BTW, reading "Men Against The Sea" leaves teh reader with a very different impression of Captain Bligh.
Posted on 11/24/2003 5:53:36 PM PST by 11th_VA
Pitcairn, the South Pacific home of the descendants of the Bounty mutineers, has never been British territory and is instead the world's smallest and most isolated independent nation, a court was told yesterday.
When the Royal Navy ship Swallow sighted the island in 1767 it sailed straight past and did not claim sovereignty, pausing only to name the outcrop after the midshipman who spotted it, Paul Dacre told the Pitcairn supreme court. "No attempt was made to claim the island on behalf of the monarch," he said.
Mr Dacre, defending 13 islanders accused of rape and indecent assault, is arguing that the legal process, under the Pitcairn Island Ordinances, which essentially extend English law overseas, is invalid.
The court is sitting in a suburb of Auckland declared to be Pitcairn territory for the proceedings.
Fletcher Christian and his fellow mutineers, as fugitives from justice, never intended that their remote haven should come under British rule, Mr Dacre added.
Christian and his men set fire to the Bounty and destroyed it, "the most decisive act any group of people could take against the English Government. By burning a British warship, more particularly an armed vessel, the mutineers committed a felony punishable by death.
"In burning the Bounty, those persons on Pitcairn Island cut irrevocably, and severed, their ties with the United Kingdom."
Mr Dacre said the British Settlements Act of 1887, by which Pitcairn was declared a British possession, applied only to territories where there was "no civilised government" and which were also the Crown's "possession acquired by settlement".
Neither fact applied, he argued, and the islanders had already set up their own constitution in 1838. As an indigenous people, they should be left to deal with the allegations under their own rules and regulations.
The case continues today.
Neither fact applied, he argued, and the islanders had already set up their own constitution in 1838."
Having their own government isn't good enough. It had to have been civilized Government, and I guess the Brits didn't consider theirs to be civilized. After all it was founded by mutineer's and teh descendants of mutineers.
Yep. Go Mel!
BTW, reading "Men Against The Sea" leaves teh reader with a very different impression of Captain Bligh.
,,, something you may not know - that ship wasn't named after a bird. There's navies and there's navies.
sang on SNL to the tune of "I will Folllow Him"?
1. Go to Pitcairn Island.
2. Find the official in charge of citizenship.
3. Challenge him, take ten paces, turn, and fire.
With a sword or pistol, I would presume.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.