Recovering HMS Sirius Artefacts

The HMS Sirius collection will be re-housed in the former Protestant Chapel/Youth Centre at the end of the year via a  project funded through a Commonwealth Your Community Heritage Program Grant and the Norfolk Island Government. We have been busy writing the interpretive panels that will form part of the new displays and researching the story of how the objects were recovered has provided some fascinating information.

Items were occasionally recovered from the wreck site during the 190 years from her wrecking in 1790. Some were washed ashore; others retrieved from the reef or, in the case of one anchor, deliberately blasted from the reef in 1905.  This anchor had remained visible on the reef at low tide prompting a New South Wales politician Sir Francis Suttor to request it be retrieved and shipped to Sydney, to be placed alongside Arthur Phillip’s statue in the Botanical Gardens. However when the anchor finally arrived in Sydney it had both flukes missing and didn’t look as imposing or attractive as Sir Suttor expected, so instead he had it positioned in Macquarie Place.

Recovered off the reef in 1905 and now in Macquarie Place, Sydney

The anchor had been blasted up from the ocean floor by members of the local Methodist Church. The Administrator at the time provided the explosives and the men carried out the exercise with the promise of a 20 pound reward.  They were reminded of their financial obligation to the Methodist Church in Sydney to encourage their involvement in this exercise!

Interest was revived in 1965 when a film crew from the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) arrived on the island. They interviewed locals to identify the wreck site and were taken out to the area just seaward of the surf zone. Diving over the area they saw copper fastenings bolts, rudder and stern post fittings, copper sheathing tacks, lead shot and a large anchor in-situ. Jack Doyle filmed a story which was aired on the 31^st October 1965 in the Weekend Magazine segment. This was the first underwater footage of the Sirius site. The visit by the ABC film crew sparked a desire by locals and others to recover the anchor and other relics known to be on the reef.

Now on display in the Norfolk Island Museum

The anchor seen on the ABC footage was finally raised by locals in 1973 with the assistance of the SS Holmburn, a Wellington, New Zealand registered ship as captured in our photo. Apparently she nearly came to grief during the exercise and her master was reported to have been dismissed on return to New Zealand.

The Holmburn in 1975

   

Numerous objects were removed from the site by local divers particularly from the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. The introduction of the Historic Shipwrecks Act in 1976 with its aim of protecting the relics of historic shipwrecks prompted many locals to offer the items they had in their personal possession to the Museum and these items are now accessioned into the official collection. Relics may not now be removed from the site without a permit.

Five official expeditions to recover artefacts from the HMS Sirius wreck site were conducted between 1983 and 2002. In the lead up to the 200^th anniversary of the landing of the First Fleet in 1788, it was felt that a project that investigated the remains of the fleet’s flagship would be at the heart of the Bicentennial spirit. Jennifer Amess from the commonwealth department with then responsibility for historic shipwrecks, proposed the project. The Australian Bicentennial Authority provided the funds to conduct a survey to determine if the remains merited salvage and if they did a full-scale operation would commence.

The Western Australian Museum played a pivotal role, with personnel from the Maritime Archaeology and Conservation departments on all expeditions. Western Australia had been at the forefront of maritime archaeology after the discovery off the coast in 1963 of two seventeenth-century Dutch trading ships. The Western Australian Museum was given the responsibility for managing the sites and carrying out excavations, thus beginning maritime archaeology in Australia. The West Australians were therefore the most experienced marine archaeologists to undertake the Sirius project. The Western Australian Museum team were complimented in each of the expeditions with other experts from Victoria, Tasmania, Queensland and Norfolk Island.

Diving on the wreck site is dangerous. The ever-pounding surf causes rapid shifts in the sand and the rubble cover in the lagoon, as well as the areas between the inner and outer reefs where the wreck occurred. Standing on the seawall at Slaughter Bay and looking out to sea across the wreck site, is to be looking straight down the Tasman Sea; the surf and the swell are nearly always from the southwest so there is rarely a calm sea. This makes exploration in this area very difficult.

As a result of these expeditions many remnants from the flagship of the First Fleet are now available for all to see and our understanding of the circumstances of the wrecking and the construction of the Sirius are better understood. The artefacts of HMS Sirius are the most significant array of First Fleet cultural heritage and as such they hold National significance. It is fitting therefore that they will be displayed on Norfolk Island in a museum dedicated to the Sirius celebrating her life, wrecking and recovery of her artefacts.

Your Community Heritage Program Update

Since receiving funding from the Commonwealth’s Your Community Heritage Program to re-house the Sirius collection back into the former Protestant Chapel/Youth Centre/Museum Theatre (!), much planning and work has begun.

