The First Settlement

Norfolk Island is an Australian Trust Territory situated latitude 29 degrees south and longitude 168 degrees east, approximately 1,035 miles from Sydney, and 660 miles from Auckland., New Zealand. The island, roughly elliptical in shape, five miles long and three miles wide, is about 8,528 acres in area. It is precipitous, having an average elevation Of 350 feet, and has two peaks, Mt Pitt and Mt Bates, 1,038 feet and 1,043 feet in height respectively.

The island was discovered by Captain James Cook in 1774, and he gave it its name in honour of that noble family'. The climate was equable and the soil fertile; Cook found it uninhabited and covered in dense forest. In his journal, Cook wrote: 'We found the Island uninhabited and near a kin to New Zealand, the flax plant, many other Plants and Trees common to that country was found here but the chief produce of the isle is Spruce Pines which grow here in vast abundance and to a vast size from two to three feet in diameter and upwards, it is a different sort to those in New Caledonia and also to those in New Zealand and for Masts, Yards & superior to both. . .

Both these facts contributed towards the colonisation of Norfolk Island. Flax was rnuch needed by the British Admiralty for sails, and the American Wars had eclipsed the ready source of timber for masts and spars for ships. In 1787 the first fleet of settlers sailed from England under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip, with instructions to form settlements in New South Wales and on Norfolk Island. Governor Phillip's instructions, for the settlement of New South Wales, dated 25 April 1787, stated: 'Norfolk Island being represented as a spot which may hereafter become useful, you are as soon as circumstances will admit of, to send a settlement thither to secure the same to us and prevent it being occupied by the subjects of any other European power, and you will cause any remarks or observations which you may obtain in consequence of this instruction to be transmitted to our 'Principal Secretary of State for Plantation Affairs" for our information?

On 12 February 1788, Governor Phillip issued a commission to Philip Gidley King Esq., the second-lieutenant of His Majesty's ship Sirius appointing him Superintendent and Commandant of the island. Phillip instructed King to: command the settlement to be formed in Norfolk Island, and to obey all such orders as you shall from time to time receive from me, his Majesty's Governor in Chief, and Captain General of the Territory of New South Wales and its dependencies, or from the Lieutenant-Governor in my absence.

'You are therefore to proceed in his Majesty's armed tender Supply, whose commander has my orders to receive you, with the men and women, stores and provisions necessary for forming the intended settlement; and on your landing on Norfolk Island you are to take upon you the execution of the trust reposed in you, causing my commission, appointing you superintendent over the said settlement, to be publicly read.

'After having taken the necessary measures for securing yourself and people and for the preservation of the stores and provisions you are immediately to proceed to the cultivation of the Flax Plant, which you will find growing spontaneously on the island: as likewise to the cultivation of cotton, corn, and other plants, with the seeds of which you are furnished, and which you are to regard as public stock, and of the increase of which you are to send me an account, that I may know what quantity may be drawn from the island for public use, or what supplies it may be necessary to send hereafter. It is left to your discretion to use such part of the corn that is raised as may be found necessary; but this you are to do with the greatest economy; and as the corn, flax, cotton, and other grains are the property of the Crown, and as such are to be accounted for, you are to keep an exact account of the increase, and you will in future receive directions for the disposal thereof.

'You are to inform yourself of the nature of the soil, what proportion of land you find proper for the cultivation of corn, flax, and cotton, as likewise what quantity of cattle may be bred on the island, and the number of people you judge necessary for the above purpose. You will likewise observe what are the prevailing winds in the different seasons of the year. the best anchorage according to the season, the rise and fall of the tides, likewise when the dry and rainy seasons begin and end.

'You will be furnished with a four oared boat, and you are not on any consideration to build. or to permit the building of any vessel or boat whatever that is decked; or of any boat or vessel that is not decked, whose length of keel exceeds twenty feet; and if by any accident any vessel or boat that exceeds twenty feet keel should be driven on the island, you are immediately to cause such boat or vessel to be scuttled, or otherwise rendered unserviceable, letting her remain in that situation until you receive further directions from me.

You will be furnished with six months provisions within which time you will receive an additional supply, but as you will be able to procure fish and vegetables, you are to endeavour to make the provisions you receive serve as long as possible.'

King sailed to Norfolk Island in the Supply on 14 February 1788. With him were a petty officer, a surgeon's mate, two marines, two men who understood the cultivation of flax, and nine male and six female convicts. The Supply was commanded by Lieutenant Ball, PLN, and the small party arrived on 29 February. Landing was difficult because of the precipitous shore and it was not until 6 March that 'every person and article to the settlement went on shore, and the tents pitched. Before the colours were hauled down, I [King] assembled my small colony under them [Lieutenant Ball and some of his officers being present] and drank the health's of Her Majesty the Queen, the Prince of Wales, and the success of the settlement.

