Sports in Tamba- Tamba, part 2: Cricket.

The earliest sporting events held on Tamba- Tamba were cricket matches.
We know from the writings of Thomas Cock that the early settlers played informal matches, and when the English arrived in 1795 the islanders were still enjoying the game to the extent that matches between 'The Island' and ' The Garrison' were played on a regular basis. Matches were also played between combined Tamba- Tamba teams and the crews of visiting Royal Navy vessels.

The game developed more formally during the period when Sir Harvey Graves was Governor (1817-1834).
Sir Harvey had played cricket at Harrow, and developed a good playing field at The Meadow.
This site is just across the main road from The May 15th Oval where all of the important matches are still played.
In the latter half of the 19th century there was something of a mania for cricket on the island, and a number of small clubs evolved.
Rivalry between these clubs was great, this made for vibrant local competition but also led to Tamba- Tamba relinquishing its potential place on the cricketing map.
In 1900 the newly installed Clifton Gates Kakoy set out to cement his popularity with the islanders by arranging a match between Tamba- Tamba and a team from the MCC.
It was only natural that Clifton Gates Kakoy would captain the team (although at 40 he was past his prime he had been a decent player) as well as being responsible for selection.
Clifton played his club cricket for The Cricket Club, and leading players from Palmerston's other two clubs, Wanderers and The Sons of Dreadful, made themselves unavailable to avoid the potential snub of not being selected. Clifton, ever the diplomat, made it known that all three clubs should be equally represented. This led to further squabbles, with some Cricket Club players complaining that the team should be picked on merit alone.
The upshot of all this infighting was that when the MCC team arrived at Palmerston ( to a boisterous reception) Tamba- Tamba could barely scrape an XI, a couple of his Cricket Club teammates were inexplicably absent and reserves were drafted in from downtown Palmerston's The Sons of Dreadful club.
Despite the ill will that had preceded the Great Match nearly every inhabitant of Tamba- Tamba was at The Meadow on the morning of April 15th 1901.
The MCC team, led by Chairman of Selectors the legendary Lord Hawke, was something of a mixed bag, comprising a number of Young Gentlemen who would not have got a game against a more established opposition, and a handful of older pros.
It was when Clifton presented Lord Hawke with his team sheet that events descended into farce.
Tamba- Tamba's XI for the Great Match was as follows:

Clifton Gates Kakoy.......... (Cricket Club)
The Hon. Sir Hugo Gates.......... (Cricket Club)
Lady Cecilia Gates.......... (Guest)
Artemis Rowley.......... (Sons of Dreadful)
Frederico Cox ..........(Sons of Dreadful)
Davie Berry.......... (Sons of Dreadful)
William Stock.......... (Wanderers)
Jenny Berry.......... (Sons of Dreadful)
Francis ..........(Guest)
Thomas Paine Cox ..........(Schoolboy)
Vernon ..........(Wanderers)

William Stock was Black Tambanese, Francis and Vernon were both barefoot Wessel's islanders. Lord Hawke had some reservations about playing against 'natives', but what irked him most was the presence in the side of two females, Clifton's cousin's wife Lady Cecilia and 15 year old Jenny Berry. It was not unusual for young women to play in men's teams on Tamba - Tamba.
The crowd grew restless as Clifton and Hawke engaged in negotiations in the pavillion. Hawke insisted that 1) the game would not be reported in the English press, 2) it would not be recorded in the annals of the MCC, 3) that the MCC would not reciprocally invite Tamba- Tamba to play a return match in England.

MCC

Hawke won the toss and invited Tamba- Tamba to bat. Tamba- Tamba were all out for 23 (Lady Cecilia top scoring with 15 not out). The English batsmen adapted well to the coir matting and Hawke felt confident enough to declare on 351-2.

Lady Cecilia taking guard...

The following day MCC were unable to take to the field, victims of a stomach complaint that frequently affected new arrivals to the island. Clifton Gates Kakoy sportingly declared it a rest day, but a storm then ravaged the island for three days, bringing the scheduled date of departure for the MCC's steamer. The match was abandoned as a draw.
Cricket remains popular on the island and at a later date we will look at some players from the modern era.

