Story of "Uncle Parkin"
p. 51 · Read in the full issue
Christian
George henry parkin Christian born at Pitcairn Island, on October 16, 1853, died at Norfolk Island on August 28, 1940, in his 87th year. He was descended, through his father, from Fletcher Christian,
and through his 'mother from Ed ward Young and John Mills, of the “Bounty”. He is survived by a married daughter, living in New Zea land, his wife and four sons having predeceased him.
Of splendid physique, he had led an adventurous life. For many years he served on whaling ships oper ating off the New Zealand coast. For two years, he wa& on the whaler “A.
R. Towns”, owned by Mr. Robert Towns, of Sydney.
For about 8 years
he was mate on whalers belonging to Mr.
R. Wing, of New Bedford, U.S.A.—the “Chas. W. Morgan”, “California”, “Can ton”, and “Lydia”—in which he maae several voyages to the Arctic Ocean, and earned a great reputation as a whale killer. He was for a time employed by Mr. Merriman, of Sydney, diving for pearl-shell in Torres Strait, and was for some years a diver in the service of the Auckland Harbour Board, N.Z.
At the age of 72, he took command of the schooner “Resolution”, built at N.I. for trading with New Zealand. Unfortun ately, this venture proved a failure, and the schooner was sold, so he settled down in his little cottage at Steel’s Point. Here he lived alone, his sturdv, independent spirit and great physical strength enabl ing him to attend to his own needs.
Strange as it may seem, for a man who had spent so many years in the rough atmosphere of whaling ships, he neither smoked, drank, nor used bad language.
Quiet, upright and unassuming, he was indeed a very fine character.
Of the 194 members of the Pitcairn Is land community who landed on Norfolk Island on June 8, 1856, only two now sur vive—one on Pitcairn Island (Charles Carleton Vieder Young, born Aoril 20, 1850) and one on Norfolk Island*(“Aunt Selina” Buffett, born February 4, 1856).