Norfolk Island: Pitcairn Settlement

Overview

This stamp issue centres on the story behind the third British settlement on Norfolk Island, which was established on 8 June 1856, when the entire population of Pitcairn Island (193 people, plus one birth at sea) concluded a harsh 33-day voyage, aboard the Morayshire, to their new home.

The population, which included descendants from the infamous mutineers of HMS Bounty, had outgrown Pitcairn. Discussions about a relocation had been going on for some time, and in 1831 there was a short-lived and disastrous relocation to the inhabited island of Tahiti, which resulted in the loss of 20 per cent of the Pitcairn population through disease. Official permission to relocate to Norfolk Island was forwarded by the British Consul in 1854. In 1858, the head of each family was granted a 50-acre allotment of land by Her Majesty’s Government.

The stamps, designed by Jo Muré of the Australia Post Design Studio, feature engravings of community leader George Hunn Nobbs (1799–1884) and Queen Victoria (1819–1901). The two are facing each other, as though in conversation. In the background is an illustration of Norfolk Island froman 1850s map. The minisheet design features the original Plan of Allotments, including the surname of each Pitcairn family that received an allocation of land.

Technical specifications