The Governors of Tamba- Tamba 1795-1854

Captain Maurice Bentall- (1770- 1840) Governor May 1795- Sept 1815.
Captain Bentall was born in Dunwich. He recieved the King's Commission in 1791. He was the commandant of Cocktown garrison. Cpt . Bentall's papers reveal that he initially thought that this would be a short term position. During the Napoleonic Wars he frequently expressed frustration at missing out on the action. He was concerned at times that he and his charges had been simply forgotten.
Bentall's calm handling of the Slave Revolt and his ambivalence over the islander's rejection of the church added to his popularity.
He developed a strong affection for Tamba- Tamba, and strove to protract his time in office by fabricating various projects that he said he must oversee to their conclusions.
The British Government briefly considered sending Napoleon into exile on Tamba- Tamba, but last minute doubts over the security of the island led to St Helena being chosen instead. This was a sad end to Bentall's time in office. He was transferred to Trinidad where his career continued without great event.


Admiral Lewis Hunt- (1754- 1816) Governor Sept 1815- Dec 1816. Hunt had served with little distinction in New South Wales under William Bligh. A martyr to his haemorrhoids and gout, Hunt succumbed to the Island Malaise epidemic of 1816.


Sir Harvey Graves (1777- 1840) Governor Jan. 1817- Dec 1834. The universally popular Sir Harvey Graves was Governor of Tamba- Tamba for 17 glorious years. He was looked upon by the islanders as an honorary Tamba- Tambaman. During his period in office the Council was virtually obsolete, although Graves was ready to consult them openly regarding matters that affected their welfare.



Sir Brougham Sleight (1799-1899) Governor Jan 1835 - May 1854 assumed the title Brougham Kakoy in May 1854. It was common knowledge that the bluff Dorset landowner Brougham Sleight had bought his position in the diplomatic service in order to escape his responsibilities on the death of his father. Sleight , however, proved himself to be something of a loose cannon in diplomatic circles, and consequently found himself dispatched to the remote and insignificant Tamba- Tamba.
Sleight seized upon the crisis of 1854 ( the San Luisitano incident) in order to make himself the de facto ruler of the island.

Wessel's Island

The northern part of the archipelago, Kuiper's Island and Wessel's Island,were first settled by the Dutch in under the leadership of Heironymous Wessel in 1630.

Heironymous Wessel

The Dutch focused their activities on Wessel's as the natives were less hostile and the terrain was more favourable for development. Wessel himself noted the fundamental differences between the tribes on the two islands.
Kuiper's inhabitants were warlike, and lived in small isolated groups in the forest. They were hunter gatherers. The people of Wessel's on the other hand were essentially placid, with rudimentary agriculture, domesticated goats and systematic fishing. The population was centred on one large settlement (later the site of the ill fated New Utrecht).
The Dutch rule on Wessel's was a blueprint for bad colonialism. They forcibly converted the natives to Christianity and exploited them as slaves.
There was some trade between the Dutch and their Portuguese counterparts on Tome- Tome.
In 1688 The Dutch abandoned the Archipelago following a catastrophic plague (probably some form of Island Malaise), had killed 75% of the settlers in New Utrecht.
Following the mutiny HMS Dreadful, under the command of Lieutenant Summers, called at Wessel's. Many of the mutineers saw it as an earthly paradise, and wanted to prolong their stay, but the 'King', Tahatue, made it known to Summers that he did not want to incur the wrath of the English, and that ancient religious beliefs, coupled by the bad memories of the Dutch colony, were against white men living on the island.
Tahatue however was quite happy for his people to consort with the sailors, and welcomed the proposition that some of them accompanied the Dreadful on to Tamba- Tamba. There is no history of any friction between the two sets of islanders, and migration from Wessel's to Tamba- Tamba remains common up to the present day.

During the British Colonization of Tamba- Tamba the notion of also annexing Wessel's and Kuiper's was considered on a number of occasions, but was never deemed to be an economically viable venture. The islands did, however, enjoy a sort of informal British protectorship due to the relative proximity of Tamba- Tamba.
The absence of any firm colonial control is evident in the way in which whereas Tamba- Tamba is essentially westernised, Wessel's society has changed little since the departure of the Dutch, and the population is homogeneous.
The island is 320 km².
In 2010 the population is estimated to stand at 1,400.

The Census of 1805

In 1805 The Government of Great Britain ordered Bentall to conduct a census of the island's population. The garrison or others in the employ of the crown were not included.
Where men and women co-habited Bentall generously indicated the woman as 'wife' although there were no formal marriage arrangements on the island.

Cocktown:

Cocktown Square.

