Island Scenes.

Hoopers Point- photograph by Elza Rowley- Hooper (2005).

Elza says: This was my first ever attempt at aerial photography. We flew around the archipelago in one of the People's Aircraft- a Cessna 195 piloted by Robin Howard.

Palmerston

 

 Palmerston c1890. The Quays in the foreground. Gough's Hump behind.

At the time of 'independence' the population of the island was about 350.
75% of these people lived in the loosely defined village of Cocktown , which consisted of Cocktown Square, The Quays and a ribbon of cottages along the road that led westwards to The Big House.
Brougham Kakoy proposed to the Council that it befitted a newly independent state to have a capital. He suggested incorporating these hamlets into a town.
The name he proposed was Victoria. He said that this would be a fitting reminder of the island's ongoing loyalty to Britain.
The Council unanimously accepted the idea of incorporation, but stalled at naming the new town after the monarch.
John Cox artfully suggested Sleight but Brougham rejected this.
Cox then proposed that the youngest member of the council should suggest a name, 'to show faith in youth and hope for the  future'.
Isaac Greene, aged 21, suggested the name Palmerston in honour of the British politician whom, according to Greene's analysis , had paved the way for Tamba- Tamba's independence. The Council agreed that  this was a suitable compromise. It spoke of loyalty to England without being obsequious. The Council also agreed with Brougham's suggestion that the the White Ensign flag should fly over the city to retain some association with Britain for reasons of security.

Palmerston c1890, looking towards Old Cocktown Square

The HMS Badger Expedition

The name Hargreaves Archipelago appeared for the first time on the charts published by the Royal Navy in 1830 . These were produced by Captain Charles Horton Hargreaves.
In 1826 the Admiralty had revealed plans for an expedition to ' the colony of Tamba- Tamba and the attendant archipelago...'
The main purpose of the expedition was to conduct a hydrographic survey of the area in order to to produce nautical charts showing navigational and sea depth information for naval war or commerce, along with drawings of the hills as seen from the sea showing measured heights of the hills.
It was also proposed to expand on the work of the Sir Surtees Gough expedition and gather more information on the island itself.
The vessel chosen was HMS Badger , a Cherokee class 10-gun brig-sloop.
The expedition , a year in the planning, was to be led by Captain Charles Horton Hargreaves RN (1798-1838).
Captain Hargreaves pulled some strings at the Admiralty to find a role for his brother, Hugh Horton Hargreaves (1801-1862) on the expedition. A keen naturalist and skilled draughtsman who saw himself as a second Sir Joseph Banks, Hugh Horton Hargreaves had studied medicine at Edinburgh before moving on to Cambridge to study marine biology. In fact, whilst at college, he had bombarded Sir Joseph Banks with letters of admiration in which he also outlined his various theories at great length.
Captain Hargreaves would concentrate on the surveying and charting whilst Hugh Horton would take more interest in the natural history of the region.
The Badger sailed from Plymouth on September 1st 1827.

The Hargreaves Archipelago from Space

Thanks to our friends at Google here we can see what Hargreaves Archipelago looks like from space!

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.

Pigafetta's Map

Although Pigafetta's map is very rudimentary he has captured the shape of Long Tamba and Round Tamba quite convincingly. As you can see he has depicted the customary rough seas and the two prominent peaks, as well as the reef off the north coast and the spring on what is now the site of Cock's Plantation.

Welcome

Tamba- Tamba ( The Peoples Republic of Tamba - Tamba) is an island in the Hargreaves Archipelago.
Long Tamba is 163.6 km², the smallest of the inhabited Hargreaves Islands. In 2010 the population stood at 4,888.