We are currently calling for quotes from painters for internal painting. Quotes need to be submitted by Monday 30 July at 4.00pm at the Pier Store and a schedule of the work needed can be obtained by calling 51434. We are hopeful that an EPBC referral to modify the internal office areas will be approved in early August so that the building work can begin shortly after.

Local suppliers and carpenters have been helping us with the design of new cabinets, updating existing ones and ordering materials ready for their construction. Others have been booked to be involved in the physical moving of the anchor, carronades and large ballast blocks etc. that will happen in mid November. We have begun the lengthy task of writing the content for information panels and sourcing images and other material to help with the interpretation and exhibition of the collection. The Works depot have very kindly found us the space to prepare the anchor stock – this half ton object will need to be cleaned up, have the fittings checked and then coated ready for display. It’s wonderful to finally be underway working on moving this priceless collection out from the current harmful environment it is in. We will keep you updated on our progress

HMS Sirius Re-housing Project

We received some very good and important news recently that our grant submission to fund the relocation of the HMS Sirius collection back into the Protestant Chapel has received funding from the Your Community Heritage (YCH) Program through the Commonwealth Department of Sustainability, Water, Population and Communities. This is welcome news indeed as the collection has suffered since the 2004 move to the Pier Store which occurred as a result of an insurance issue with The Trial of the Fifteen. The unsealed walls and doors, high air salt content and temperature and humidity fluctuations that occur in the Pier Store all meant that the environment was simply too unstable for this precious collection. It was with great relief and thanks that we received notification of the success of our application.

The collection where it currently is in the Pier Store Museum

 The project will include an extension to the current kitchen area to allow for a small office where Janelle Blucher will carry out conservation work. A staircase will provide access to the existing balcony area. The replica hull from the old maritime museum will be replaced and the anchor will once again stand on its stock. The museum will be a dedicated space to HMS Sirius as the Bounty story will stay at the Pier Store, which will be entirely devoted to Pitcairn Norfolk stories. In essence this grant allows us to set up two new exhibitions with the expansion of displays at the Pier Store.

Of course the burning question is where will The Trial of the Fifteen move to? Negotiations are currently underway with a venue up-town which we hope to announce shortly.  This will be a major change for the play, but we hope will also present the opportunity to refresh and re-invigorate, make some needed changes and result in a fabulous new phase for this long running, successful play. We are sure that Peter Clarke would be pleased with our plans.

The Protestant Chapel - to be the new home for the HMS Sirius collection

 The move will result in a number of local businesses being used. Local builders, painters, floor sanders, cabinet makers and designers will all be part of this project. The work will unfold between now and the end of November and will keep us more than busy at the museum. 

 We would like to acknowledge and thanks the Commonwealth for fundingthis important project through the Your Community Heritage Program.

Maritime Week on Norfolk Island

Next March the Norfolk Island Museum will be partnering with The Travel Centre to present a week long event that celebrates our maritime heritage. Despite being such a little island we certainly hit above our weight when it comes to the quality of our maritime stories and it is wonderful to be able to share these with our visitors  in a ‘history soaked’ week of events! The Travel Centre has put together a fabulous package including airfares, accommodation and a range of activities for the week which will run from 15 to 24 March next year. Please help us tell others about this event by letting us know of individuals or groups who may like to receive information about the week and we’ll arrange for a package to be sent to them.

The title of the week: “From the Sirius to the Bounty” gives a clear indication of the substance of our maritime heritage. These two ‘big’ maritime stories bookend other perhaps lesser known but also fascinating parts of our maritime history. The story of the earliest Polynesian seafarers who lived here is important as this island is the only point of Polynesian settlement in Australia. Many islanders today have found artefacts such as stone adzes in their back garden or at the beach and of course we have a great array of artefacts from the archaeological digs behind Emily Bay. How the Polynesians came, why and when they left are just some of the questions surrounding this earliest part of the islands history.

Jumping forward in time an important part of our heritage today comes from our whaling history. One of the first industries to be started upon arrival by the Pitcairners, whaling brought vital cash into the economy. It was a dangerous activity as evidenced by the number of graves in our cemetery and an industry that stopped and started a number of times until finally finishing in 1962. The Resolution is another key local maritime story that goes to the heart of this island’s ultimately unsuccessful attempts to control shipping of fresh fruit and vegetables to mainland markets. Our modern day lighterage activity and the skill of our local men in unloading ships attracts visitors to every unloading. All these stories will be fully explored during the week.

