Gravestones reveal a rich and dark history on Norfolk Island

The old gravestones on Norfolk Island read like pages of a book providing a cameo of a life long gone. Overlooking the raging Pacific Ocean, the cemetery separated the deceased from their homeland far-away. 

Here, on the island, many soldiers', sailors' and First Fleet settlers' were buried from the late 1700s until today.
Stephen Smith (40 yrs) was murdered by the convicts during a mutiny in the penitentiary. The convicts were not buried here.

Charles Turner (20 yrs) drowned when he fell from his boat while fishing. Alfred Baldock drowned when crossing the bar. Baird and Bergin also drowned. 

George Hale (47 yrs) – commander of the whaling ship GENERAL BOYD was obviously a staunch Freemason. He died of typhoid. 

Thomas York and James Neale – soldiers - were shot by accident. Michael Mansfield (22 yrs) died when he fell from his horse. Soldiers from various regiments were in their early 20s when they died.

 
Plus there are the numerous headstones bearing the names of the descendants of the mutineers of the BOUNTY who were transported from Pitcairn Island to Norfolk Island in the mid 1800s (e.g. Peggy - wife of Fletcher Christian – but not the original).

Dozens, if not hundreds of epitaphs bear the surname of mutineers - Christian, Adams, Nobbs, McCoy and Quintal. They now stand in proud defiance of British authority.

Murderers’ mound, near the sea and outside the bounds of the consecrated ground is where the guilty men (and a few innocents) were buried after being hung from the gallows.

Imagine how many stories are buried here.

The Wreck of HMS SIRIUS - Norfolk Island 1788

In 1788, soon after the First Fleet arrived in Sydney Town, a settlement was planned for Norfolk Island. But the arrival of HMS SIRIUS was a disaster.

HMS SIRIUS: Wrecked 19 March 1790 - Norfolk Island.
She was a 512 ton naval frigate armed with 14 x 6lb cannon, 6 x 18lb carronades and 8 swivel guns. 

Having sailed from Britain to Botany Bay as flagship of the First Fleet, HMS SIRIUS was sent on to Norfolk Island with convicts, settlers and supplies. With no natural harbour, and the island surrounded by reefs, the ship attempted to remain in deep water but was blown onto the outer reef and eventually pushed into the channel running between the two.

While the sea here appears fairly calm, it is possible to see the breakers on the two reefs which run parallel. It was here that the SIRIUS met her fate.

While no one was lost and many of the stores were rescued, the ship could not be floated off and eventually succumbed to the treacherous waves and currents bombarding the island.

The SIRIUS Museum is located a stone's throw from where the ship was wrecked.

In 1905, divers recovered the first anchor (now in Sydney) and during the century to follow, thousands of other artefacts, including another bower anchor, cannon and carronades were recovered from the seabed.

These were all heavily encrusted in coral.
Today, the ‘Sirius’ Museum is located a little over 100 yards from where the ship foundered. The museum presentation is remarkable.

 

Other items possibly still remain between the reefs.

FIRST FLEET by M Howard Morgan

Jack Vizzard is a promising young lawyer who becomes involved with a village girl, Mary, who is below his social standing. While she is accused of a petty offence and subsequently sentenced to transportation, Jack commits a far more heinous crime for which he escapes apprehension. To ensure his safely he joins the Marine Corps.

The time is 1786 and a fleet of eleven ships under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip sails from Spithead conveying a consignment of convicts to New Holland – the land ‘discovered’ by James Cook and considered ideal for colonial settlement.
By co-incidence Jack Vizzard and Mary, unbeknown to each other, undertake this voyage.
While the initial relationship between Jack and Mary is intense, once the ships arrive in New South Wales, this relationship mellows and the focus of attention switches to the animosity between Jack and his superior officer, Major Ross.

The fact, the book’s title suggests it is a naval story, is misleading, as the majority of the story is land-based in England and Sydney. However, the historical records of the specific ships and personnel involved in this event are carefully adhered to.

FIRST FLEET is M. Howard Morgan’s first novel. It is a well written and easy to read (I read the Kindle edition), though it contains some minor errors which would be worth editing in the next edition.

FIRST FLEET provides an interesting insight into the role of the Marines who played an integral role in the establishment of the new colony which was to become Australia.