The Long Houses:

1) Morgan Rees 43 b Breconshire

2) Jan Van Damme 42 b the Low Countries

3) Hennie Van Damme 20, b Wessels, 'wife' of Jan Van Damme

4) Dick Baker 47 b Portsmouth

5) Owen Conway 52 b N Wales

6) Davey about 40 yrs b Wessels

7) Jack about 40 b Wessels

8) Marina about 35 b Wessels

9) Young Jack, 11, b Tamba- Tamba

10) Peter , 9 b Tamba- Tamba

John Stock’s Cottage:

11) John Stock 46 b Liverpool (Stock was black)

12) Flora Stock about 24 b Wessels his ‘wife’

13) John Stock, 3, b Tamba- Tamba

The White House:

14) John John (widower) 44 b Portsmouth

15) John John , 26 b Tamba- Tamba

The Fine House:

16) Marcus Berry 49 b Kent, carpenter.

17) Lily Berry about 40 b Wessels his ‘wife’

18) Lucius Berry 20, carpenter

19) Harry Berry 18, carpenter

20) Mary Berry 18‘schoolmistress’

21) Luke Berry 16

22) Matthew Berry 13

23) Ellen Berry 7

24) Anne Berry 3

The Old Longhouse:

25) Roderick Rowley, 24 b Tamba- Tamba -Recorder

26) Mary Rowley (nee John) 24, b Tamba- Tamba

27) Robert Rowley 10 mths b Tamba- Tamba

28) Peter Rowley, 22 b Tamba- Tamba

29) Poppet Rowley nee Hooper, 26 b Tamba- Tamba

30) George Rowley, 19 b Tamba- Tamba

31) Mary Rowley (nee Greene), 15 b Tamba- Tamba

32) Rowley Rowley, 1, b Tamba- Tamba

Cock’s Plantation:

The Big House:

33) Liza Cock about 40, (widow of Thos. Cock), b Wessels

34) Renton Lazenby Cock, 25 b Tamba- Tamba - Chairman of Council.

35) Lucy Cock (nee Rowley), 19, b Tamba- Tamba

36) Liza Cock, 2 b Tamba- Tamba

37) Julius Lazenby Cock, 23 b Tamba- Tamba

38) Anna Cock, 19 b Tamba- Tamba

The Low House:

39) Mirabelle Greene (about 50) widow. b Wessels

40) Clarice Greene , 24 b Tamba- Tamba ‘schoolmistress’

41) Charles Greene , 20 b Tamba- Tamba

42) Nina Greene, 19, b Tamba- Tamba

The Boats:

43) Michael Howard, 27 b Tamba- Tamba

44) Eve Howard, 26 b Wessels

45) Rachel Howard, 4, b Tamba- Tamba

46) Sarah- Jane Howard, 2 b Tamba- Tamba

The Womens House:

47) Dervala, about 50, b Wessels

48) Grace, about 15 b Wessels

49) Louisa, about 20 b Wessels

50) Sally- Ann, about 20 b Wessels

51) Luarte, about 25 b Wessels

Captain’s House:

52) Paul Crowther Nixon, 31, b London

53) Tilly, about 20, b Wessels

54) Daisy, about 20, b Wessels

Hooper’s Point Settlement:

The Hooper House:

55) Samuel Hooper 60 b Lowestoft

56) Susan Hooper about 50 b Wessels his ‘wife’

57) Teanna Hooper about 30 b Wessels his ‘wife’

58) Trina Hooper, 18 b Tamba- Tamba

59) Suffolk Hooper, 16 b Tamba- Tamba

60) Marjorie Hooper, 10 b Tamba- Tamba

61) Miranda Hooper, 8 b Tamba- Tamba

62) David Hooper, 7 b Tamba- Tamba

63) Tom Cock Hooper, 4 b Tamba- Tamba

The Bothie:

64) Andrew Hooper 27

65) Daisy Hooper, about 20, b Wessels his ‘wife’

66) Samuel Hooper, 4, b Tamba- Tamba

67) Roger Hooper, 1, b Tamba- Tamba

Place of birth:

Britain- 8

Low Countries- 1

Wessels – 19

Tamba- Tamba – 39

Men- 24

Women- 24

Under 16- m- 10

f- 9

Records from the Colonial Office point to the garrison, the jetty and Bentall's family and staff numbering in total somewhere in the region of 75 people.

Captain Paul Nixon Crowther (1775- 1815).