Of course the wrecking of HMS Sirius on Norfolk Island in 1790 left us with Australia’s most important shipwreck site and material. On the 223^rd anniversary of her wrecking at midday the 19^th March, we will be looking out over the site where the devastating wrecking occurred. The importance of her artefacts cannot be understated – they are the most significant array of First Fleet cultural heritage held in Australia.

Last, but certainly not least is the most famous mutiny story ever told – the mutiny on the Bounty. We will try to separate Hollywood fiction from fact and fully explore all the circumstances of the mutiny; that most remarkable voyage of Bligh in the longboat and the voyage of the mutineers back through Tahiti and eventually on to Pitcairn Island.

It would be hard to think of a greater spread of substantial maritime stories that our own island has. We look forward to partnering with The Travel Centre for Maritime Week on Norfolk Island next March – and hope you’ll help spread the word to potential visitors

The Les Brown Collection

Just over 6 weeks ago the Museum received its single largest donation from Paul Bowe, great friend and Executor of the Estate of the late Les Brown. Close to 600 books, hundreds of photographs and subject files arrived at the museum, literally, overnight. These were of course from Les’ library which he had built up over the previous 40 odd years and used to research and answer so many questions on Norfolk’s history.  

The work of sorting, cataloguing and deciding where the collection would be housed has consumed much time since then. The first big part of the job has now been completed thanks to Janelle Blucher and Sue Brian’s work processing all the books. They have recorded the details of each and entered a catalogue record so that they are all searchable. We made the decision to house the collection together rather than integrate it into our existing collection, so cleared away other items in the Guard House to allow them to fill ten entire bookshelf bays! The photo is of Janelle and Sue as they put the last book onto the shelves.

Janelle and Sue putting the last book on the bookshelf!

Helen Sampson has begun the task of going through the individual files – which amount to around ten, very full, boxes worth. As these are documented they will also be catalogued and hopefully housed alongside the books in filing cabinets.  What a wonderful problem for the museum – ‘where to fit all these resources?!’.

We had a comment on our Norfolk Island Museum facebook page the other day in relation to a post about the donation of Les’ materials to the museum. Pat said “My husband, Noel, & I were saddened to hear of the death of Les Brown. He was a great friend to us when we visited Norfolk Island & helped me immensely with my family research. We are so pleased that his wonderful collection of books & papers are with the Norfolk Island Museum”.

1821 visit of the Surry to Pitcairn Island

We have received another wonderful donation to the Museum. Belinda Cohen from NSW has sent us a CD with photographs her grandmother Muriel Ramsay took while living on the island for a year in 1925. Belinda says that Muriel came here for a year after her husband died and while she doesn’t know what she did while here on the island, from the look of her photographs she certainly led a very busy social life! If anyone has information on Muriel’s time on the island we would love to hear from you.

Belinda also has a link to Pitcairn Island. Her great great grandfather David Ramsay visited the island when a ship’s surgeon on the Surry when it stopped at Pitcairn in 1821. The Captain of the ship was Thomas Raine and he recorded the visit to Pitcairn in his log, as did Dr Ramsay. While Dr Ramsay did not go ashore he copied much of Captain Raine’s visit into his own record of the visit. This document was left by Dr Ramsay in the office of the firm, Raine and Ramsay, and so came into the possession of the Raine family (of Raine and Horne Real Estate). It was then transcribed in 1961 by Jean Marginson and subsequently typed up by Belinda.

This extract is from Dr Ramsay’s account:

“April 11^th  This morning the Weather cleared up, at 8 a.m. saw Pitcairn Island right ahead, altho’ 55 miles dist. At 4 p.m. close up with it, and altho we saw many cultivated spots no habitations presented themselves. We hauled our Wind intended round the South East point, in  a little while to our great astonishment we saw the British Flag hoisted, we immediately laid along that part of the Island, and in a few minutes after a Canoe came alongside with two Men, who asked us in good English “How you all do” – we hove to and they came on board. Their names were Edward Quintal and George Young – two more Canoes also shortly came alongside in which were Donald McKay and Charles Christian – Robert Young and Edward Young who were equally kind and warm in their salutations – The effect which the appearance of these men had on all of us is difficult to describe, they were quite naked except for a covering round the middle, so neatly put on – the most delicate eye could not be offended. – Here we saw the features of Englishmen and heard them talk in our Native tongue and their colour was so light, that it appeared more the effect of the sun than the Mixture of Blood. As the night was coming on we prepared to depart, upon seeing which they begged Capt. Raine in so earnest and warm a manner to stay the night with them and in the morning they would procure us a good supply of Yams, bananas, etc. – that he consented to their Wishes. – Accordingly the Gig was Lowered down and the Capt. Doctor and Mr. Powers went on shore, in Company with the Canoes…

