Descendants of the Bounty mutineers facts for kids
Descendants of the mutineers John Adams and Matthew Quintal on Norfolk Island, 1862
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| Total population | |
|---|---|
| ~1,000 worldwide | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Pitcairn Islands |
~45 (2021) |
 Norfolk Island |
~450 (2016) |
 Australia |
~250 (2016) |
 New Zealand |
~45 (2018) |
| Languages | |
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| Religion | |
| Seventh-day Adventist Church | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
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The descendants of the Bounty mutineers are people alive today who are related to the sailors who took over the ship HMS Bounty in 1789. This famous event, called the mutiny on HMS Bounty, happened in the south Pacific Ocean.
Many of these descendants live on the Pitcairn Islands and Norfolk Island. You can also find them in places like New Zealand, Australia, and the United States.
How the Community Started
The nine sailors who survived the mutiny arrived on Pitcairn Island on January 15, 1790. They were joined by eleven Tahitian women and six Tahitian men. Each of the mutineers chose a woman to be his wife. The remaining two women were meant to be shared by the six Tahitian men, which caused a lot of unhappiness.
Some of the mutineers, like Fletcher Christian, Ned Young, John Adams, John Mills, William McCoy, and Matthew Quintal, had children with six Tahitian women. These women included Mauatua, Toofaiti, Vahineatua, Teio, Tevarua, and Teraura. Together, they had 24 children, who then had 77 children of their own. Because there were so few people on the island, many of these children and grandchildren married their first or second cousins.
Life on the island was not always peaceful. After some time, a conflict arose between the mutineers and the Tahitian men. This led to violence, and several men from both groups were killed. By 1800, only one mutineer, John Adams, was left alive. He lived until 1829 and helped guide the growing community. Sometimes, new people arrived on the island, like Samuel Russell Warren from the United States. His family's name is still found among the islanders today.
First Families of Pitcairn
Here are the first families that started on Pitcairn Island, showing how the mutineers and Tahitian women had children.
- Fletcher Christian (1764 – 1793)
- m. Mauatua (died 1841)
- Thursday October Christian I (1790 – 1831)
- m. Teraura (died 1850)
- Joseph John Christian (1805 – 1831)
- Charles Christian (1808 – 1831)
- Mary Christian (1810 – 1852)
- Polly Christian (1814 – 1831)
- Peggy Christian (1815 – 1884)
- Thursday October Christian II (1820 – 1911)
- m. Teraura (died 1850)
- Charles Christian (1792 – 1842)
- m. Sully or Sarah (1789 – 1826)
- Sarah Christian (1810 – 1899)
- Fletcher Christian II (1812 – 1852)
- Edward Christian (1814 – 1831)
- Maria Christian (1816 – 1889)
- Charles Christian II (1818 – 1886)
- Mary Christian (1819 – 1843)
- Margaret Christian (1822 – 1874)
- Isaac Christian (1825 – 1877)
- m. Sully or Sarah (1789 – 1826)
- Mary Ann Christian (1793 – 1866)
- Thursday October Christian I (1790 – 1831)
- Ned Young (1762 – 1800)
- m. Mauatua
- Edward Young (1796 – 1831)
- m. Polly Christian
- Moses Young (1829 – 1909)
- m. Polly Christian
- Dorothy Young (1797 – 1863)
- m. John Buffett
- Thomas Buffett (1825 – 1900)
- John Buffett (1826 – 1906)
- David Buffett (1827 – 1924)
- Robert Pitcairn Buffett (1830 – 1926)
- Edward Buffett (1835 – 1911)
- m. John Buffett
- James Young (1799–1806)
- Edward Young (1796 – 1831)
- m. Toofaiti
- Polly Young (1794 – 1843)
- George Young (1797 – 1831)
- m. Hannah Adams
- George Martin Frederick Young (1822 – 1899)
- Simon Young (1823 – 1893)
- Dinah Young (1824 – 1881)
- Elizabeth Young (1826 – 1863)
- Jemima Young (1828 – 1868)
- Martha Young (1830 – 1872)
- m. Hannah Adams
- Robert Young (1799 – 1831)
- William Young (1799 – 1839)
- m. Elizabeth Mills
- Mary Polly Young (1825 – 1885)
- William Mayhew Young (1827 – 1876)
- Miriam Young (1829 – 1911)
- Dorcas Young (1832 – 1917)
- Lydia Young (1832 – 1883)
- Robert Young (1837 – 1837)
- m. Elizabeth Mills
- John Adams (1767 – 1829)
- m. Vahineatua (died 1831)
- Dinah Adams (1796 – 1864)
- Rachel Adams (1797 – 1876)