In the early days of the British Occupation (1795) the amount of maritime traffic calling at Tamba- Tamba increased phenomenally.
In 1797 a military detatchment called at Tamba- Tamba on board HMAV Glorious. Among the soldiers was Ensign Paul Nixon Crowther. Nixon Crowther was the son of a London wine merchant. His romantic tendencies precluded him from following his father into business, and he joined the army seeking adventure. Even though Nixon Crowther's stay on the island was brief he vowed to return.
Having risen to the rank of Captain and somehow accumulated a considerable personal fortune, Nixon Crowther was invalided out of the army in 1803.
He paid for his passage to Tamba- Tamba on the first available ship.
When he arrived on Tamba- Tamba neither Governor Bentall nor Citizen Renton Cock was sure how to receive him.
The islanders were apprehensive about newcomers- the community was close knit and there were limited resources.
Bentall was unsettled by the arrival of this dashing adventurer (although he now walked with a pronounced limp), and wanted to deport him at the earliest opportunity.
Nixon Crowther asked to be allowed to address the Council.
He told them of how the lifestyle he had seen on Tamba- Tamba had seduced him, and how he admired the way in which the people conducted their everyday lives. He assured the Council that he was not seeking an easy life, but just wished to be allowed to settle on the island unmolested.
As a show of goodwill (or a means of purchasing their favour) Nixon Crowther put his considerable personal wealth at the disposal of the community.
Of course, the islanders had no use for money or gold, they produced their goods in common and traded with Wessel's or passing ships on a barter basis.
The Council approached Bentall regarding the establishment of independent trade between the islanders and England .
Bentall drew up a list of prohibited items (basically firearms) and also forbade any trade in imported goods between the islanders and the garrison.
Nixon Crowther was also responsible for carrying on Thomas Cock's vision of a literate island, establishing the rather basic and informal educational system that lasted well into the 20th century.
He set up home in a rather ramshackle cottage (built by the Berrys) with a series of concubines from Wessel's Island.
When his health declined his companions wheeled him around Cocktown in a rudimentary bathchair, his face shaded by a hat with a very wide brim. Such hats are still referred to as 'Crowthers' on Tamba- Tamba.

The 18 Citizens

The following is a list of the original 18 Citizens of Tamba- Tamba, based on the list as compiled by Rowley Rowley himself.
The original document is now kept in the Archives of The People at The People's Library of Palmerston.
I have included some additional notes by historian Thomas Jefferson Jackson, for example Rowley did not include the men's ranks. He noted only their names, ages, places of birth .
I am indebted to the Jackson family for the use of the following material.

Midshipman Thos. Lazenby Cock 19 aet, b Monmouthshire.

Coxswain Rowley Rowley 22 aet, b Bristol

Marcus Berry, 21 aet, b Rochester, ships carpenter

Ordinary Seaman Samuel Hooper, 32 aet b Lowestoft

Midshipman Andrew Sinclair ,20 aet, b Queensferry (Scotland)

Able Seaman Patrick Mehan, 55 aet b Cork (Ireland)

Ordinary Seaman John John, 16 aet b Portsmouth

Able Seaman Thos. Greene 38 aet b Dartmouth

Able Seaman Francis Greene 38 aet b Dartmouth

- these men were twin brothers.

Coxswain's Mate John Howard, 19 aet b Portsmouth

Ordinary Seaman John Stock, 18 aet b Liverpool

(this man was black)

Ordinary Seaman Owen Conway 24,aet b Anglesey (Wales)

(apparently Owen Conway was an alias of Thos Owen of Anglesey? tradition has it that on his deathbed he said that he had joined up under a false name as he was wanted in connection with the theft of some sheep).

Able Seaman Peter Renouf 23, aet b Jersey

Renouf was constantly in trouble aboard the Dreadfull; His disciplinary record in the service was very poor.

Ordinary Seaman Dick Baker 19,aet b Portsmouth

Donal Macintyre,aet 45, Strathclyde (Scotland)

The ship's cook. Tradition has it that Macintyre was responsible for producing alcohol from the local fruit, as well as learning traditional means of doing so from the Wessel's islanders.

Jan Van Damme cabin boy 14, aet b Ostende, The Low Countries.

Robert Mackay about 60 aet, place of birth not known.

Sailmaker's Mate. was thought by Capt Stokes to be suffering from insanity long before the mutiny.

Midshipman Morgan Rees 15 aet b Trecastle (Wales)

Capt Stokes wrote that Rees would have followed Cock to hell itself, so much was he in his thrall.

Thomas Cock placed a great deal of importance on literacy, and on the foundation of the Council he asked that Rowley Rowley should keep a journal of the important incidents in the life of the Island. This position, Recorder, was continued by their successors.
Of the 18 men Rowley noted that nine were 'literate', whilst the others had 'varied degrees of learning'.
Rowley's original document makes no reference to the Wessel's Islanders who accompanied the mutineers.

Analysis of ethnicity on Tamba- Tamba.

There are 3 main ethnic groups among the population of Tamba- Tamba. At a later date we will look statistically at the composition of the present population, which also includes a variety of 'overseas people'- the 2001 census records residents of the island who gave their nationality as British, Irish, U.S.A, Australian, Brazilian, Croatian and Maltese.