The settlement was at Sydney Cove, a relatively flat area fringed by hills and protected from the sea by a coral reef. A suitable landing spot had been, found at Sydney Bay, the most easterly point of the reef, which contained a sandy beach. 'When our settlers landed, there was not a single acre clear of wood in the island, and the trees were so bound together by that kind of creeping shrub called supple jack, inter-woven in all directions, as to render it very difficult to penetrate far among them. The Commandant, small as his numbers were at first, by indefatigable activity soon caused a space to be cleared sufficient for the requisite accommodations, and for the production of esculent vegetables of all kinds in the greatest abundance.'.'

The first news of the settlement received by Phillip reported three acres of barley thriving, and ground prepared for rice and Indian corn. But the wheat crop was a disappointment; the grain was attacked by weevils. Despite this King wrote that 'there was not a doubt that this colony would be in a situation to support itself entirely without assistance, in less than four years: and very little in the intermediate time. Even two years would be more than sufficient for this purpose, could a proper supply of black cattle be sent..' Fish were plentiful, and, in season, fine turtles were caught at Emily Beach. The woods were inhabited by innumerable birds, many of them very gay in plumage ... The most useful are pigeons, which are very numerous, and a bird not unlike the Guinea fowl, except in colour, (being chiefly white), both of which were at first so tame as to suffer themselves to be taken by hand. Of plants that afford vegetables for the table, the chief are cabbage palm, the wild plantain, the fern tree, a kind of wild spinage, and a tree which produces a diminutive fruit, bearing some resemblance to a currant. This, it is hoped, by transplanting and care', will be much improved in size and flavour."

The flax plant described by Cook, was quickly discovered. 'The surgeon, in walking about the island, found out the flax plant, which proved to be what we had hitherto called the Iris, not having any description of this plant, I had no idea of its being what Captain Cook calls the flax plant of New Zealand. The cliffs and shore near the settlement were covered with it ... the method of preparing the New Zealand flax not being described by Captain Cook, I caused three bundles of ours to be put in the rivulet to soak, intending to try it after the European method of dressing flax? Timber was soon felled for the first buildings: 'The Sawpit being finished on the 18th, a small pine was cut down near it which measured 115 feet in length, and two feet six inches in diameter at the vane; and twelve foot length was got on the pit and the sawyers began sawing it into framings and scantlings for the store house.

A small ravine behind Sydney Bay, called Arthur’s Vale by King, was the first area to be cultivated: 'Arthur's Vale, which is near the settlement, and the first place which was cleared for cultivation, is a pretty spot of level ground, and the most extensive flat yet cleared, it contains eleven acres ... there was when I left the island in February, 1791, something more than 100 acres cleared for the public, exclusive of private gardens, but all the roots of the trees were left in the ground, which no doubt occupy a fifth part of it for many of them are very large.

Life on Norfolk Island was difficult, mainly due to the 'blights from the sea winds and there are immense numbers of grub worms and caterpillars'. King complained of other pests too. 'There is also a fly of a very destructive nature to the gardens and corn, but when such vermin do not appear until the crops have arrived at a certain age and have gained their strength their effects are not so ruinous, there is no certain period at which they appear, probably when a large extent of the ground is cleared these vermin may not be so prevalent.

King had few problems with the free settlers and wrote: 'Before I take my final leave of the island (where I remained two years) I cannot help acknowledging the great assistance I have received from the few officers I had with me; nor was this proprietary of conduct confined to officers alone, as all the marines and other free people were ready and regular in their behaviour; and it gives me a sensible satisfaction to remain, that excepting on two occasions I never had any reason to be dissatisfied with any of the few free persons I had under my command. But of the convicts he wrote: 'The few convicts that first landed with me, in general behaved well, but as their numbers increased, they renewed their wicked practices: and nothing but the severest punishments and the mustering them during the night in their huts could prevent these thefts in any degree whatsoever.

King was recalled to England in March 1790 to report on various colonial matters which could not be committed to paper, particularly the sad state of the settlement at Port Jackson which was on the point of starvation. He was succeeded by Major Ross but in November 1791 was re-appointed Lieutenant Governor.

On 17 March 1790, as King left for England, the Sirius and the Supply, under the command of Major Ross, embarked part of a detachment of marines, 120 male and 70 female convicts, together with provisions, for the island. Two days later Sirius was wrecked on Sydney Bay Reef, and with the influx of the shipwrecked marines, food supplies on the island became short. The settlement was virtually saved by the petrels nesting on the island which the men caught and ate. A grateful Captain John Hunter renamed the bird the 'Bird of Providence'. Lieutenant Bradley reported in 1790 that 'parties were allowed to go for the birds, for the seamen, marines and convicts twice a week each and limited not to bring more than a proportion of three for. each man'.

