Adams, who showed himself to be the resourceful leader of a growing community.

The Pitcairn Island Community Grows

By the time the British finally came back to Pitcairn in 1814, Adams was leader of a stable society that was following his strong religious beliefs. Britain was willing to leave the mutiny behind them, and basic international relations began. Passing ships called to barter hardware goods for fresh island produce, and a number of sailors decided to stay. When Adams died in 1829 he was deeply mourned.

A sad chapter in Pitcairn Island history was the unsuccessful relocation of the whole population to Tahiti in 1831. Britain evacuated the population in what it considered the islanders’ best interests. But life in Tahiti was miserable. The Pitcairn Islanders were more British in their ways than they were Tahitian, and this caused a culture clash. They also had no immunity to the diseases by now endemic in Tahiti. Within six months and after several deaths including that of Christian’s son, who had been the community’s first child born on Pitcairn, a humanitarian effort saw them taken back to the island.

Since Adams’ death the governance of Pitcairn Islands had been fraught with problems, and in 1838 a constitution and set of laws was developed to introduce some stability. Pitcairn became a member of the British Empire, and its legislation introduced both female suffrage and compulsory schooling for the first time into any British law.

Relocation to Norfolk Island

As the Pitcairn population grew, talk again surfaced about relocation to somewhere more suitable. This time the islanders insisted that if evacuation must occur, it should be to somewhere uninhabited. So in 1856 Pitcairn's 194 inhabitants sailed for the former penal colony of Norfolk Island, which due to its past use had land, roads, building and livestock waiting. This was a better life, but for some, Pitcairn was still where they wanted to be. Over the next decade several families returned to re-establish the community that Fletcher Christian had started.

In the ensuing years the people of Pitcairn have often struggled to survive. At other times the local economy has been quite buoyant, with passing ships continuing to calling on this isolated dot in the South Pacific to trade. Today, Pitcairn’s young people find the call of New Zealand and Australia is strong. The feeling runs deep however that Pitcairn Island will always be home.

Note: Pitcairn island is one of four islands in the Pitcairn Islands group, and the only one inhabited.