William Marsters (born Richard Masters) (6 November 1831 – 22 May 1899) was an English adventurer from Walcote,

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

who settled on

Palmerston Island Palmerston Island is a coral atoll in the Cook Islands in the Pacific Ocean about northwest of Rarotonga. James Cook landed there on 16 June 1774. Overview Palmerston Island is one of a number of sandy islets on a continuous ring of coral reef ...

in the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

on 8 July 1863, with his Polynesian wife and two Polynesian

mistresses Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a d ...

. A handful of his descendants continue to live on Palmerston Island, while the majority now live in

Rarotonga Rarotonga is the largest and most populous of the Cook Islands. The island is volcanic, with an area of , and is home to almost 75% of the country's population, with 13,007 of a total population of 17,434. The Cook Islands' Parliament buildings a ...

, or elsewhere in the

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New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and

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Life

William Marsters was born Richard Masters in 1831. He originated from Leicestershire, England, and arrived in the Pacific around 1856. He first settled in

Penrhyn Penryn is a Cornish word meaning 'headland' that may refer to: *Penryn, Cornwall, United Kingdom, a town of about 7,000 on the Penryn River **Penryn railway station, a station on the Maritime Line between Truro and Falmouth Docks, and serves the to ...

, the most Northern of the Cook Islands. He married the daughter of one of the chiefs on the Island and in 1862 they moved to Manuae and then to Palmerston on 8 July 1863 (or 1861 or 1864 according to different documents). They were accompanied by his wife's cousin with whom he later had children. His task was to produce

copra Copra (from ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted from copr ...

and collect '' bêche-de-mer'' for a

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austr ...

an trader named Brander, but Brander never returned. William Marsters decided to settle his family permanently on the island. He took up a third wife, and the descendants of these three Penrhyn women make up the present inhabitants of Palmerston. Marsters died on 22 May 1899 at the age of 67 (although his headstone records his age as 78). He had 23 children and 134 grandchildren.

Ownership

In 1887, a Scotsman, George Darsie, contested an application by Marsters for a license to lease the island. Palmerston was

annexed Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...

to the UK on 23 May 1891 and in 1892, the

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granted William a 21-year lease which was extended until 1954. Full ownership of Palmerston Atoll was granted to the Marsters family in 1954 by an amendment to the Cook Islands Act passed by the

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Succession

Two years after William Marsters died, disputes arose about the succession of the leader. In 1901, Colonel

Walter Edward Gudgeon Walter Edward Gudgeon (4 September 1841 – 5 January 1920) was a farmer, soldier, historian, land court judge, and colonial administrator. Early life Born in London, Walter Gudgeon was the first child of Thomas Wayth Gudgeon, an upholsterer ...

, the

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in Rarotonga, appointed William's eldest son, Joel, agent to the British Resident and

Magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

for the Island. In 1992 the Palmerston Act was passed, and today Palmerston is governed by this Act, along with the Outer Island Act.

Island Council

Before William Marsters died, he organized the island so that each of the three wives and their descendants had a share of the main island and each of the atolls. This arrangement still stands. Today the Island has its own council, representing the local government, which consists of six members, the Head of each Family – Matavia family, Akakaingaro family and the Te Pou family, and one other member appointed from and by each of the three families. This appointment is carried out every four years, and the Mayor of the Island is appointed from one of the three Heads, in a rotational manner. On Palmerston, each of the three families has their own version of the history of Palmerston and life of William Marsters. This has been passed down by word of mouth from their great-great grandparents. Although oral tradition may differ from the documented versions, each will stand by their version.

British connection

Palmerston Islanders still pride themselves on their British heritage: they fly the British flag on special occasions, have large photos of Queen Elizabeth in their homes and remember fondly the visits of the Royal Yacht ''Britannia''. On the last visit by the royal family,

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...

came ashore and swam in the pool close to the beach; the site was subsequently renamed "Duke’s Pool". *

Notes

References

*
Stories of Palmerston
', compiled by Maureen Marama Hilyard (2007); *
The Masters of Walcote, Leicestershire
', Maureen Marama Hilyard (2008);

External links

William Richard Marsters
an
Richard Masters
by Maureen Hilyard

- The definitive story of a unique family saga.

(''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', 28 Apr 2008)
The English adventurer who settled on a tiny Pacific island
(''

London Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'', 30 Apr 2008)
The Masters of Walcote, Leicestershire
(
The Cook Islands Herald
', 4 Aug 2008)

at the

New Zealand Electronic Text Centre The New Zealand Electronic Text Collection (NZETC; mi, Te Pūhikotuhi o Aotearoa) is a freely accessible online archive of New Zealand and Pacific Islands texts and heritage materials that are held by the Victoria University of Wellington Library ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marsters, William 1831 births 1899 deaths People from Harborough District People of the Victorian era English sailors English explorers English merchants British woodworkers British emigrants to the Cook Islands People from Palmerston Island Marsters family of the Cook Islands 19th-century English businesspeople