Unfortunately this rule did not prevail long. The petrel was decimated in its thousands, almost to the point of extinction.

The personnel of the Sirius stayed eleven months on the island and were employed building houses and improving the entry into Sydney Bay. William Bradley, first lieutenant of the Sirius, made a survey of the island during his stay.

King's second period of office was marked by the construction of permanent buildings. 'The Buildings which were first erected in this island being designed only for a small number of men and as these numbers increased, together with the number of Officers. I found it necessary, on my return here to turn my attention to buildings of solidity, and permanent utility. My Dwelling House, which was erected by only one carpenter when I first landed on the Island, being scarcely habitable, and its size only 24 feet long by 12 feet wide, I found it necessary to begin a house for myself. The storehouses which were small, and originally built of wood, and very insecure, made it necessary to build a commodious, and durable' one on the Room of these detached and insecure buildings. Houses are also wanted for the Deputy Surveyor, Surgeon, Provost Martial, 2 Lieutenants and Chaplain.

The discovery of lime stone which is in sufficient quantities both for the purposes of the best of lime and building stone, and a tolerable kind of brick that has been made here, have furnished the best materials for building. But, a stone mason could not be found among the convicts which obliged me to employ a marine settler, who is a Master Mason, and a very good builder. He has, with the assistance of 4 very indifferent bricklayers, built the square of my dwelling house in a workman-like manner, and has begun the square of the structure, the respective dimensions of which are as follows viz. –

' Lieut. Governor's House 60 feet long, 30 feet wide and 13 feet under the roof. Its situation is commanding, and in the construction of it, I had regard to its being capable of answering the purpose of a Place of Arms on any necessity that may require its being converted into a purpose of that kind.

Store-House 8o feet long -24 feet wide, and 18 feet high, and is situated near the landing place.

The settlement grew substantially. Maps of the period show King's home as he describes, with dormer windows let into the roof space, a collection of store buildings near the landing place and the group of settlers and convict establishments on the present site of the gaol. Development is also shown at Arthur’s Vale, Phillipburg and Longridge, the last being described as '1,122 acres, besides the space the town stands on -all which ground will begin to be cropped with wheat and Indian corn'.

Life on the island was reasonably pleasant. Paintings show the buildings nestling amongst pine trees and dominated by the backdrop of hills. Birds and parrots fly through the forest, crops are being cultivated and timber is being felled. The effect is remarkably similar to a Breughel painting of a medieval community. The mill at Arthur’s Vale, in fact, has more in common with rural Europe than it has with a Pacific island.

' At Queenborough where there is the greatest quantity of ground in cultivation a spacious barn and granary is built. And the few carpenters that can be spared from the works in Sydney are employed in building framed and boarded dwelling houses for the convicts, as the hagg'd huts built in 1790 are now falling down ... At Phillipburg a large Work house for manufacturing the Flax and weaving it, is built, with good dwelling houses for the Assistant Surgeon, Storekeeper and Superintendent, also good barracks for the Sergeant's Guard on duty at that place and tolerable good huts for the few convicts that are stationed there. But the want of a harbour or safe Roadstead can never be removed.

King later noted in his diary: 'The Pines which have been particularly spoken of by Captain Cook and by others who have lately visited the island, is he most conspicuous of any tree here, they grow to a prodigious size and are proportionately tall, being from 150 to 200 feet, and in circumference 12 to14 feet, some to 28 and 30 feet ... I employed the carpenters of the Sirius while here, to cut down a few sticks, which it was intended should be sent home by the first opportunity, in order for trial in His Majesty's Navy, or not. In providing a top mast and a top sail yard for a twenty four gunship, a thirty two, a twenty or a sloop, and one rough spar, in all eleven sticks, 34 trees were cut down, 27 of which were found defective. The hopes of supplying the Admiralty with timber were thus shattered. and the pine subsequently was used only for building.

Neither was the production of flax a success, despite the bringing of two Maoris, Hoodoo and Toogee, from New Zealand in 1793 to teach the settlers how to manufacture it. Only after they had been kidnapped and brought to the island were they able to explain that flax. manufacture was a traditional female task and unknown to men! King made arrangements for their return to New Zealand after they had threatened suicide.

King ended his 'Second term on the island on 22, October 1796 when he left for sick leave -In England aboard the Britannia. He arrived home on 6 May 1797 and remained in England until 28 September 1800 when he was appointed Governor of New South Wales.

