Watawieh yorli – how are you all – guud/kushu Welkam t’ Norf’k Ailen

My name is BB, former site manager

19 slides to go through in next 50 minutes, covering 900 years of human history

About 1 slide every 2 ½ minutes

A copy of the whole presentaon will be available aer the webinar

1 I will cover each of these historical phases

Commencing with some general background info

Concluding with some useful references – that are mostly only available on the island, so look for them in bookshops (Museum, Golden Orb, Newsagency in the mall)

2 1,700 kilometres from Sydney – about 2 ½ hours by plane, up to a week or even longer by sailing ship

New Caledonia closest land mass – 800 kilometres to the north, NZ (Auckland) 1100 kms to south-east

The island is the highest point of the Norfolk Ridge that extends from NZ to NC, only part above sea level

3 Coming into NI by plane you may see either or both these sites.

The island is almost enrely surrounded by very high cliffs.

Only break is really at Kingston – Sydney Bay – some smaller coves at Ball Bay, Anson Bay, Cascade, but difficult to access down cliffs

Island is about 8 x 5 kilometres, and is always green, lots of valleys and ridges radiang from old volcanic peak of Mt Pi/Mt Bates, western side mainly forested, eastern side mainly rural

4 2 main symbols of the island that you will see

The flag, adopted 1980, see everywhere, can buy miniatures

The coat of arms, adopted 1984, see mainly on official documents and signs, including passport stamps

Colonial great seal used 1856 to 1914 – now on display in the Legislave Assembly, depicted in banner of local newspaper The Norfolk Islander

Note use of NI Pine as key symbol of the island – noted by Capt Cook in 1774 when he discovered and named the island aer the Duchess of Norfolk,

Gov Phillip in his instrucons directed to sele the island ASAP on account of the pines, which it was thought would have strategic naval value. Lot of use now as internal lining boards, furniture, picture frames, ornaments – look for it, unique souvenirs

5 Some QI facts about the island

Generally a pleasant place to live or holiday, people are generally friendly and welcoming

NOW, lets dive into some history – sele back on your couch

6 Polynesian triangle – NI most westerly site of Polynesian selement – not much known about it, extended over c300 – c500 years, might have been seasonal.

Kingston only selement site discovered so far (marae), but artefacts have been found all over the island.

Organised archaeological invesgaons between1995-1997, artefacts now exhibited in museum – include tools, bones from birds, fish, shells, etc (food), dogs, rats, turtle- bone harpoon, an elephant seal skull (suggesng some ritual uses in the marae)

Evidence suggests Polynesians le c1650 at the latest, no reason yet known

7 Since self-govt in 1979, there has been a renewal of interest in Polynesian culture among the islanders

Re-establishment of links with Pitcairn Island and with French Polynesia – Polynesian cultural mores (foods, dress) modelled on Tahi examples –

Following lines of descent from Polynesian women who were partners of the Bounty muneers.

Rescue of Norf’k language from exncon, now taught at school (lot of Polynesian vocabulary)

Introducon of Polynesian music (ukelele popular – CDs available) and dancing, more recently of canoeing, taooing

Archaeological invesgaons confirming Polynesian presence has contemporary symbolic importance.

8 6 March 1788 – key date – when small party of Phillip Gidley King sent from Port Jackson to establish a selement and claim the island – now celebrated as Foundaon Day

Selement established at Sydney Bay – now Kingston (around head of pier)

Selement prospered, supplied food to Sydney, took overflow of convicts in early period. Important to understand what NSW was then – a marime colony, centred on the sea and the fisheries – whaling and sealing ships began calling into Kingston from mid-1790s, trading goods for fresh water and foodstuffs.