April 12^th 1820 … 11 A.M. Cutter returned, loaded with all sorts of fruit, bringing some Men and Women, who appeared to be very happy, the men were pulling the Boats and the women chanting a bit of an old Song. Some few Words of which I caught they were these “When I am single then I’m free, Love shall never conquer me,” – the Dress of the Women was neat, it was composed of a large piece of cloth made fast just under their bosoms and extended to below the Knee, and their hair which was a bright black hung in curls down their back and laid on their breasts – they were very pretty women and might have vied with many of our beauties at home…

At 6 P.M. Captn. Raine came on board accompanied with 3 Canoes one man in them and young Adams came in the Gig. From this time we were engaged till 8 o’clock in talking and bidding them farewell. Their conversation evinced a great deal of Simplicity and Innocence. They were very happy to see us, and if we were good men and did as God bid us, we should see each other in a far happier world, so one of them told me in a very feeling manner, but, added he, if you do not love God and do as the Bible bidde (sic) you you go to a very bad place – all fire. – As they were in want of books we contrived to give them as many as we could spare, several spelling books, Prayer Books, Bibles and Tracts etc., were what best suited them.- At 8 P.M. we lowered down their canoes and gave them three cheers, and which they returned with all the cheerfulness possible. As Captn. Raine was kind enough to let me see the Acct. he had drawn up of his “Welcome” on shore and his remarks on them and on the Island I took the opportunity of gaining his liberty to make a copy of it. Thinking it would highly amuse my dear Friends at home, and if they enjoy the reading of it as much as I did on seeing these people – I shall be double paid for my trouble in copying it.-

(from Captain Raine’s log)

…As soon as we got into the House we found the Women had not been idle, by the fine supper we saw provided viz – a fine large roasted pig, Yams, bananas, etc. and a pleasant beverage made from the Cocoa nut tree.

Old Adams I was glad to find had felt himself so much revived as to be enabled to join us. When these good people who knew not how to express their joy with their company, having seated us all round at table… they then spread some plantain leaves on the floor and they sat down in a ring for their supper also, leaving two or three of the women to attend upon us.- thus being all seated  - Adams said Grace for our table and one of them for theirs… Supper being finished before anyone arose Grace was again said as I before remarked, they were as cheerful as possible. The women now entertained us with an Otaheitean Dance in which the expression of the eyes and the movement of the hands have the greatest share…

On retiring to Bed they all assembled but at their own Habitations, sang a Psalm and said their Prayers, concluded with a Hymn and then an end to Mirth. We were provided with very comfortable Beds in a room upstairs, about 25 ft. long and 15 broad – in a corner of which stood a Bed place, the Bed consisted of dry leaves very soft and comfortable, and the sheets were Otaheitean cloth – which answered the purpose extremely well….

At present many of them read very well and are very fond of it – for they frequently took their Bibles up, and we heard them read several chapters – none of them can write, nor do I think they ever will, unless someone remains with them to teach them – altho’ Adams can write, he is now too old to undertake to teach them. In this conversation with Young his Brothers joined and they all repeatedly expressed “that we wish to do what is right and suppose this Man come we pay great attention and do everything he tells us – two years now since we heard this Man coming, so we think now he never come.” – I told them when I went home I would do my best to get one sent out to them, when they said in great joy “oh you good Captain you never forget us we never forget you”.-

The simplicity and genuine goodness so manifest in all these poor fellows conduct and expressions filled me with Admiration.- to one another was such brotherly affection evinced – such a willingness to comply with each other’s wishes that quarrelling appeared almost impossible. This remark I made to Adams who confirmed it by saying they were the happiest people in the world he thought – for as we then saw them so they always were, and one of their greatest pleasures is having an opportunity in doing good to each other…In their conversation they were always anxious for information on the Scriptures and expressed their sorrow they did not understand all they read.

The following is a list of the ships which have touched at this Island since the settlement of Adams. The Topaz Captn Folger – an American, his was the first vessel they had communication with for Adams told our Captain that some years before this they saw two vessels, one passed the Island, the other landed and cut some Wood and procured some Water. He thinks this last one knew of the inhabitants, but had no communication. The next was the English frigate Britton – 1814.- The Sutton, American – Hercules, an English country Ship.- The Elizabeth English, South Seaman which vessel touched here twice, and the Stanton, American Whaler and lastly ourselves in the Surry, making in all Seven Ships in the course of Thirty Years”.

The R.E.O. Cafe and Bookshop

Here are some beautiful shots of the historic Royal Engineers Office, now the Museum's R.E.O. Cafe and Bookshop located in KAVHA. The photos were taken by Betty Matthews last week during some wild weather on the island.