When King applied for leave in 1796, Governor Hunter appointed Captain George Johnston to succeed him. Johnston however declined to act, and Captain Townson of the New South Wales Corps took command. From this time until Major Foveaux was appointed Governor in June 18oo, the administration of the government devolved upon the senior military officer stationed on the island.

A woman's view of life on the island is provided by Mrs Eliza Kent who arrived aboard the Buff 1 on 13 May 1803, during the Foveaux administration. In a letter she wrote: 'You are well informed of there being no harbour or anchorage for shipping at Norfolk Island so that we had to row some distance on a very rough sea. When we reached the landing place, a rope was made fast to a ring in the stern of the boat, and the other end held by the people on shore, who bawled out as the surf receded, 'Now, now, now', in my eagerness to obey this signal I forgot the rope which I drew after me with such force, that it caught the master under the chin, jerked his head over the side of the boat, and threw his feet in the air which luckily for him the people in the boat got hold of, or he would have been overboard; I laughed so much at the fright I had given the Old Tar………… .

Later, in the company of several gentlemen, Mrs Kent visited the new Government House being erected by Lieutenant-Convenor Foveaux, King's second Government House having fallen into disrepair. 'It will be a large and substantial House, pleasantly situated on a gentle eminence, commanding a view of the Town of Sydney, Turtle Bay and the Nepean and Phillip islands. After attending some social functions, Mr Wilson walked as far as Queenburg [Queenborough] - a few scattered huts in a vale deserve not the name of a Village, but their situation is beautiful and romantic - the steep hills on each, side of the Valley, affording rich pasture -or yielding luxuriant crops of Indian corn - a charming shady walk between Banana trees, winds some distance at the bottom of the Hills, near which is a hut belonging to the Government and a garden which produces as fine Oranges as those at Rio de Janeiro. '20

On the road to Cascade, riding in the Governor's single horse chaise, 'the only carriage on the island, and which had been for some time out of repair', Eliza was entranced by the beauty of the scenery, 'the vines of a lovely green, bearing a delicate lilac flower. in shape resembling the Convolvulus creeping round the trunks of the lofty pines, joined together in many parts and drooping between them in festoons. They have an elegant effect. There is likewise a dark green shrub, with a large glossy leaf containing a poisonous juice growing in great abundance. Near the summit of the hill on the Cascade side, there is a pretty view of the Village of Phillipburg in a valley with the hills bounding the sea, which you have an extensive view of, between several of them but they are formed like sugar loaves.

The successful state of the colony was reviewed with mixed feelings in New South Wales. Major Grose. antagonist of Governor Bligh in New South Wales. in a letter to Henry Dundas, Principal Secretary of State for the Home Office, began urging the abandonment of the island, an attitude later taken up by the British Government. 'I have never', he wrote to Dundas, 'discovered the advantages proposed from the possession of the island. There is not herbage sufficient to feed cattle of any description, and the danger of losing both ship and cargo is always to be dreaded'. Grose admitted that Phillip did not share his opinion. Nevertheless he continually advocated: 'I have a despicable opinion of the place.’

Foveaux continued in charge until John Piper of the New South Wales Corps. During this period the British Government, no doubt acting upon the representations of Major Grose and other military officers, decided to move some of the settlers and convicts to Van Diemen's Land. This decision was communicated to King in 1803. King was loath to obey and quickly enlisted the sympathy of Sir Joseph Banks. 'I hope'. he wrote to Sir Joseph, 'no circumstances will ever be allowed to operate in removing the entire settlement from Norfolk Island'.

Nevertheless, in 1806, Governor Bligh ordered the evacuation of the island.

His orders were countermanded a year later, doubtless at the instigation of Banks and King, but not before fifteen families had been moved to the Derwent and given a grant of land, a cottage and rations and clothing for two years. They were also given the use of four convicts for nine months and of two convicts for a further fifteen months. Orders for reinstatement were given In 1807 by Viscount Castlereagh.

In 1808, fifty-eight settlers and their families landed in Van Diemen's Land, and the gradual evacuation of the settlement continued throughout the administration of King and Bligh and the early years of Macquarie. The last islanders-about a hundred people-left in 1814. They sailed on the "Lady Nelson", the "Minstral" and, later, the "Estremina", and settled at Norfolk Plains, Van Diemen's Land. Among the families were Jordan’s, Salt Marshes, Stevens, Cox, Whites and Claytons, names still remaining in the Norfolk Plains today.

Captain Piper left the island in September 1808 and was succeeded by Lieutenant T. A. Crane of Governor Macquarie's Regiment, ~ the 73rd Highlanders, who acted as caretaker until February 1814. In that month the principal buildings were destroyed and thereafter the island was visited only by the occasional whaler.