Pitcairn Islands — books & literature

The story of Pitcairn Islands

The Pitcairn Islands were rediscovered by Europeans in 1767, when a British ship under Captain Philip Carteret sighted the main island and named it after midshipman Robert Pitcairn, who first spotted it. The island stayed empty until 1790, when Fletcher Christian and eight fellow mutineers from HMS Bounty landed with a group of Tahitian men and women, burned the ship in Bounty Bay to avoid detection, and built a hidden settlement. The outside world did not learn the community survived until an American whaling ship called in 1808, by which point only one mutineer, John Adams, remained alive among the founders. Britain formalised colonial status in 1838, making Pitcairn one of the first places in the world to grant women the vote. The whole population was briefly resettled to Norfolk Island in 1856 before some families returned, and in 1886-1890 the community converted almost entirely to Seventh-day Adventism after a missionary visit. Today Pitcairn is a British Overseas Territory of a few dozen residents, descended largely from the original mutineers and their Tahitian companions, reachable only by supply ship and known for its honey, stamps, and its own English-Tahitian creole language, Pitkern.

Timeline — key moments

1. 1767

   British navigator Philip Carteret sights and names the island after midshipman Robert Pitcairn.

2. 1790

   Fletcher Christian and eight HMS Bounty mutineers, with Tahitian companions, settle Pitcairn and burn the ship.

3. 1808

   American whaling ship Topaz rediscovers the settlement; John Adams is the last surviving mutineer.

4. 1838

   Britain formally establishes Pitcairn as a colony; among the first territories to give women the vote.

5. 1856

   Entire population relocated to Norfolk Island; some families return by 1864.

6. circa 1886-1890

   Missionary John Tay converts the community to Seventh-day Adventism; formal baptisms follow in 1890.

7. 1887

   Britain formally annexes the Pitcairn group under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Fiji.

8. 2004

   A landmark trial convicts several island men of historic sexual offences, a case that shook the small community.

Top 10 things to know about Pitcairn Islands

1. Pitcairn is the least populous national jurisdiction in the world, with only a few dozen permanent residents.
2. Islanders are descended largely from the HMS Bounty mutineers and the Tahitian men and women who sailed with them.
3. Adamstown, the only settlement, is among the smallest capitals on Earth.
4. The islands are a British Overseas Territory but govern most local affairs themselves.
5. There is no airstrip or harbour; people and supplies arrive a few times a year by ship from New Zealand.
6. In 1838, Pitcairn became one of the first places in the world to grant women the right to vote.
7. The wreck of HMS Bounty still lies in the shallow water of Bounty Bay.
8. Pitkern, a creole blend of 18th-century English and Tahitian, is spoken nowhere else on Earth.
9. The whole community has practised Seventh-day Adventism since a missionary visit in the 1880s.
10. Pitcairn issues its own postage stamps and coins, a long-standing source of revenue for the territory.

Famous people from Pitcairn Islands

Say it in Pitcairn Islands's language

Did you know?

• ★Pitcairn's own internet domain, .pn, is used worldwide (including by short-link services) despite the territory having only a few dozen residents.
• ★The wreck of HMS Bounty still rests in the shallows of Bounty Bay, and salvaged pieces are displayed in Adamstown's small museum.
• ★With no airstrip or harbour, visitors and supplies arrive only a few times a year by supply ship, and islanders row longboats out to meet incoming vessels.

Pitcairn Islands culture

• Pitkern, a creole mixing 18th-century English with Tahitian, is spoken alongside English in daily life.
• The whole community observes the Seventh-day Adventist Sabbath, so public life pauses from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset.
• Pitcairn honey, produced by disease-free bees on an isolated, pesticide-free island, is regarded by many as among the purest honey in the world.
• Locally minted stamps and coins are collected by philatelists and numismatists worldwide and remain an important source of territory revenue.

Why read Pitcairn Islands's books

Pitcairn's own story , mutiny, isolation, and survival , is one of the most retold castaway sagas in the English-speaking world, while islanders like Meralda Warren keep writing it forward in Pitkern, the language born on this one small rock in the Pacific.