The View From My Beer
The second of my five-day stay in Norfolk Island. Each day I enjoyed the same view from my balcony overlooking Slaughter Bay and the original settlement of Kingston. I am enjoying a Boags Premum as I reflect on the lives on my fifth great grandparents who were part of the original landing party back in 1788 before they later moved to play a role in pioneering Tasmania.
Kingston
Kingston was the site of Norfolk Island’s first two settlements. The original penal colony was established in 1788 before it was abandoned in 1814. The sceond penal settlement was established in 1824, continuing until 1856. In 1856 descendants of Tahitians and the HMS Bounty mutineers, including those of Fletcher Christian, were resettled from the Pitcairn Islands, which had become too small for their growing population. The Pitcairners occupied many of the buildings remaining from the penal settlements, and gradually established traditional farming and whaling industries on the island.
Today Kingston remains the administrative centre of the Australian external territory of Norfolk Island. The business centre is located in the nearby town of Burnt Pine. Much of Kingston and the nearby area of Arthur’s Vale forms the Kingston and Arthur’s Vale Historic Area World Heritage Site.
Family Connection
Six of my sixth great-grandparents were transferred from Sydney to Norfolk Island where they married and gave birth to three of my 5th great-grandparents.
My sixth great-grandparents, Nathaniel Lucas and Olivia Gascoigne were part of the original landing party that first established a penal colony on Norfolk Island in 1788. Their daughter, Olivia Lucas, was born on Norfolk Island during their time here. She is my fifth great grandmother.
My sixth great-grandparents Bartholemew Reardon and Mary Phillips were both transferred from Sydney to Norfolk Island on the ill-fated Sirius in 1790. My sixth great-grandparents Hannah Flinger, William Saltmarsh, Mary Butler were transferred from Sydney to Norfolk Island on the Surprize later in 1790. ANother sixth great granparent, Thomas Steven was transferred to Norfolk Island in 1792.
Bartholemew Reardon and Hannah Flinger were married on Norfolk Island and gave birth to my fifth great-grandfather Frances Reardon on Norfolk Island. Thomas Stevens and Mary Phillips were married on Norfolk Island and gave birth to my fifth great-grandmother, Elizabeth Stevens, on Norfolk Island. William Saltmarsh and Mary Butler were married on Norfolk Island and gave birth to my fifth great-grandfather, William Saltmarsh, on Norfolk Island.
There are a great many other family connections with Norfolk Island, including my fourth great-granduncle William Presnell who was also transferred to Norfolk Island in 1798.
My Walk
Today I decided I was going to explore the area around Kingston to see what I can learn about the original penal colony and find any traces of my family’s origins.
Kingston
I retraced many of my steps through the ruins of the second penal settlement. While the grounds today are quite picturesque, it was somewhat haunting to reflect on what life here must have been like back then. Even more so when you consider what I was looking at was the upgraded facilities of the second penal settlement!.
Emily Bay and Point Hunter
Along from Slaughter Bay was the very pretty Emily Bay. Here was one of the few beaches that exist on Norfolk Island. Much of the coastline consists of rugged cliffs. It was here that I found several traces of my ancestors.
Overlooking Emily Bay was a plaque dedicated to the memory of Mary and Sarah Lucas who were killed in 1792 when a pine tree fell on their house. My sixth great-grandmother Olivia Gasgoigne was seriously injured in the accident trying to protect her children.
Next to Emily Bay is Point Hunter and the base of a windmill that once stood here. This was the site of the first windmill built in Australia by my sixth great-grandfather Nathaniel Lucas in 1795. The original windmill had been destroyed in 1814 and a second windmill built on the original site.
Quality Row/Lot 33
Looking over Slaughter Bay is Quality Row where a collection of houses which were once occupied by military officers. These were built on a 15-acre of of land known as Lot 33. This lot was originally assigned to my sixth great-grandfather Nathaniel Lucas after his sentence had been served.
Kingston Cemetery
Cemeteries are not normally places I visit on walks, but on this occasion I walk through the cemetery in search of any headstones from family members. The original cemetery from the first settlement was located closer to Emily Bay, but some of the graves were relocated to the new cemetery. I found headstoner/memorials dedicated to sixth great-grandparents Mary Butler and Bartholemew Reardon, who both died while living on Norfolk Island. There was also a headstone for Steve and Daniel Reardon, sons of my sixth great-grandfather Bartholemew Reardon.
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