MHNSW – State Collection Records Claimed

Governor Phillip's instructions of 25 April 1787 had ordered him to send a detachment to Norfolk Island as soon as circumstances permitted. On 12 February 1788 Phillip appointed Philip Gidley King Superintendent and Commandant of the Island [1] and on 5 March 1788 King landed there with a group of soldiers and convicts and supplies. Others were sent there to relieve the strain on the mainland where food was scarce.

From 1788 to 1814 Norfolk Island existed as an extension of the penal settlement in New South Wales but by the early 1800s the Island was no longer needed as a penal colony had been set up in Van Diemen's Land. Although the settlers were reluctant to move from Norfolk Island, the settlement was steadily reduced over the years. Rough seas and suitable landing sites posed difficulties in supplying provisions and communications. By 1810 the population had decreased to 117 and in 1813 plans were put in place for the abandonment of the Island. It was finally deserted in February 1814.

1825–1853
In 1824, as pastoralists were settled across the mainland, the Colonial Office decided to revive the penal settlement on Norfolk Island as a place of banishment for the worst re-offenders. On 6 June 1825 Major Turton, along with 34 troops, six women and children, and 57 convicts, reoccupied the Island. By 1829 there were 211 convicts on Norfolk and by 1834 there were close to 700 convicts, all employed by the government which, according to personal accounts of convicts and visitors, inflicted on them harsh punishments verging on the inhumane. It was not until Alexander Maconochie was appointed as Commandant of Norfolk Island in 1840 that the convicts started to be treated more humanely.

In February 1844 Maconochie was replaced by Captain Joseph Childs and on 14 September 1844 the administrative control of Norfolk Island passed from New South Wales to Van Diemen's Land.[2] During this time the island regained its reputation for brutality, which it retained until the penal settlement settlement was finally closed in 1853.

In 1856 the Pitcairn Islanders, descendants of the Bounty mutineers, were resettled on Norfolk Island by the British Government. Norfolk Island, which had formed part of New South Wales and then Tasmania became a distinct settlement of the British Crown, under the administration of the Governor of New South Wales. On 1 July 1914 Norfolk Island became an Australian Territory under the Commonwealth government.
From 1979 the Island was governed under the provisions of the Commonwealth Norfolk Island Act, 1979 which established a Legislative Assembly and granted a significant degree of self-government. For what happened next check out the Community Section of this website.