Originally people from Polynesia lived on the Pitcairn Islands, but there was no one living on the islands when they were discovered (found) by Captain Philip Carteret of "H.M.S. Swallow" on 2 July 1767. The island was named after Robert Pitcairn, a 15 year old midshipman who was the first person on the "Swallow" to see it. Robert is believed to have been lost at sea in early 1770 when the ship he was on, "HMS Aurora," went missing in the Indian Ocean.