Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2016L01891:body:0:p26
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2016L01891
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 82564–85310

Price. Price arrived at the beginning of August 1846 to take
charge and to administer punishment to those involved in the uprising. Twenty-six convicts implicated in
the revolt were placed on trial; twelve were hanged in two groups of six on 13 October 1846. They were
buried in an old saw pit on the eastern side of the cemetery, now known as Murderers' Mound.

Price continued with the work on the New Gaol, and by 1847 it was substantially complete. In the same
year, however, Britain's Secretary of State for the Colonies informed the Governor of New South Wales
that the penal settlement on Norfolk Island was to be abolished. The convict population was reduced from
1820 in December 1846 to 857 in December 1847, and the size of the garrison was halved. Norfolk Island
was to be for colonial prisoners only, and works no longer needed were abandoned. Between 1849 and
1851, the treatment of convicts (particularly the increased use of corporal punishment) was of concern to
the administration in Hobart. The convict population was reduced to 495 by the end of 1852, and Price left
the Island in January 1853. There were only 119 convicts on the Island in October 1854. Van Diemen's
Land, under the name Tasmania, was preparing for a measure of self-government that entailed the
cessation of transportation to its territories, including Norfolk Island.

Kingston and Arthur's Vale Historic Area—Heritage Management Plan, April 2016

Authorised Version F2016L01891 registered 09/12/2016

Jean Rice Architect | CONTEXT | GML Heritage

3.3.5 Third (Pitcairn) Settlement 1856 to Present

In 1852, following several years of negotiations, the British Home Office decided to relocate the Pitcairners. By
this time the community were devout Christians and had outgrown Pitcairn Island. With the penal settlement
closure imminent, Norfolk Island was deemed to be a suitable place.

The Pitcairn community had its origins in the mutiny on HMAV Bounty. Under Captain Bligh, HMAV Bounty had
sailed from Britain to Tahiti to acquire breadfruit plants to establish in the West Indies as a food supply for
plantation slaves. On 28 April 1789, after leaving Tahiti, the crew led by Fletcher Christian mutinied and Bligh
and 18 others were forced into the ship's launch whilst the mutineers sailed the ship to Tahiti. Bligh sailed to
Timor and returned to England in 1790. The mutineers and a group of Tahitians left Tahiti seeking to settle on a
remote island. They established a community on Pitcairn Island where they scuttled the HMAV Bounty. The
community remained isolated until 1808 when American whalers visited, by which time only a single mutineer,
John Adams, and no Tahitian men remained alive, after a series of murders and other deaths.

On 20