King found evidence of Polynesians – buried canoe, artefacts, bananas, rats

1790 wreck of HMS Sirius, flagship of First Fleet – now a museum devoted to the wreck and its artefacts

The island funconed as a district of the colony, expirees seled down, established farms and families

Between 1808 and 1814 the selement was gradually closed down and islanders deported or removed to VDL and Sydney, oen against their wishes (problems of a lack of a harbour, also end of Napoleonic Wars).

9 As the last ship le the island in 1814, all the buildings in Kingston were set on fire to deter anyone occupying them.

However, most were built of stone and many of the walls etc survived, and some remain in what must be Australia’s most intact 18C townscape around the head of the pier.

OGH kitchen (now Surgeons Kitchen), old bakery (now Guardhouse), old chapel/ barracks (now Civil Hospital) are examples; also Govt House – doors etc may survive from this period

Headstones in the cemetery in Emily Bay (now at present cemetery beside Cemetery Bay)

Perhaps most significant person born on the island during this period was PP King, son of PG King, circumnavigated Australia in 1820s charng the coast – some of his charts sll in use today.

Causeway built to get to Sirius shipwreck – sll visible at very low des – I believe it to be the oldest surviving Brish colonial structure in Australia.

This period not well represented in histories or heritage work on the island – focus is on the “Second Selement” – but its there if you look carefully.

10 In 1825 the island was “re-opened” as a place of secondary punishment in the convict system (Pt Macquarie, Moreton Bay, Wellington, Macquarie Harbour, etc)

Many of the stone buildings sll there, so re-roofed and Kingston rose again from the ruins of ashes and re-growth.

Symbolic of this is Government House – renovated/restored in 1829 – extended with wings and courtyards at back – oldest vice-regal residence in the Commonwealth sll be used for its original purpose, most historically significant vice-regal residence in Australia and Commonwealth for that reason.

Open day once/month – if while there, don’t miss opportunity. Some furnishings from this period survive, notably the dining table, 1830s cedar; building extensively conserved for 1988 bicentennial, sll funcons as the principle polical and social centre of the island.

11 Penal selement operated for 31 years – notorious reputaon for extreme brutality, but not supported by actual historical record – nevertheless the ‘blood and chain’ myths persist, and you will hear them from many of the locals.

Some very substanal buildings and infrastructure constructed during this period, of which many survive, all across the island.

Bloody Bridge, Crankmill and Murderer’s Mound – names from 1890s – reflect the ‘For the term of his natural life’ mythology

Along with convicts there were also military – barracks, headstones

Capt Alexander Maconochie commandant 1840-1844 – ‘Treat men like brutes they’ll be brutes, like men they’ll me men’ – experiments in penal reforms, reduced recidivism.

Only male convicts sent to Norfolk, although some women convicts also sent from Female Factory in Hobart as servants – some marriages with convict men, some children born and bapsed in the chapels, but never allowed to officially “sele” as between 1788-1814; even some of the convicts were men who had been born on the island during that earlier period.

Admin transferred from NSW to VDL in 1844 aer cessaon of transportaon to NSW in 1840

12 The Pitcairn Islanders, or Pi’kerners, were descendants of Bounty muneers from 1789 and the Polynesian women they “acquired”. Pitcairn a ny island, limited resources, by 1850s needed to move elsewhere.

Influence of evangelical missionaries with Gov Sir William Denison persuaded Brish authories to transfer them to Norfolk. When they arrived on the Morayshire 6 June 1856, 156 individuals in 8 extended clans, they spent several weeks with the last of the convicts as the island was handed over to them. The island was also separated from Tasmania, and created a separate Crown Colony in late 1856. For rest of 19C largely le to their own devises, occasional visit by Gov of NSW (also Gov of NI) to sele disputes etc.

Islanders believed the island had been given to them, as a gi from Queen Victoria – despite every effort since then, this remains a central founding myth of Norfolk P’kerner culture, and Queen Victoria has a cult-like status. Visit the Queen Victoria Gardens and its summer house to see this.

Whaling connued, especially lot of American whalers – customs survive today such as Thanksgiving Day and foods such as sweet pies.