1. Tamba- Tamba men- the descendants of the first mutineer settlers and their Wessel's Island womenfolk. Nowadays islanders are proud to be able to claim this status . Bearers of traditional names that date from the time of the mutiny:
Cox (formerly Cock)
Rowley.
Hooper.
Berry.

2. Black Tambanese - the descendants of the 'blacks' who arrived with the mutineers, of Seaman John Stock and of other ethnic groups who went to Tamba- Tamba during the Imperial era. On the whole 'black' people on Tamba- Tamba have enjoyed equal rights . Since the end of the Imperial era there was no racial discrimination on the island.

3. English Tamba- Tamba men- includes not only the descendants of the English who settled on Tamba- Tamba during the Imperial era, but also those of mixed English and Tamba- Tamba stock.

4. Tamba- Tamba mulatto (defunct)- a rather pejorative designation that appeared during the Imperial era. Some pure Tamba- Tamba men found themselves relegated to mulatto status because of their (understandably) non- European looks.

Sports in Tamba- Tamba, part 1: Field Sports and Fishing.

Mrs Jackson with Lucifer.

Sports and games on the island fall into 3 categories:

1.Field sports and fishing.
2.Sports in general.
3.Tamba- Tamba sports and games.

Let's take a look at field sports and fishing:
Hunting and fishing have always been an integral part of life on Tamba- Tamba. Naturally there is now less reliance on these skills for survival, but the skills have evolved into competitive field sports.
Fishing- rod fishing from boats is surprisingly popular with the urban population of Palmerston. Toppimuri and Southern Ocean Bass are the main catch. Some shark fishing expeditions leave Hooper's Point. Beach fishing is more popular still, with clubs participating in many competitions and cups.

Palmerston Ladies Rod Club.

Rod fishing at Berry Sands.

Shooting- we have seen how the shooting of Hargreaves bandicoot assumed a ritualistic status in the culture of the island. There is no big game in the archipelago, so hunting is mostly confined to the annihilation of smaller mammals such as the Hargreaves Fox and the Shorteared Coney.
Wildfowling is particularly popular (sea birds were traditionally a great source of meat for the islanders). The Hargreaves Hornbill was an early victim of over zealous hunting.

Cox family hunting

Hunting- Hunting on foot with dogs has a long tradition on the island. Dog racing has evolved from this. Modern youth have taken this tradition and revived it. A good dog is something of a status symbol.

Palmerston lads with dogs.

Orlando Hooper

Mr Orlando Hooper is Tamba- Tamba's oldest resident.
He was born in Hooper's Point Village in 1901.
The records of the time support this claim.
Mr Hooper attended the elementary school but started work on his father's fishing boat at the age of 9.
Mr Hooper is proud to be able to trace his ancestry back to the Mutineers' settlement. Seaman Samuel Hooper (originally from Lowestoft, Suffolk) was amongst the supporters of Thomas Cock. He had been a fisherman before joining His Majesty's navy, and returned to his old trade, founding the village of Hooper's Point in about 1782.
During the 1930's Mr Hooper spent a few years overseas having joined a visiting British merchant ship. During this time he lived briefly in London, Rotterdam and Cork.
'Small is beautiful' says Mr Hooper, 'I seen that life weren't for me- too many people together gives rise to bad things, and I seen the bad side of organised religion, big industry and what other folks might term civilization. Look at the rise of Fascism- that'd never happen on a small island like this...and the depression. On Tamba- Tamba we might be poor to your eyes, but at least we was all poor together.'
Mr Hooper returned to the island in 1938 and worked at fishing until he was almost 80.
He was a keen marbles and stones* player up until his century, and also participated in dancing get togethers.
'Some say I'm part of history, but to me I'm just another fellow' he says with the modesty of a true Tamba- Tamba man.

* We will look at these unique games in a later post.

The Slave Revolt.

