Norfolk Islanders

Archaeological findings suggest that the island had previously been used as a stopover for seafaring Polynesians.[5][6] The final fate of the early settlers remains a mystery.[7]

The first European known to have sighted and landed on the island was Captain James Cook, on his second voyage on HMS Resolution. From New Caledonia to New Zealand Cook came across the island on 10 October 1774. Finding the island uninhabited, Cook claimed it for Britain and named it after English noblewoman Mary Howard, Duchess of Norfolk.[8]

The Norfolk Island Act of 1913 established Norfolk Island as a territory under the authority of the Commonwealth of Australia, transferring the territory from the British crown in July 1914.

In 1786 the British government included Norfolk Island as an auxiliary settlement, proposed by Sir John Call. When the First Fleet arrived at Port Jackson in January 1788, its commander, Captain Arthur Phillip, ordered Lieutenant Philip Gidley King to take control of the island and prepare for its commercial development. King arrived there on 6 March 1788 on board HMS Supply.[9]

Norfolk King was born 8 January 1789 on Norfolk Island. He was the first child born on Norfolk Island.[10] With his parents on aboard HMS Supply in March 1790, his name was recorded as "Norfolk King Inett" in the shipping muster. His parents were Lieutenant Phillip Gidley King and female convict Ann Inett.[11][12] By 1814 the first penal settlement lay abandoned, until on 6 June 1825 a second penal settlement was established by Captain Richard Turton; it lasted until 1855.[13] The town of New Norfolk, Tasmania was established with the evacuation of Norfolk Island in 1807–1808, named after their former home.

In the 2016 census, the question asked was – What is the person's ancestry?, different to previous censuses by the Norfolk Island government. Those who gave a response to the ancestry question showed that 29.6% of the ‘usual residents’ population had Pitcairn ancestry.[17] When broken down as a total ancestry response, there were 484 or 20.0% of all ancestries reported identified as having Pitcairn ancestry. Out of the 53.7% of usual residents population who chose just a single ancestry, 14.8% identified as only ‘Pitcairn’ and 12.4% were part-Pitcairn plus another ancestry.

An additional 120 people (7 percent of usual residents) chose ‘Norfolk Island’ ancestry with 30 identified as having Pitcairn descent.[17][1] The 2011 census (Norfolk Island government) asked a question relating to Pitcairn descent with the questions – "yes, of Pitcairn descent" and "no, not of Pitcairn descent" only of the "Ordinarily Resident Population".[19] People of Pitcairn descent may have relocated temporarily or migrated which is a possible factor in the increased number of persons of other descent.[18] Norfolk's Pitcairn descendants are already at least 7th or 8th generation, and those in younger age groups are probably 9th generation.

Among the Islanders, the descendants of the Pitcairners share only a few family names: Adams, Christian, McCoy, Quintal, and Young are the "Bounty mutineer names"; Buffett, Evans, and Nobbs are "Pitcairn names" – descended from the two Englishmen and one Welshman who married into the mutineer families on Pitcairn; and Blucher, Bataille, Robinson, Snell, Rossiter, and Bailey are among the "Norfolk names".[20][21][22]

In the 2016 census, native-born Norfolk Islanders were 22.1% of the total population. Table shows the most recent 2016 census data of the population by birthplace. Immigration flow from mainland Australia and New Zealand has been a substantial proportion of the population throughout the 20th century to the present-day. Those born in Norfolk Island have been in steady decline since the 1947 census where they formed a majority of 52% of the total population.[23]

The median age of people in Norfolk Island (State Suburbs) was 49 years. Children aged 0–14 years made up 16.9% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 23.8% of the population.

St. Barnabas Chapel: Church of England on Norfolk Island completed in 1880.

The most common religious affiliation in Norfolk Island (State Suburbs) were Anglican 29.5%, No Religion, so described 26.8%, Catholic 12.6%, Uniting Church 9.6% and Not stated 9.6%. In Norfolk Island (State Suburbs), Christianity was the largest religious group reported overall (68.5%) (this figure excludes not stated responses).

Norfolk Islanders gathering at a cricket match in November 1908.

Cricket is recorded as having been played on Norfolk Island, an external territory of Australia, as early as 1838, by soldiers stationed on the island. It continued to be played after the island was settled in 1856 by Pitcairn settlers.[27]

The cuisine of Norfolk Island is very similar to that of the Pitcairn Islands, as Norfolk Islanders trace their origins to Pitcairn. The local cuisine is a blend of British cuisine and Tahitian cuisine.[28][29]

Recipes from Norfolk Island of Pitcairn origin include mudda (green banana dumplings) and kumara pilhi.[30][31] The islands cuisine also contains American influences not found in Pitcairn, such as chopped salads and fruit pies, due to the influences of American whalers.[32]

Norfolk Island Museum is an organisation that runs five heritage sites on the island, which are situated in the Kingston and Arthur's Vale Historic Area, a world heritage site associated with the Australian Convict Sites listing.[33][34][35] The Bounty Folk Museum is a private museum displaying memorobilia associated with the Bounty settlers.[36]

The results below show the total population of the Island in the 1933 census by their place of birth, with a slight majority being Norfolk Island-born. Native Norfolk Islanders were over 53% of the population, 30% were mainland Australians and New Zealanders, with around 12% born in Europe.[39]

Birthplace		1933
		Males	Females	Persons
	Norfolk Island	326	325	651
	Australia	105	83	188
	New Zealand	113	76	189
Europe
	England	66	40	106
	Scotland	12	11	23
	Wales	1	1	2
Ireland		7	4	11
Channel Islands		1	0	1
Total, British Isles		87	56	143
Other countries in Europe		6	4	10
Asia
	British India	7	2	9
Other countries in Asia		1	0	1
Africa		2	0	2
Americas		2	3	5
Polynesia		12	19	31
	Fiji	7	8	15
Other British Possessions		3	2	5
	New Hebrides	2	9	11
Not stated		1	1	2
Total		662	569	1,231
Source:[39]

• 
  Anna Maria King, daughter of Philip Gidley King.
• 
  Phillip Parker King.
• 
  Andre Nobbs.