New Museum Acquisition - convict made chest of drawers

The Norfolk Island Museum Trust recently purchased a convict made chest of drawers that had been locally put up for tender. Made of Norfolk Island Pine it is stamped BO ↑ CD. The BO is for the Board of Ordnance and CD Commissariat Department. The broad arrow was used as an identification of British government property. As the museum is located in the basement of the Commissariat - it has made its way ‘home’ to the building it would have been issued from!

The Museum Trust were able to make this purchase as a result of accumulated profits from the Trial of the Fifteen play and the arrangement made by the late Peter Clarke, the author of the play, on how they could be expended. Peter’s son Stephen now holds the rights to the play and each year he agrees with the Trust on a program of expenditure. This year that included the purchase of acquisitions for the museum collection. It is so gratifying to see such a direct link between the efforts of the Museum to Produce, our Actors to perform, visitors purchasing tickets each week - and our collection.

Its purchase complements a few other pieces of furniture that also show similar markings including two convict settles or bench seats.  Most likely these were made for the verandahs of the houses and buildings for the Officers.  One of the settles has graffiti on it from an officer of the 99^th Regiment stationed here during the 2^nd Settlement.  The other piece is a cedar table that is actually part of a sectional table and may date from as early as 1825. While we don’t know the date that the chest of drawers was made, we will be researching its design to see if we can identify the most likely period. 

 Broad arrows are on many of the items in the museum collection. Being found in possession of marked objects without good cause was a serious offence. The symbol has been documented back to the 16th century to mark Royal property, and was occasionally referred to as a ‘Royal cipher’. An 1806 proclamation stated that:

“The Board having been pleased to direct that in future all descriptions of Ordnance Stores should be marked with the broad arrow as soon as they shall have been received as fit for His Majesty’s Service; all Storekeepers and Deputy Storekeepers and others are desired to cause this order to be accordingly attended to, in the Department under their direction, reporting to the Board in all cases when articles are received to which this mark cannot be applied”. [28th July 1806. Quoted from the Royal Australian Army Ordnance Corps website]

As a result the broad-arrow mark appears on everything from furniture to cooking pots and cutlery, packing crates and barrels, construction materials from timber to bricks and tools – and convict clothing. However an object that has a broad arrow on it doesn’t necessarily mean it has an association with convicts.

Farewell to Deena Hattersley

Deena Hattersley shared her final sherry with the cast of The Trial of the Fifteen last Wednesday night before leaving the island to relocate to New Zealand. She has been the Director of ‘The Trial’ for all but about six months since it opened in mid 1999. Since then it has been performed twice weekly to over 35,000 visitors, travelled to Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney and been one of the top ‘must see’ attractions on Norfolk. A good measure of that success has been due to Deena’s steady influence and guidance as Director.

Deena has been responsible for training all the actors who have joined the cast over the years, as well as supporting long standing performers to keep their performances fresh and energised. Amazingly there are three actors in the current casts who have been with the show just a few months longer than Deena - that is from the very first performance – they are Peter Davidson, Teddy Evans and Ken Christian. We are extraordinarily lucky to have had the dedication and skill of these actors over all those years. Together with other long standing and newer cast members Louci Reynolds, Rachael McConnell, Rebecca Hayes, Darren Anderson and Geoff Griffiths the play has earned its reputation as a well acted show. 

Deena (centre) and the cast from The Trial of the Fifteen

 All the cast and staff at the Norfolk Island Museum say a huge ‘thankyou’ and wish Deena all the best back in New Zealand. We are also very pleased to announce and welcome Rose Stephens as the new Director and wish her every success.

For those who may not have seen the show, Peter Clarke’s script cleverly offers the opportunity to neatly capture the layers of Norfolk’s history through the trial of fifteen characters. From the Polynesian rat to the infamous John Price to our own Fletcher Christian – it’s an entertaining way to soak up our island’s story and is performed every Monday and Wednesday night at 4.45pm. The Museum Theatre is a wonderfully atmospheric building. It was the Protestant Chapel for convicts in the Second Settlement and the ‘trial’ setting uses original court room furniture made in 1896. The setting includes panelling, witness box, judge's bench and stairs, jury box and the accused box and is listed by the Australian Heritage Commission as a significant part of the National Estate. It was made by Dwight Allen, an American whaler who tendered 175 pounds for construction of a dock, jury box, panelling and judge's bench.

Bookings for The Trial of the Fifteen can be made at the REO Café and Bookshop, Baunti Escapes, the Tourist Bureau or by calling 23088.

Farewell Peter Clarke

For the past ten years the Norfolk Island Museum has twice weekly presented to visitors the play "The Trial of the Fifteen". Written by Peter Clarke the play very successfully presents the layers of Norfolk's history in an entertaining one hour performance. Peter wrote the play for the Museum however accepted no payment, or royalties for its performance. Over the past ten years the Museum has benefited from the profits of the play, with over $100,000 being available for projects outside our normal expenditure.

Very sadly, Peter passed away in Nelson NSW recently.

Therefore it was a great privilege to be involved with the wake for Peter held last Saturday at the Ferny Lane Theatre. Special thanks to the cast of “The Trial of the Fifteen” for a wonderful performance of Peter’s play and for setting up the staging. David Buffet presented the eulogy which together with speeches by Peter’s son Stephen and Charisse’s son Desmond Fisher, left us with no doubt that Peter was a prolific creative talent with a great passion for Norfolk Island.

This was also summed up through the screening of a song that Peter wrote with Stephen, and performed by Stephen. Called “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” it included visuals of scenes from around the island and words that describe the beauty and uniqueness of the people and landscape. Peter certainly was a strong advocate for the island, using his writing skills for our benefit.

It was also wonderful to meet Stephen who will be ‘taking over the reins’ of the play. He later visited us at the Museum and it was good to be able to show him the Museum Theatre and the historic court room setting that the play is usually performed in. Stephen has told us he will be back on the island regularly and we really look forward to working with him.

Our photo is of Stephen when he visited us at the Museum.