In 1799 Edmund Clifton Spence arrived on the island. He was a distinguished colonial civil servant appointed by the government to carry out an audit of the garrison.
Spence was a jovial fellow , very popular with the local children, and not at all aloof from the islanders. However, he was accompanied by his manservants, John, who had served him in Jamaica, Trinidad as well as in England, and Edgar, from Guyana.
John and Edgar were slaves (slavery in the British Empire was not abolished until 1808).
Bentall's servants were not slaves, so the presence of John and Edgar in a community built on libertarian principles was an unwelcome novelty.
By now a significant number of islander's were 'mulattoes' ( a term unknown before the Imperial era) or even pure Wessel's Islanders. They were perturbed by John and Edgar's situation.
There is no evidence that Spence mistreated either man. Nevertheless he had bought them.
In what little leisure time they had John and Edgar naturally sought the company of the islanders, and in doing so were exposed to their libertarian ideas.
Rowley Rowley, as a representative of the Council, approached Bentall and told him that the presence of slaves on the island was not welcome. Bentall, of course, was in no position to break with convention. As far as he was concerned Tamba- Tamba was subject to the laws of Great Britain.
On June 15th 1800 John and Edgar left the garrison under the cover of darkness. They made their way to Hooper's Point, from where Samuel Hooper took them by boat to the deserted island of Round Tamba.
On hearing of John and Edgar's disappearance Bentall called out the garrison. By noon on the 16th Cocktown was under military control and the citizens placed under curfew whilst a search for the missing men was conducted. All boats were impounded.
Rowley Rowley, the voice of the people, told Bentall that as far as he knew no islanders had been involved in the escape, but Bentall's suspicions could not be allayed.
Bentall maintained the curfew for a week, during which time he seriously considered keeping Rowley Rowley as a hostage until the runaways were located. he decided against this move though, knowing that his relationship with the islanders might be irreparably damaged by such a radical move.
Rowley, for his part, convinced Bentall that the men must have perished in an unsuccessful escape attempt. Hooper colluded in this. He fabricated a rumour that one of the jolly boats had been taken from Hooper's Point, leading Bentall to believe that John and Edgar must have left the island.
On 24th June Bentall addressed the population in Cocktown Square, saying that he had reason to believe that John and Edgar were lost at sea.
Following the lifting of the curfew Hooper rescued the beleaguered John and Edgar from Round Tamba and took them to Wessel's Island.
Bentall was pleased that he had avoided taking any punitive steps against the islanders, and encouraged the authorities to accept the 'failed escape' version of events.
Life on Tamba- Tamba returned to normal. The occasional trading journeys to Wessel's brought stories of Edgar's death from Island Malaise in 1801, and of John's prosperity, raising a large family. A number of his descendants returned to Tamba- Tamba years later.
The events of June were soon forgotten however, as in October 1800 Rowley Rowley died suddenly whilst sleeping with his mistress. He was 45 years old.

Religion?

Religious observance aboard the Dreadful and been in the hands of Captain Stokes. It would appear that Stokes viewed the compulsory services that he lead as just another burden of his office.
Of the men who settled on Tamba- Tamba one can only assume that none was particularly religious. Cock, of course, was an avowed atheist , but the complete lack of religious observance noted by Bentall on his arrival in 1795 cannot have been the result of Cock's influence alone.
In his log Lt. Dixon of The Mercury had noted that the islanders did not keep the Sabbath, a fact that also struck Bentall in his early dealings with them.
When invited by first the Masters of Mercury and Columbine to join them for services, the islanders tactfully declined.
When the garrison was established the matter became more pressing.
The padre, The Rev. Hawsley Rimmer, was confounded by the continuing absence of any islanders from his services.

The Rev. Hawsley Rimmer.

Rev. Rimmer decided that the island needed a church. Bentall agreed, and plans to establish St Mary's Cocktown were tabled. Citizen Rowley discussed it with the council. They didn't want a church. Bentall went ahead and had it built anyway, using labour from the garrison. On the first Sunday on which Rimmer went there to preach no islanders came.
Incensed Rimmer decided that 'if these godless ragamuffins will not come to the Lord, I shall take the Lord to them...'
When Rimmer went into the village in an attempt to return these lost sheep to the fold, he took the precaution of having an armed escort. The islanders resented this, and threatened to throw him off Hooper's Point anyway, armed escort or not.
An outraged Rimmer appealed to Bentall for a show of power in order to bring the islanders back into line.
Exercising the quiet restraint that typified his governorship (and some might say the whole relationship between Britain and Tamba- Tamba during the Imperial period) Bentall declined.
Hawsley Rimmer returned to England at the earliest opportunity. A replacement padre was sent for the garrison, but the islanders remained unmolested thereafter.

The Imperial Era- part the second.

Dixon and The Mercury remained at Tamba- Tamba whilst The Columbine, carrying the islanders' petitions and Dixon's report, returned to England.
Six months later the special committee commissioned by Pitt arrived at Tamba- Tamba aboard HMAV Dauntless.
Their remit was to assess the strategic value of Tamba- Tamba and also to survey the island's resources. This onerous task was undertaken by a team under the direction of the geologist Sir Surtees Gough, a fellow of the Royal Society.

