Letters from Pitcairn Islander Girls

A few months ago we wrote about a donation to the Museum of six letters from Frederick (Fred) and Roslyn Howard. The letters were written in 1856 and ’57 to Fred’s great Grandfather also named Frederick Howard, by two young Pitcairner girls, Catherine ‘Kitty’ Christian and Louisa ‘Victoria’ Quintal. Fred and Roslyn had emailed a copy of the letters and promised that when they visited Norfolk this month they would bring the letters with them. Well this week the wonderful moment arrived and they brought them in to the museum and formally made their donation.

These letters are very special. They provide us with a rare opportunity to get to know the youthful Kitty and Victoria and through them the community as a whole. We so often think about that arrival of our ancestors from Pitcairn, imagining what it would have been like for them to land at their new home so alien yet full of new promise. What did they think, how did they feel? 

Frederick and Roslyn Howard

 Howard met Kitty and Victoria in the days after they had arrived on the Morayshire. Howard was Second Master on board HMS Herald, which was here at Norfolk Island when the Pitcairners landed on the 8^th of June 1856. Captain Henry Mangles Denham from HMS Herald was of course one of the people greeting the Islanders as they came ashore on Kingston Pier. The Herald had come to Norfolk Island during its work undertaken between 1852 and 1861 carrying out an important series of hydrographic surveys amongst the island groups of the South Pacific and in the waters adjacent to Australia.

From the letters we get a sense of these girl’s humour, innocence and naivety, together with their obvious enthusiasm for meeting the new people they are coming into contact with as a result of the enormous change that has just occurred in their young lives. Together with a separate letter to this donation sent by Kitty’s mother Charlotte to Howard, they reveal how easily trusting they were, sharing their feelings and personal circumstances so openly.

Howard’s view of the Pitcairners is fairly well known as another of his letters to Emily (now held by the Mitchell Library) describes them in great detail – and refers specifically to Kitty and Victoria. It was Howard’s sister Emily who received Kitty and Victoria’s letters, sent to her by Howard as he sent all his letters to her for safe keeping. From Emily they were passed down through the family to Fred’s father, who had kept them in Howard’s old sea chest where they remained untouched for many years until Fred and Roslyn discovered them. Roslyn has also compiled for her family a fabulous history of Frederick’s life detailing his years at sea.

It is such a generous act of Fred and Roslyn to separate Kitty and Victoria’s letters from their collection and return them to Norfolk and we sincerely thank them for doing so.

The Bounty and After

We recently received a wonderful donation from Mr Geoff Proctor of Nelson, New Zealand. Geoff’s father Donald served with the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) and was stationed on Norfolk for a year from June 1943.

Donald took home with him a copy of one of the original roneoed copies of “The Bounty and After” by A.S. Gazzard which Geoff has now so kindly donated and sent back to the Island. The copy is special as the inside cover contains the signatures of around 50 New Zealand servicemen and also several locals including Bessie Gondon, Louis Gondon (Toothy), Beverly Downes (Simpson) and Lucie Downes. 

This 1943 publication was printed and published by the Norfolk Island Weekly which Albert published between approximately 1937 and 1943. In 1983 his daughter Mrs Dorothy Mitchell, published 500 copies in a soft cover book. She notes in the front cover that “The text of this book is as it was originally written by my father during the period 1930 to 1943. The words and phrases used are in keeping with this historical period”. The book is described as a short history of the descendants of the mutineers of the Bounty and opens with “The fortunes of Norfolk Island have been strangely interwoven with those of New South Wales. Few places in the modern world have had a history so strange, so various, so horrible and romantic, and in latter years such a peaceful, and happy one”. 

Geoff has told us that his father always hoped to return to Norfolk Island but was sadly killed in an accident at a young age. He did however talk with his family about his time on the island and spoke highly of one of the families he had spent time with. When Geoff brought his mother to Norfolk some years ago they met with locals at the RSL who remembered Donald.

The RNZAF played an important role here during WWII. The first ‘unofficial’ landings on the newly completed Norfolk Island airstrip were RNZAF planes on Christmas Day 1942. A New Zealand company, the 36^th Battalion designated as ‘N Force’, made up of 1,488 personnel was dispatched to protect the airfield. They were stationed here between 1942 and 1944 and as a result, Norfolk’s war history is more closely tied to New Zealand than Australia. Throughout the duration of the war, an average of 150 planes a month staged through Norfolk, bringing sixteen different types of aircraft.

Geoff’s donation is a wonderful addition to the Museum collection. We are very thankful to him for returning to the island a small but very special piece of our history

Two New Donations

At this week’s Museum Trust meeting two new donations were formally accepted into the collection. We are always grateful and welcoming of donations that help to tell aspects of Norfolk’s story and both these donations do that.

Ned Lenthal has donated a very beautiful antique hand coloured print of a view of Kingston, made by Fred B. Schell in 1886. Schell was an American illustrator who was brought out to Australia to produce views for a series made to mark 100 years of Australia’s settlement. He was active in Australia from 1886 to 1889. Not only has Ned donated the print he has also kindly offered to frame it ready for display. Once framed it will be displayed in the Commissariat Store exhibition. 

Some of the wonderful items donated by Annette Stolz

Annette Stolz has also made a very generous donation of a collection of hand-made items that she collected while on Pitcairn Island in 1993. Included are 12 wooden fish and boats, 12 woven hats and baskets, 3 painted hattie leafs, 8 shell necklaces, 1 wooden doll, 1 woven hat brim and 3 commemorative coins. What makes this collection special is that Annette knew who had made each item and was able to tell us the story of their making. Among the makers are Jacob Warren, Dave Brown, Royal Warren, Carol Warren, Irma Christian, Thelma Brown, Denis Christian and Ben Christian. The brightly coloured woven bags had not faded at all as Annette had kept them away from all light sources.

Top shark by Denis Christian, bottom by Ben Christian

All donations to the museum are put before the Museum Trust who formally accept them into the collection. For acceptance into the collection, we do have a set of criteria that needs to be met. We require that items fit within our collection areas, have a good provenance or information available regarding when it was made, who by, who has owned it, how it was used etc. Items that are very fragile or in such a poor condition that we are not able to care for them cannot be accepted. Once accepted, each item is entered into the database with the donor recorded and are given a unique museum code. They are then either put on display or stored for later display. With objects that are sensitive to light such as Annette’s bags and Ned’s print, they may go on exhibition for a short period only, displayed away from direct light sources.

Of course one of the benefits of donating objects to the museum is that they are able to be enjoyed by the wider Norfolk Island community, our visitors to the island and also made available to researchers. All are cared for by museum staff including receiving any conservation that may be required over time. Please contact us if you would like any information about donating items to the museum.

Wooden doll by Jacob Warren