History of Norfolk Island transportation to Van Diemen's Land had ceased in 1853 and was replaced by penal servitude in the United Kingdom. On 8 June 1856, the next settlement began on Norfolk Island. 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. They left Pitcairn Islands on 3 May 1856 and arrived with 194 persons
Mutiny on the Bounty of a visiting British ship that the story of Cook and Bligh founding a settlement in Aitutaki was a fabrication, and that Cook had been long dead. Christian worried that their reaction might turn violent, and did not stay long. Of the 16 men who had voted to settle in Tahiti, he allowed 15 ashore; Joseph Coleman was detained on the ship, as Christian required his skills as an armourer. That evening, Christian inveigled aboard "Bounty" a party of Tahitians, mainly women, for a social gathering. With the festivities under way, he cut the anchor rope and "Bounty" sailed away