Sir Surtees Gough

A garrison was established in Cocktown, manned by The Royal Marines. The Mercury was assigned to maintain British dominance throughout the archipelago.
Gough's work was completed in April 1795. He could find no natural resources that warranted further development on Tamba- Tamba, but from a military point of view it was decided to retain a British presence on the island.

Cpt Bentall

The Commandant of the garrison, Captain Maurice Bentall, effectively became the Governor of Tamba- Tamba.
Citizen Rowley Rowley was elected Peoples' Representative, and theoretically liaised between the islanders and the British Governors. In effect there was very little for them to talk about.

The Imperial Era- part the first.

The French bombardment raised some serious dilemmas for the islanders.
Up until then their presence had largely remained secret. Tamba- Tamba's only contact with the wider world had been when the occasional American ship had stopped at Tamba- Tamba to take on water or supplies.There was some contact and trade with Wessel's Island, but none with Britain. The Islanders had lived in fear of punitive missions by the British, but this never happened and seemed less likely to with the passing years.
The population of the Island was less than 100. They were in no position to protect themselves against attack.
Having being alerted by the master of The Benedict to the fact that an apparent colony of Englishmen was in peril, the Admiralty sent the frigates Mercury and Columbine to Tamba- Tamba to investigate the situation.

Lt. Dixon, R.N

In August 1794 The Mercury and Columbine anchored off Cocktown and Lieutenant Artemis Dixon RN went ashore with a dozen marines. His first act was to claim Tamba- Tamba for King George the III.
Citizen Rowley Rowley, in effect the head of state, now found himself in an even deeper dilemma.
On September 25th 1794 the Council of Tamba- Tamba sat down to draft two letters, one to His Majesty King George III, and one to The Right Hon.William Pitt.
In it they asked, effectively, to be considered a part of Great Britain and offered the protection afforded to other British Colonies.
Historians often misconstrue the letter as an apology and a request for a pardon by the Mutineers, but this was never the case.
Once loyal subjects who settled these parts as the slaves of misfortune is how the Islanders describe themselves in the letter.
The Council had debated long and hard over the taking such a radical step, many of the older citizens fearing repatriation and retribution. The letters of course, could be viewed as superfluous as Tamba- Tamba was now effectively under British occupation.

Sir Elton John

As the Peoples Republic of Tamba- Tamba celebrated 30 years of revolution in 2009 we were honoured by a visit from Sir Elton John. Sir Elton, well known as a champion of the oppressed, played a concert at The Peoples Hall of May the 15th and was later made an honorary citizen of
Tamba- Tamba. Citizen Elton then delighted the gathering with anecdotes about his home life and his love affair with the late Princess Diana.

The Fishing

Fishing has, of course, always been of great importance to the inhabitants of Tamba- Tamba.
When HMS Dreadful left the island the settlers retained (after what Cock described as 'much heated bargaining') the ship's jolly boat, and this was the principal craft of the island until it was damaged during the bombardment.
Berry, the ship's carpenter was soon engaged in the construction of other boats modelled on the jolly boat.
Other mutineers (Hooper, Rowley and Stock) had experience of fishing, and this was put to good use.
Fish commonly caught in the waters off Tamba- Tamba include Cod, Hargreaves Skate, Gurnard, Toppimuri, Slingfish, Hargreaves Bristleback and Southern Ocean Bass.
Pair trawling between two small boats remains the most common practice, although Orlando Hooper was running a sophisticated modern trawler, The Gannet, brought from Rhode Island as early as 1952.

Gannet II

Interestingly an English visitor to the island in 1955 noted that a type of coelacanth were regularly landed by Tamba- Tamba boats and were considered commonplace by the locals.

Coelacanth photographed at Hooper's Point in 1955 by Archibald Mackenzie- Smith.

The French Bombardment of Cocktown, 1794.

With no formal communications with the outside world, Tamba- Tamba was slow to learn of significant developments.
When, in the spring of 1794, two rogue French warships, L'Orient and St.Lo, launched a bombardment on Cocktown, it must have seemed that the world had been turned upside down. Three islanders were killed in the bombardment.
French Marines landed on the island unopposed, and Cocktown was plundered.
The French left after a week of terrorising the islanders. The first that the outside world knew of this outrage when an American whaler, The Benedict, stopped at the island a month later.
The Council, under the guidance of Citizen Rowley Rowley, knew that in order to survive they must seek help...

The Flag of Tamba- Tamba.

This is the present flag of the Peoples' Republic of Tamba- Tamba. It is known (rather misleadingly) as the Treeblu, Tamba- Tamba dialect for 'three blues' . The flag is said to represent the sky, the sea, and the ocean spray. The present configuration has been in use since 1984.

