The island was named in 1767 by Capt. Philip Carteret, a British naval officer, after Robert Pitcairn, the midshipman who first sighted it. It was colonized in 1790 by mutineers from the Bounty and Tahitian women, who discovered vestiges of previous Polynesian settlement. Their descendants, who speak an English dialect and are Seventh-day Adventists, still inhabit the island. In 1856 overpopulation caused the removal of the inhabitants, at their request, to Norfolk Island, but some soon returned to Pitcairn. In 1957 the remains of the Bounty were discovered off the southern end of the island.
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- Pitcairn, John
Pitcairn, John, 1722–75, British royal marine officer in the American Revolution. Major Pitcairn commanded the advance guard of the British troops at Lexington (see Lexington and Concord, batt...
- Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island, officially Territory of Norfolk Island, island (2005 est. pop. 1,800), 13 sq mi (34 sq km), South Pacific, a territory of Australia, c.1,035 mi (1,670 km) NE of Sydney. Its cap...
- Nordhoff, Charles
Nordhoff, Charles, 1830–1901, American journalist and author, b. Westphalia. In 1835 he emigrated with his family to Cincinnati. His service (1844–47) in the navy, and later on whaling and fis...
- Bounty, British naval vessel
Bounty, British naval vessel, a 220-ton (200-metric-ton), 85-ft (26-m) cutter, commanded by William Bligh. She set sail for the Pacific in Dec., 1787, to transport breadfruit trees from the So...
- British Empire
British Empire, overseas territories linked to Great Britain in a variety of constitutional relationships, established over a period of three centuries. The establishment of the empire resulte...
