In the vast South Pacific Ocean, there are countless brilliant pearls scattered, one of which is a very, very distant pearl that is the protagonist we are going to talk about today - Pitcairn Island.
Panorama of Pitcairn Island
The Pitcairn Islands, formerly known as "Pitken Island", are British overseas territories. The island, located deep in the Pacific Ocean and thousands of kilometres from the nearest landmass, was named after the british warrant officer Pitcairn, who was uninhabited when discovered by a British expedition. However, archaeologists believe that the Polynesians were the earliest inhabitants of the Pitcairn Islands, which were later abandoned for some reason.
The road sign on the island is a stem, and the nearest distance is 4 digits in kilometers
So how did the people who came to Pitcairn Island come about? Let's mention an old movie, and it is estimated that veteran film fans know that it is the MGM company's "Rebel Ship Blood" released in the United States in 1935: the film tells the story of a British warship named Bounty who travels to South America to find a fruit like bread and transport it back to Britain. The captain was an unreasonable man who could not listen to any opinion, who abused the crew, who did not obey his orders and would not give him water to drink, a punishment which was very cruel to the sailor. The first officer and crew of the ship were dissatisfied with the captain's style, and at first everyone was still satisfied with the majesty of the captain and dared not speak out. However, the captain's increasingly harsh punishment made everyone unbearable, and finally the pole rose up, and the first mate led everyone to rebel, occupied the battleship, and fled to a small island to escape the British fleet and live a life of isolation.
Released in 2013, the commemorative "Bente" Rebellion Trilogy was released on the first day of release
The film is based on "Rebel Blood" in the "Bente" Rebellion Trilogy co-authored by British writer C. Norderhof and American writer J. N. Hall. This book also had a certain degree of popularity when it was released in China, and the editor also saved a set.
Chinese translation of the 1983 edition
The book is based on true events, and in 1789 the British Royal Navy battleship "Bounty" sailed from Tahiti to the West Indies: there were 6 men and 12 women on board. On the way, under the leadership of First Officer Fletcher Christian, a mutiny that shocked the whole of Britain was launched. Fearing being discovered by British warships, they sailed to the southern seas, and for several months after the defection, the "Bounty" had been circling the southern Pacific islands, and in order to avoid the Pursuit of the British Royal Navy, the ship finally sailed to the deserted Pitcairn Island, and the mutineers decided to settle in the deserted Pitcairn Island.
A commemorative stamp of the 225th anniversary of the rebellion issued in 2014
To avoid detection, they set fire to the Bunty at sea and sank it to the bottom of the sea. The mutineers settled here and became the first inhabitants of Pitcairn Island. However, life was not very peaceful, they quarreled among themselves, killed each other, and after 5 years, only 4 defectors and 10 Tahitian women and their children were left. In 1799, in order to avoid further infighting, the last two British crew members, John Adams and Young, decided to use the Bible as a guide for building a "harmonious society."
The anchor of the battleship "Bounty" of the year
They converted to Christianity and taught children to read and write in the language of the Bible. In 1800, Young died of asthma, leaving only Adams leading a group of women and children, and later the population grew, and it was difficult to maintain when it grew to more than 100 people (how to give birth, I don't understand), so he shouted to the queen, and the queen considered it strategically, forgave them for their faults, and let them go to Norfolk Island to live, Norfolk Island itself is not large, with an area of 34.5 square kilometers, they lived for a period of time unsatisfied, some people ran back, it was enough to toss. If you're interested in learning more about Norfolk Island, check out the story of norfolk Island's first set of stamps that we talked about yesterday.
The first set of stamps on the battleship "Bounty" with Pitcairn Island
So the postal history of the Pitcairn Islands began with letters without stamps, because there were no stamps issued on Pitcairn Island, and to be honest I even doubted that they actually wrote letters in the first place, and there were so many places and so many people. Although it is recorded that their outgoing mail is stamped with a handmark of "no stamps available" and transported free of charge by passing ships. The letters were written off at different ports of call and with local stamps, such as San Francisco to the east and New Zealand to the west.
Occasionally, the British Consulate near Tahiti also helps them send mail, some of which were informally handled by a post office in the Panama Canal Zone after the canal opened in 1915. By 1921, Britain and New Zealand (the island was under New Zealand's jurisdiction) negotiated the use of a temporary postal service to process mail from the island, allowing the recipient of the letter to pay postal fees.
However, in May 1926, the New Zealand government stopped this arrangement, not because there were too few letters, but because there were reports that passengers on board mixed their mail into the "no stamp" system reserved for pitcairn residents, so that they could send their own letters for free, and the quality of everyone was not high. Again, they lost the official postal service.
In 1927, New Zealand introduced stamps. On June 7, 1927, a postal service set up an agency in Pitcairn to sell stamps from New Zealand. The standard rates for New Zealand Postage apply here, and mail from the island bears the marking "Pitcairn Island/New Zealand Postal Agency".
In 1934, there was a real envelope of New Zealand stamps sent to the United States, pay attention to the postmark
The use of New Zealand stamps was accompanied by commemorative covers, such as the cover commemorating the establishment of a radio connection to the island in 1938. In order to increase the income of the colonies, the British government set up an official post office on the island in 1940, and the Commonwealth used a joint distribution to loot the wallets of philatelic enthusiasts, which was a higher level than that of France.
The first set of stamps in 1940
The first set of stamps from the Pitcairn Islands was also issued during this period. The 1940 stamp set began with eight denominations, and in 1951 two more were added. Printed by two British companies with images of King George VI emblazoned on themed after the island's history and folklore, including maps, the Bunty, Bibles, etc.
These stamps were very popular among stamp collectors, who at that time had a lot of money and especially liked the remote corners where this bird did not, so the profit from stamp sales accounted for a large part of the colony's budget. Their sales become the community's main source of income. Within six months of issuance, £12,760 was sold. The island has established a fund for the profits from stamps, enabling the island to be largely self-sufficient. This money is used for the normal expenses of the community and to pay salaries to personnel. It even built a school and hired a teacher from New Zealand, the first professional teacher hired on the island. The fund is also used to subsidize imports and travel to New Zealand.
The first set of stamps was sold until July 1957. The content released after that was followed by the British Commonwealth troops, and its content was really lackluster, coming and going back and forth. In the stamp issued in 1957 with Elizabeth II as the head, you can see that the content of the picture is strikingly similar to the set of George VI.
However, the 1961 stamp was controversial because the ticket was so ugly that it was originally intended to commemorate the return of immigrants from Norfolk Island, but the two maps were painted like two pieces of mud, the boat was painted like a toy, and the color was terrible. But to be honest, the overall decline in Commonwealth stamp design at that time was not an independent event.
Nevertheless, by the 1970s, stamp sales accounted for two-thirds of government revenue. Later, the sale of coins and .pn domain names also contributed to the fund. By the end of the 20th century, however, the internet began to rise, the philatelic community shrank, and the fund's income declined. When the island went bankrupt in 2004, the British government had to pay 90 percent of its annual budget to help it weather the storm. At present, the island's stamps are still on sale normally, but almost every year to commemorate the ship, although every time it is very attentive, but it is estimated that the stamp collectors are also about to vomit.
However, like other small islands of the Federation, the local stamps are still worth a visit, especially the flora and fauna and natural landscapes, although more and more fancy, the price is getting better and better, but it is still a careful work.