From 1979 to 1984 the Red Star was the official banner. This led to the USA blockade in 1983. According to President Reagan's autobiography The USA viewed the use of the Red Star as 'flagrantly provocative', and an indication that Tamba- Tamba would 'soon be a Soviet staging post in the strategically important Hargreaves Archipelago region...'
Leonid Brezhnev apparently issued assurances to Washington that not only did the Soviets not deem Tamba- Tamba to be of strategic importance, but that they were unaware of its existence! As unlikely as this seems, the archipelago is indeed absent from Soviet maps of that era. Eventually the tensions were resolved when Washington offered the People's Council economic development incentives to remove the star from the flag, a move that did not meet with universal approval until the US funded electrification programme was completed.


In the pre- revolutionary era Tamba- Tamba employed a succession of flags based on the White Ensign, which were often redesigned on the whim of the Kakoy ( see The Kakoy Dynasty). The example above dates from the 1950's and reflects George Kakoy's interest in Freemasonry . The ordinary islanders felt no affection towards such symbols, and the official flags were rarely flown outside of the Kakoy's estate.


In the earlier days of the Kakoy Dynasty the Brougham Kakoy wished to retain some association with Britain for reasons of security, and the White Ensign was flown.

During the Imperial Era (1794-1854) the Union Flag flew over Cocktown.
The original settlers used no flag.

The Hargreaves Turtle

Chelonia Hargreavesia

do Tristao described the turtles of Tamba- Tamba in his account of his time on the island.
Thomas Cock also cited their presence as a ready source of food:
' upwords (sic) of a hundred lbs weight, they provide the most tenderest meat... and are well easily taken. They exist and recreate in such grate (sic) numbers that the demands of even one thousand population would scarcely dent there (sic) numbers.'
Of course, Cock was being optimistic.
By the time that Hargreaves was in the archipelago just 50 years after the mutineers landed he estimated that there were approximately 1,000 adult turtles there during the mating season. According to Hargreaves 40% of eggs/ baby turtles never reached maturity.
Orlando Hooper, Tamba- Tamba's oldest resident, remembers the black days of the 1950's when there were ' about a dozen' turtles coming up the beach in the mating season.
An increased interest in conservation has helped to remedy the decline, and WWF experts say the population now approaches that of Hargreaves' day, with islanders being allowed to harvest set quotas of turtles to meed traditional craft and culinary needs.

Thomas Lazenby Cock (1758- 1791)

Thomas Lazenby Cock was the sixth son of a Monmouthshire squire who had fallen on hard times. Up to 27% of officers in The Royal Navy at this time came from a similar social class as Cock, but his family did not enjoy the connections or the prosperity usually associated with such a background.Cock joined his first ship, H.M.A.V The Earl of Sandwich, at the age of 14. He joined Stokes on H.M.S Dreadful some two years later. Cocks' career then seemed to stutter, and he was no further up the hierarchy at the time of the mutiny. There is nothing worthy of note regarding his career up until the time of the mutiny.
Writing after his return from Dahomey Capt. Stokes described Cock thus:
A singularly disagreeable fellow and the chief scoundrel amongst them all...He is of average size, some 5 feet 8 inches. His countenance is languid and effeminate. Marks: Star tatowed on the left breast and Tatowed on the backside. Left ear- one gold hoop.
Despite his youth Cock emerged as a strong figurehead following the demise of Lieutenant Summers. According to Bould's account Cock was not particularly vociferous at the time of the mutiny itself and we have no clues as to where he acquired his libertarian ideas. Neither Bould nor Stokes recalled him as being a reader of books.
However, he commanded enough respect to orchestrate the formation of the first Council when he was still only 19 years old.
Despite the anarcho- syndicalist nature of the running of the early settlement , it is clear that Cock was regarded as the ultimate decision maker.
Cock ( a non-swimmer like many seamen of the day) drowned in a fishing accident in 1791, and his remains were never recovered.
His descendants are on the island still, and Cox (the name mutated during the Imperial era) is the foremost surname on the island.

A gentleman from Tamba - Tamba...

Thanks to Dave Cox for this photo- here's an extract from his e-mail...
'This is my grandfather, Alberto, he was born on Tamba- Tamba in 1940. He came to Britain in 1975 but he still has the accent! He worked on Mr Hooper's fishing boat in the 1950's. He said that you would know the significance of this.'
Well done Dave, and our cordial greetings to Alberto.
Perhaps other viewers of the blog have similar family stories to share?