An original tompion from HMS SIRIUS

The eighteenth century sailor, who rammed a wad into the muzzle of a carronade then closed it off with the tompion to prevent water seeping in, would not have believed it would still be in place well over 200 years later.

Tompions (or tampions) that we see today are usually painted replicas, like the red one sitting in the muzzle of this cannon in Norfolk Island.

 
Surprisingly, when the wreck of HMS SIRIUS was dived on and its artefacts brought to the surface, one of the six 18 pounder carronades was still fitted with its original water-tight wooden tompion (made of maple), which had been placed there in 1790 (the year it sank) or in 1787 when SIRIUS sailed from England as flagship of the First Fleet of 11 vessels bound for Botany Bay.

When the tompion was removed from the gun, beneath it were two lengths of twisted twine spliced to a ball of string wadding.

This is probably the only example of an original tompion, over 200 years old, in existence today.

Where does a writer’s inspiration come from?

On a far away island, on an isolated patch of ground stand the old gravestones of Norfolk Island. The soil beneath them hides the dark and sometimes tainted history of men and women who lived and died in this place. 

There stories range from the descendants of the First Fleeters who sailed from England in the late 1700s, from soldiers who guarded convicts  in the infamous prison and were murdered by them, and from the descendants of the Mutineers from the Bounty who came to Norfolk Island from Pitcairn Island in 1856.

Two weeks ago, when I wandered through the cemetery reading the epitaphs, I was reminded of the time, when, as a child, I held my father’s hand and walked between the gravestones in the local cemetery in Yorkshire. 

One of my father's favourite pastimes was reading the inscriptions carved on old tombstones.

Ten years ago, it was this indelible childhood memory which I used to create one of the main threads when I wrote “THE BLACK THREAD". In this fiction story, an old man, searching for something particular in a graveyard, makes a remarkable discovery.

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.

Proud of its fine Georgian architecture - Norfolk Island

KINGSTON -  Norfolk Island - a small island in the South Pacific with a population about 1800.

This tiny island established in the late 1700s, as an early settlement for settlers and convicts, boasts some of the best preserved and restored historic buildings reflecting Britain’s Georgian era.

The ‘main’ street’s name was changed from Military Row to Quality Row. It includes the Commissariat store and administrative buildings and a row of private residences that were originally occupied by senior officials and serving officers.

Across the road is Government House – unfortunately it was not open to tourists when I visited.