History
Archaeological evidence suggests that Henderson was inhabited by a small Polynesian permanent colony at some time between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries. The reasons for the group's disappearance are unknown, but may be related to the similar disappearance of the Polynesians on Pitcairn Island, on whom the Hendersonians would have depended for many of the basics of life. The Pitcairn Polynesians may in turn have disappeared because of the decline of nearby Mangareva; thus, Henderson was at the end of a chain of small, dependent colonies of Mangareva.
On 29 January 1606, Henderson island was discovered by Portuguese sailor Pedro Fernandes de Queirós, who named it San João Baptista. On 17 January 1819 the island was re-discovered by British Capt. Henderson of the British East India Company ship Hercules, and named Henderson Island. On 2 March 1819, Captain Henry King, sailing aboard the Elizabeth, landed on the island to find the king's colours already flying. His crew scratched the name of their ship into a tree, and for some years the island's name was Elizabeth or Henderson, interchangeably.
The crew of the sunken Nantucket whaleship Essex landed briefly on the island, staying from 20 to 27 December 1820. Three of the crew – Thomas Chappel, Seth Weeks and William Wright – stayed and survived until their subsequent rescue on 9 April 1821, while their companions sailed on for South America in three whaleboats. The castaways reported having seen human skeletons in a cave.
In August 1851, visitors from Pitcairn Island also found skeletons in a cave and wreckage on the adjacent beach. After a party of Pitcairners collecting miro wood rediscovered the skeletons in March 1958, a medical examination was carried out and it was determined the bones were of Caucasian origin, and they were then buried in a shallow grave inside the cave. Finally, an American survey team examined the bones in 1966 and buried them in five coffins in the left hand corner of the cave, tightly jamming a large cross between the ceiling and rock floor at the entrance. They concluded the remains were of five or six people, one of whom was between three and five years of age. It is presumed they were the survivors of a shipwreck who died of dehydration.
In 1957 a twenty seven year old American, Robert Tomarchin, lived the life of a castaway on the island for approximately two months, accompanied by a pet chimpanzee, apparently as a publicity stunt, until he was rescued by people from Pitcairn in two longboats.
In the early 1980s, American businessman Arthur M. Ratliff expressed interest in establishing a small settlement with an airstrip, cattle ranch, and mansion on the island. The Pitcairn Island Council approved his plans in April 1981 but the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office overrode the decision and vetoed the proposed development, after environmentalist groups had lobbied to protect the natural ecology and environment of the island which was listed as a World Heritage site in 1988.
Read more about this topic: Henderson Island (Pitcairn Islands)
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