First generaon lived in Kingston, granted farms in the interior – by 1880s second generaon moving onto the farms, copied building styles from Kingston but mainly in mber, “mined” the old convict buildings for doors, windows, shingles, beams, etc., also furnishings.

13 This fear of loosing their identy and culture aer leaving Pitcairn was reinforced when Sir William Denison, besides transferring the Pitcairners to Norfolk, also arranged for land to be granted to the Melanesian Mission. The islanders believed QV had given them the island, and regarded the arrival of the mission in 1866 as a bertrayl by the

Pitcairners resented this intrusion, but over me there was intermarriage with mission staff and new skills were learnt from the mission tradesmen.

The mission brought young men and women from Melanesia, esp New Hebrides, to Norfolk for training as missionaries back in the islands. Thousands passed through the mission during its 53 year history on the island, along with a large number of missionary-teachers who oen came directly from England to work in the mission for a few years.

The chapel was designed in London, and all the stained class was made by Edward Burne-Jones in the William Morris workshops. The mission became the seat of the Diocese of Melanesia. The chapel was formally named the Bishop Paterspn Memorial Chapel aer the first Bishop of Melanesia who, along with two Pitcairner men, was killed while missionjsing in the Pacific. However, it has also been known for many years as St Barnabas’ Chapel.

The mission was within the ‘high church’ stream of Anglicanism, while the Anglicanism the Pitcairners brought from Pitcairn was low church and evangelical –

14 In 1897 the administraon of NI was transferred to NSW, and In 1914 from NSW to the Commonwealth – Australia’s first island territory.

1917 – NI residents enfranchised in 2nd conscripon referendum – voted 86% Yes – Anzac Day connues to be commemorated, many island men served. Cenotaph unveiled in 1926.

Perhaps best known of the Commonwealth administrators Maj Gen Sir Charles Rosenthal (1937-1945) – a hero of Gallipoli, reputedly the model for Benj Cooley in DH Lawrence’s novel Kangaroo – acvely tried to promote tourism and economic development on the island, made trips to Sydney, Hobart and Brisbane giving talks on its convict history, was in charge during WW2 when the airstrip was built that changed the island forever aer the war – he was an architect, designed the island’s main public hall, Rawson Hall in Burnt Pine.

When his term finished, he remained living on the island, was able to greet the Duke & Duchess of Gloucester when they made first royal visit to the island in 1946, all the islanders had a huge picnic for the occasion in the Govt House domain.

Series of booms and busts (lemons, passion fruit, etc), whaling connued, but now as a local industry – Cascade whaling staon built in 1949, part of a company that operated a staon in Byron Bay (the two are linked) – some ruins survive on the site. Tourism took off in the 1950s once civil aircra could use the airstrip – The Pitcairn Village wasone of the earliest tourism ventures, with focus on Pitcairner history, sll

15 By later 1960s, Island was reasonably prosperous for the first me, through combinaon of tourism and duty-free shopping (and corporate tax avoidance schemes) – Burnt Pine really grew as a town during this period – only ATM in pic.

PNG independence 1975, NT self-govt 1978, NI self-gov 1979: marked a cultural turn to the Pacific (noted earlier – also mural). NI Govt (Administrator, CM and Assembly), Bounty Day celebraons to include street parade, etc., own public services and agencies emphasised local disncveness and culture; but some perennial problems remained – no harbour, so working the ship (lighters, launch), Commonwealth clamp down on tax avoidance, etc. Tourism declined since c2000 – mainly cheaper alternaves such as Fiji.

Aer 35 years of self-governance, Island both struggles economically but on the other hand has a truly unique culture that blends Polynesian and Brish forms and tradions, evident in arts and cultural acvies (don’t miss galleries such as Guava), nowhere else in Australia like it.

