James Russell McCoy (4 September 1845 – 14 February 1924) served as Magistrate of the British Overseas Territory of Pitcairn Island 7 times, between 1870 and 1904. McCoy was among the first wave of settlers to return to Pitcairn from Norfolk Island in 1859. He was the son of Matthew McCoy and Margaret Christian. His son Matthew Edmond McCoy also served as Magistrate, and was among the last islanders to hold the surname McCoy. Through his daughter Adelia, he is a grandfather of

Warren Clive Christian Warren Clive Christian (17 August 1914 - 19 January 2003) served as Magistrate of the British Overseas Territory of Pitcairn Island twice, in 1950-51 and 1958-60. Christian was the son of Richard Edgar Christian and Adelia Carrie Jordan McCoy. He i ...

, and

Ivan Christian Ivan Roa Christian (31 May 1919 – 1991) was a politician from Pitcairn. He was the Chief Magistrate of Pitcairn Island from 1976 to 1984.John Carter, ''Pacific Islands Yearbook'' (1984), p. 366 As his surname suggests, he is descended from the ...

, and a great-grandfather of

Steve Christian Steven Raymond Christian (born 26 June 1951, Pitcairn Island) is a politician, convicted sex offender and child rapist from the Pitcairn Islands. He was mayor of the islands from 1999 until 2004, when he was removed from office after being fo ...

and Brenda Christian.

Literary reference

He appears as Magistrate "James Russell Nickoy" in Mark Twain's 1879 story "The Great Revolution in Pitcairn." There he is forced to resign his post through the political intrigue of an American interloper, Butterworth Stavely.

Jack London John Griffith Chaney (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to ...

reinvented McCoy as a mythic hero and agent of redemption in the short story "

The Seed of McCoy ''South Sea Tales'' (1911) is a collection of short stories written by Jack London. Most stories are set in island communities, like those of Hawaii, or are set aboard a ship. List of Stories * The House of Mapuhi * The Whale Tooth * Mauki *" ...

," based on a true incident of piloting a burning ship to safety in 1900.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCoy, James Russell 1845 births 1924 deaths Pitcairn Islands politicians Pitcairn Islands Seventh-day Adventists Pitcairn Islands people of Polynesian descent Pitcairn Islands people of Manx descent Pitcairn Islands people of Scottish descent Pitcairn Islands people of English descent