On January 1788 Lieutenant Philip Gidley King was ordered to lead a party of fifteen convicts, 9 males, 6 females and 7 free men, to take control of Norfolk Island so the Island didn’t fall into the hands of the French who were also interested in the south pacific.

Lieutenant King is reported in saying that the Island Pines were the most beautiful and finest in the world and would be suitable for masts, yards and spars. Grains and seeds also grow in abundance on Norfolk Island. The only down side to the Island is the lack of a natural safe harbour. Without a harbour this island is of no use, but with a port, Norfolk Island would become of great importance for Great Britain.

It soon became apparent that the Norfolk Pine was not resilient enough for masts and the New Zealand flax was to difficult to prepare. This idea was soon abandoned.

Even with these initial setbacks the occupation began to flourish. Norfolk Island was soon seen as a farm and its main purpose became the provision of food for Sydney. A township was established and the convicts cultivated the ground and planted crops of vegetables and seeds which were to be shipped back to Sydney to help with the near starvations which were crippling the city.

On the 19th March 1790, Norfolk Island received 300 new convicts and officers from Sydney aboard the HMS Sirius. This new influx of convicts helped relieve the pressure on the Sydney crises. It turned to disaster when the HMS Sirius was wrecked on the reef at Kinston and although there was no loss of life, the stores were ruined and the incident highlighted the settlements vulnerability. The ship crew was marooned on Norfolk for 10 months.

The farming of vegetables and grains for Sydney often failed due to the salty winds as well as the rats, caterpillars and the Norfolk Parrots. The lack of a safe harbour hindered communications and the transport of supplies and produce. Even with these problems a second fleet arrived on Norfolk Island with a cargo of sick and abused convicts, which gave the Island more problems to contend with.

In 1794 Lieutenant Philip Gidley King suggested that the penal settlement was too remote and difficult for shipping, and too costly to maintain and should be closed.

Lieutenant Philip Gidley King left Norfolk Island in 1789 and a succession of short term commandants ruled the island for the next 11 years.

In 1803 the secretary of state, Lord Hobart, called for the removal of of the Norfolk Island settlement, to be transferred to Van Diemens Land due to its great expense and the difficulties of communication between Norfolk Island and Sydney.

This was a slow process as most of the settlers didn’t want to be uprooted from Norfolk Island. A lot of the convicts had decided to stay on the Island as settlers after they had finished their sentence.

The first group of 159 left Norfolk in February 1805. The group comprised of mainly convicts and their families but only 4 settlers.

By September 1808 only around 200 remained on the Island. The structures of the settlement was razed or pulled down stone by stone in order to dissuade passing ships from reoccupying Norfolk Island and also to make the Island less alluring for escaped convicts. The farms were destroyed and the domestic animals were shot.

The Island was finally abandoned by 6th June 1825 and stayed that way for 11 years.