Norfolk Islander
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
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 enHrely 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 instrucHons directed to se]le 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 – se]le back on your couch 6 Polynesian triangle – NI most westerly site of Polynesian se]lement – not much known about it, extended over c300 – c500 years, might have been seasonal. Kingston only se]lement site discovered so far (marae), but artefacts have been found all over the island. Organised archaeological invesHgaons 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 (suggesHng some ritual uses in the marae) Evidence suggests Polynesians leI 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 TahiH examples – Following lines of descent from Polynesian women who were partners of the Bounty muneers. Rescue of Norf’k language from exHncHon, now taught at school (lot of Polynesian vocabulary) IntroducHon of Polynesian music (ukelele popular – CDs available) and dancing, more recently of canoeing, taooing Archaeological invesHgaons 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 se]lement and claim the island – now celebrated as Foundaon Day Se]lement established at Sydney Bay – now Kingston (around head of pier) Se]lement prospered, supplied food to Sydney, took overflow of convicts in early period. Important to understand what NSW was then – a mariHme 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 funcHoned as a district of the colony, expirees se]led down, established farms and families Between 1808 and 1814 the se]lement was gradually closed down and islanders deported or removed to VDL and Sydney, oIen against their wishes (problems of a lack of a harbour, also end of Napoleonic Wars). 9 As the last ship leI 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 charHng the coast – some of his charts sHll in use today. Causeway built to get to Sirius shipwreck – sHll visible at very low Hdes – I believe it to be the oldest surviving BriHsh colonial structure in Australia. This period not well represented in histories or heritage work on the island – focus is on the “Second Se]lement” – 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 sHll 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 sHll 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, sHll funcHons as the principle poliHcal and social centre of the island. 11 Penal se]lement 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 substanHal 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 bapHsed in the chapels, but never allowed to officially “se]le” 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 muHneers from 1789 and the Polynesian women they “acquired”. Pitcairn a Hny island, limited resources, by 1850s needed to move elsewhere. Influence of evangelical missionaries with Gov Sir William Denison persuaded BriHsh authoriHes 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 leI to their own devises, occasional visit by Gov of NSW (also Gov of NI) to se]le disputes etc. Islanders believed the island had been given to them, as a giI 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 conHnued, 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 Hmber, “mined” the old convict buildings for doors, windows, shingles, beams, etc., also furnishings. 13 This fear of loosing their idenHty 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 Hme 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 oIen came directly from England to work in the mission for a few years.