Now in its fifth edition, 'Norfolk Island: A Revised and Enlarged History
1774-1998' is an authoritative account of the island's fascinating history.
Merval Hoare has been a resident of Norfolk Island for fifty years and her deep
interest in the island's history and conservation has resulted in this
definitive work.
Captain James Cook discovered Norfolk Island during his second voyage around
the world in1 774, and felled one of the island's distinctive pine trees to make
a mast his his ship. Superintendent Philip Gidley King and subsequent
commandants carved out the islands convict settlement, the second established by
the British in the South Pacific. Both convicts and free settlers coped with the
hardships of cultivating a new and isolated land, the shortages of implements
and food. Amid opposition, the settlement was removed to Van Diemen's Land by
1814.
Norfolk was reopened in 1825 to receive the worst felons, those doubly
convicted prisoners unwanted by the colonies of New South Wales and Van Diemen's
Land. For 3thirty terrible years the convicts suffered under the lash and
leg-iron, many preferring death to the tortures of island life.
The island's history and image took a dramatic turn in 1856, when it became
the new home of the Pitcairn Islanders, descendants of the famous Bounty
mutineers. The present-day character of Norfolk comes from these friendly and
easy-going church-loving islanders, who maintained their traditional ways well
into the twentieth century. Although modern communications, the airstrip, and
mainland settlers and visitors have altered Norfolk's way of life, its rich
history, beautiful natural scenery, and peaceful tranquility make it a rewarding
tourist destination.
Contents:
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Map
Chronology
Part 1: European Discovery of the Island: Prehistory and First Penal Settlement
(1774-1814)
Part 2: Second Penal Settlement (1825-1856)
Part 3: The Pitcairn Islanders and their Descendants (1856-1945)
- Pitcairn Island
- Third Settlement: The Pitcairn Islanders Occupy Norfolk - Some Return to
Pitcairn
- Whaling
- Melanesian Mission and Establishment of Churches
- Education
- Travellers' Tales
- Turn of the Century
- Laws and Administration
- Financial Arrangements
- Hopes for a Harbour
- Pacific Cable Station
- 1900-1939
- World War II
Part 4: The Postwar Years
- Role of Aviation
- Centenary Celebrations
- Constitutional Changes
- The 1980s and 1990s
Part 5
Notes
Bibliography
Index
