Today is Bounty Day on Norfolk Island. The day commemorates the anniversary of the mutiny and arrival of their ancestors from the island of Pitcairn on their ship Morayshire. On June 8, 1856, the Morayshire arrived in Norfolk. This day thus became known as Bounty Day or ‘Anniversary Day’ and the people of Norfolk Island celebrate it every year as a part of their colorful history with a re-enactment of the mutiny along with wreathe-laying, parades, singing of hymns, and a picnic with traditional food.
The Pitcairners are descendants of the English sailors and the Tahitian women who began a new life on Pitcairn Island under the leadership of Fletcher Christian. In 1856, Queen Victoria gave Norfolk Island to the expanding Pitcairn community.
In 1787, Lieutenant William Bligh set sail in the HMS Bounty to Tahiti to gather breadfruit plants for Caribbean slave colonies. A lot of disputes took place during the journey. Finally, Fletcher Christian and some of the crewmembers staged a mutiny. This very mutiny is re-enacted by the people of Norfolk on Bounty Day. The mutineers captured the Bounty and set Lieutenant Bligh and his followers adrift to reach the Dutch East Indies, north of Australia.
The mutineers eventually found the island of Pitcairn by 1790 and they were welcomed by Mr. and Mrs. Stewart, who were settled there. By the 1850s, their population had grown significantly and they needed a larger place to settle. Finally, when the people of Pitcairn asked the British Government for a larger home, Queen Victoria gave them Norfolk Island. And by the time they resettled there, the Pitcairners had already formed their own culture and language, both of which are still alive to this day.
Airport Welcome Signs…
today is the birthday, in 1944, of American singer, songwriter, and guitarist Boz Scaggs, who was a member of The Marksmen with Steve Miller, The Wigs, and as a solo artist had the 1976 US No.3 single ‘Lowdown’, and the 1977 US No.11 and UK No.13 single ‘Lido Shuffle’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCBVwdS1Mt0
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