Norfolk Islanders to Norfolk Island, arriving on 8 June 1856. These were the descendants of Tahitians and the HMS "Bounty" mutineers, resettled from the Pitcairn Islands, which had become too small for their growing population. The British government had permitted the transfer of the Pitcairners to Norfolk, which was thus established as a colony separate from New South Wales but under the administration of that colony's governor. The Pitcairners occupied many of the buildings remaining from the penal settlements, and gradually established their traditional farming and whaling industries on the island. Although some families decided to return, with 17 members of the
Mutiny on the Bounty 1790, the Admiralty despatched the frigate HMS "Pandora" under Captain Edward Edwards to capture the mutineers and return them to England to stand trial. "Pandora" arrived at Tahiti on 23 March 1791 and, within a few days, all 14 surviving "Bounty" men had either surrendered or been captured. Edwards made no distinction between mutineers and those who claimed they had been detained on "Bounty" unwillingly; all were incarcerated in a specially constructed prison erected on "Pandora"'s quarterdeck, dubbed "Pandora's Box". "Pandora" remained at Tahiti for five weeks while Captain Edwards unsuccessfully sought information on "Bounty's" whereabouts. The ship finally sailed