16 A proposal for a world heritage lisng of Australian convict sites was first put forward in 1992. 18 years later, a lisng was finally achieved, and the Kingston & Arthur’s Vale Historic Area (KAVHA) was one of the 11 sites.

Some outcomes of that have included new research centre in Kingston (well worth a visit), revitalisaon of annual Foundaon Day ceremonies on 6th March, some nice stamp issues, the translaon of the words ‘world heritage’ into Norf’k language and inclusion in the world heritage emblem (werl f’inherent = literally, its for the world to inherit), and perhaps most notable for us as historians, some revision and rewring of the island’s history – Dr Tim Causer and Babee Smith, in parcular, are important in this process.

Currently, the management plans and arrangement for the world heritage site are being reviewed and updated, so you may see something of this while you are there.

Don’t fprget to have a photo taken of you with the world heritage site sign in Arthur’s Vale, as you are coming into Kingston.

And now, that brings us to end of the quick virtual tour of Norfolk Island – there is a lot more than what I have been able to show you in these few minutes, but hope this has given you and an idea or a taste of what this beauful island territory that seems largely unknown beyond its shores.

17 Finally, there are quite a few books around covering Norfolk’s general history or different aspects of it.

The slide shows a selecon of some of the beer local history books only really available on the Island (Museum, Golden Orb, Newsagency in the Mall), and so online resources that are useful.

Apart from these, there is a whole genre of work about the muny on the Bounty, and biographies of Captain Bligh – although neither Bligh nor any of the actual muneers were ever on Norfolk, but they cast a long shadow in Islander history.

Within the field of convict history there are some histories that include Norfolk Island, biographies of both officials and convicts, and publicaon of journals and diaries.

On the other hand, Norfolk Island is notable for its absence from general Australian histories and NSW histories (despite being part of NSW for 68 years, and administered by NSW for another 58 years), histories of the Australian territories, histories of Australian and Brish colonisaon in the Pacific, and histories of Australian mulculturalism.

18 So, thanks yorli, or thank you all, I hope you’ve found that of some interest, and look forward to any quesons you might have.

19 Norfolk Island: 900 Years in 50 Minutes with Bruce Baskerville, Public Historian Some Useful References Available on Norfolk Island Helen Sampson, Over the Horizon: The Polynesian settlement on Norfolk Island, Quality Press, Burnt Pine 2005 Helen Sampson, One Ship, Two Names, Three Voyages: the story of the Sirius, the author, Norfolk island 2006 Robert (Bob) Tofts, Norfolk Island: Whaling Days Tales and Yarns, the author, Norfolk Island 1997 Merval Hoare, Rambler’s Guide to Norfolk Island, the author, Norfolk Island 1965 – latest revised version 2005 Merval Hoare, Norfolk Island: A Revised and Enlarged History 1774-1998, CQU Press, Rockhampton 1999 Gil Hitch, The Pacific War 1941-1945 and Norfolk Island, the author, Norfolk Island 2005 Nan Smith, Convict Kingston: A Guide, the author, Norfolk Island 1997 Alice Inez Buffett, Speak Norfolk Today: An Encyclopedia of the Norfolk Island Language, Himii Publishing Co., Norfolk Island 1999 Nigel Erskine, Kingston Ceramics: A dictionary of ceramic wares in the Norfolk Island Museum, Norfolk Island Museum, Kingston 2003 Jean Rice, Freemen & Convicts: A collection of the Signs in the Kingston & Arthur’s Vale Historic Area, KAVHA Board, Kingston 2013 Bruce’s Blog posts http://HistoryMatrix.wordpress.com • Bound for the Norfolk Plains • The Seven Bridges of Kingston • Kingston Pier and Landing Place • Kingston Under the Ground • 1, 2, 3 History: A Tour of Kingston • 1, 2, 3 History: Norfolk Island’s Inconvenient History Wikipedia (see entries for the following) • Norfolk Island • Kingston • Burnt Pine BB, 24/9/14