The Anniversary of the Burning of HMAV Bounty 134 years

23 January 1790 is recorded as the anniversary date in which the ship HMAV Bounty was burnt at Bounty Bay on Pitcairn Island. The Bounty mutineers had arrived on Pitcairn Island

in January 1790 and fearing they would be discovered, the HMAV Bounty was burnt on the 23 January 1790, at Bounty Bay on Pitcairn Island to prevent detection.

This week the Pitcairn Islanders celebrate “Bounty Day”, this is in commemorative day,

remembering the “Burning of the Bounty”. During the day of celebrations, the Pitcairn

Islanders build a replica model of the bounty ship, and it is burnt as part of the day’s events,

as long as the weather conditions are settled so they can safely burn the ship.

Melva Warren Evans shared images from 2022 Bounty Day on Pitcairn

Island and has given permission to share her photos of the Bounty cardboard model.

Thank you, Melva.

This internet link also has images of Bounty Day on Pitcairn Island

https://2f.ru/2012/10/08/bounty-day/

After arriving at Pitcairn Island on January 15, 1790, the mutineers feared they would

be found, so once they removed all the livestock and other provisions. To prevent the

ship's detection, the ship was burnt on 23 January 1790 in what is now called Bounty Bay. The burning of the ship meant that the Bounty Mutineers were unable

to leave Pitcairn Island there was no way they could possibly escape if they found on

this remote island.

They then settled into life on Pitcairn Island. The island proved an

ideal haven for the mutineers—uninhabited, virtually inaccessible, with plenty of

food, water and fertile land. The mutineers remained undetected on Pitcairn until

February 1808, when sole remaining mutineer John Adams and the surviving Tahitian

women and their children were discovered by the Boston sealer Topaz, commanded

by Captain Mayhew Folger of Nantucket, Massachusetts.

I have read that some of the items from the HMAV Bounty, such as her ballast stones, are

still partially visible in its waters at Bounty Bay. Her rudder is displayed in the Fiji Museum

in Suva. An anchor of HMAV Bounty was recovered by Luis Marden in Bounty Bay in 1957.

https://statelibrarynsw.tumblr.com/post/108107585637/on-this-day-15th-january-1790-

the-mutineers-of

This painting is from the collections of the State Library of New South Wales. The library

holds several manuscripts and photographs relating to the history of Pitcairn Island.

HMAV Bounty: “HMAV - His/Her Majesty's Armed Vessel (Great Britain)”

If you would like to learn more about the “HMAV Bounty” and its stories visit the “Norfolk

Island Museum, Pier Store” at Kingston and you can read more and see the wonderful

model of the HMAV Bounty in a large glass cabinet and the Bounty canon which are on

display.

Here are a couple of my photos from the “HMVA Bounty” Display at the Pier Store Museum

at Kingston, Norfolk Island. I am also incredibly pleased to also have a copy of my brother’s

photographs from his visit to Pitcairn Island in 2012.

Betty Matthews

19 January 2024