- m. John Evans
- John Valentine Mansell Evans (1829 – before 1892)
- William Evans (1830 – 1873)
- Mary Evans (1833 – 1909)
- George Francis Mason Evans (1835 – 1910)
- Dinah Evans (1837 – 1870)
- Martha Evans (1839 – 1876)
- m. John Evans
- Hannah Adams (1799 – 1864)
- m. Teio (died after 1825)
- George Adams (1804 – 1873)
- m. Polly Young
- John Adams (1827 – 1897)
- Jonathan Adams (1829 – 1906)
- Josiah Chester Adams (1830 – 1907)
- m. Polly Young
- George Adams (1804 – 1873)
- John Mills (died 1793)
- m. Vahineatua
- Elizabeth Mills (1792 – 1883)
- John Mills (1793–1814)
- William McCoy (1763 – 1798)
- m. Teio
- Daniel McCoy (1792 – 1832)
- m. Sarah Quintal
- William McCoy (1812 – 1849)
- Daniel McCoy (1814 – 1831)
- Hugh McCoy (1816 – 1831)
- Matthew McCoy (1819 – 1853)
- Jane McCoy (1822 – 1831)
- Sarah McCoy (1824 – 1833)
- Samuel McCoy (1826 – 1876)
- Albina McCoy (1828 – 1908)
- Daniel McCoy (1832 – 1855)
- m. Sarah Quintal
- Catherine McCoy (1799 – 1831)
- Daniel McCoy (1792 – 1832)
- Matthew Quintal (1766 – 1799)
- m. Tevarua (died 1799)
- Matthew Quintal Jr. (1791 – 1814)
- m. Elizabeth Mills
- John Quintal (1812 – 1838)
- Matthew Quintal III (1814 – 1865)
- m. Elizabeth Mills
- John Quintal (1792–1792)
- Jane Quintal (1795 – ?)
- Arthur Quintal (1795 – 1873)
- m. Catherine McCoy
- Arthur Quintal II (1816 – 1902)
- Catherine K. (Kitty) Quintal (1818 – 1831)
- John Quintal (1820 – 1920)
- Charlotte Quintal (1822 – 1883)
- Phoebe Quintal (1824 – 1900)
- James Quintal (1825 – 1898)
- Caroline Quintal (1827 – 1869)
- Ruth Quintal (1829 – 1862)
- Lucy Anne Quintal (1831)
- m. Mary Christian
- Absolam Quintal (1836 – 1868)
- Nathaniel Quintal (1837 – 1895)
- Joseph Quintal (1839 – 1912)
- Cornelius Quintal (1841 – 1934)
- Mary Quintal (1843 – 1868)
- m. Catherine McCoy
- Sarah Quintal (1797 – 1851)
- Matthew Quintal Jr. (1791 – 1814)
- m. Teraura (1775 – 1850)
- Edward Quintal (1800 – 1841)
- m. Dinah Adams
- William Quintal (1817 – 1905)
- Martha Quintal (1822 – 1893)
- Edward Quintal (1824 – 1856)
- Abraham Blatchly Quintal (1827 – 1910)
- Louisa Quintal (1829 – 1873)
- Nancy Quintal (1831 – 1853)
- Susan Quintal (1833 – 1917)
- Henry Joshua Quintal (1836 – 1873)
- Caleb Quintal (1837 – 1873)
- Joseph Napoleon Quintal (1839 – 1841)
- m. Dinah Adams
- Edward Quintal (1800 – 1841)
Famous Descendants
Many people today are proud to be descendants of the Bounty mutineers. Here are a few examples:
- Malcolm Champion (1882 – 1939) was an Olympic swimmer from New Zealand. His mother, Sarah Clara Quintal, was a descendant of Matthew Quintal.
- Thomas Colman Christian (1935 – 2013) was known as the "Voice of Pitcairn." He spent almost his whole life connecting the island to the rest of the world using ham radio. He was a great-great-great-grandson of Fletcher Christian. In 1957, he even helped find parts of the sunken Bounty ship.
- Rosalind Amelia Young (1853 – 1924) was a historian and a great-granddaughter of John Adams.
Most of the leaders of the Pitcairn Islands have been descendants of the Bounty mutineers, even up to today.
In 1935, after their successful movie Mutiny on the Bounty came out, MGM Studios made a short documentary. It was called "Pitcairn Island Today" and showed some of the mutineers' descendants living in Adamstown, the only village on the island.
Some of the people featured in this documentary included:
- William Christian, a farmer and great-grandson of Fletcher Christian.
- Benjamin Young, a blacksmith and great-grandson of Ned Young.
- Edward Christian, a stonecutter, also a descendant of Fletcher Christian.
- "Pastor Christian," who was the pastor and mayor of the island. This was likely Edgar Allen Christian.
- (Aunt) Annie McCoy, a descendant of William McCoy.
- Rebecca Young, a young descendant of Ned Young.
- Allan Christian and Eva Christian, a couple whose marriage was announced by the island's leader.
- David Young, a newborn baby, another descendant of Ned Young.
Other documentaries have also been made about the Pitcairn people, like Pitcairn People (1962) and Miracle on Pitcairn Island (1960s). These films also showed many of the island's residents at the time.
Images for kids
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Descendants of the mutineers John Adams and Matthew Quintal on Norfolk Island, 1862
