George Hunn Nobbs
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George Hunn Nobbs (October 16, 1799 – November 5, 1884) was an Irish missionary on Pitcairn Island and later Norfolk Island, where his many descendants still live today.
He was born in Moira, County Down, the illegitimate son of Francis Rawdon-Hastings 1st Marquis of Hastings (1754–1826) and Jemima Ffrench. The marquis did not acknowledge him, and he was fostered by the elderly Nobbs family who lived near Yarmouth. He spent an adventurous youth serving in various merchant ships, visiting both India and Africa. In 1828 he arrived on Pitcairn Island where he became schoolmaster and unordained parson to a community descended from HMS Bounty mutineers and Tahitian islanders. In October 1829 Nobbs married Sarah Christian, the granddaughter of Fletcher Christian, who had led the mutiny. Nobbs left the island for a time during the despotic rule of Josiah Hill; he returned when Hill was expelled in 1837 and became the leader of the community.
He greatly impressed Rear Admiral Sir Fairfax Moresby who visited the island in 1852. Moresby supported an application by Nobbs to be sanctioned in his position. Nobbs sailed with Moresby to Valparaíso in Chile from where Nobbs continued his journey to London, arriving in October 1852. During his two-month visit to London he was ordained as a minister in the Colonies, was accredited by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel with an annual stipend of £50, addressed the first meeting of the Pitcairn Fund Committee and was received by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha at Osborne House. He set sail on his return voyage to Pitcairn on December 17, 1852. During his visit to London Nobbs had convinced his supporters that the island could no longer support the Pitcairn community. On his return he found the islanders badly affected by a prolonged drought and an outbreak of influenza. In 1856 the community moved to Norfolk Island, a Crown Colony previously occupied by convict prisoners. Much of the island had been cultivated, and there were roads and houses awaiting occupation. However, it became clear that the islanders could no longer continue in the same seclusion they had experienced on Pitcairn. Nobbs expressed their disappointment in a letter her wrote to Sir Fairfax Moresby in 1866: "We own nothing beyond our 50 acre allotments, not sheep, nor ground on which the sheep feed; all is Government property and may be best disposed of as seems best to Government." Ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the island was now claimed by the Melanesian Mission. After a period of intransigence, he was eventually reconciled and accepted the work of the mission on the island. When Nobbs died most of the island community, numbering around 470, attended his funeral.
[edit] Children
Nobbs and Sarah Christian had 12 children and have many descendants living in the Australasian area.
- Reuben Elias Nobbs (September 19, 1830 - March 2, 1855) unmarried
- Esther Maria Nobbs (August 30, 1832 - July 23, 1910) married Abraham Blatchly Quintal, grandson of Matthew Quintal, 12 children
- Fletcher Christian Nobbs (September 1, 1833 - March 3, 1912) married Susan Quintal, granddaughter of Matthew Quintal, 9 children
- Francis Mason Nobbs (September 7, 1835 - June 15, 1909) married Harriett Augusta Quintal, great granddaughter of Matthew Quintal, 11 children
- Jane Agnes Nobbs (October 6, 1836 - April 21, 1926) married John Quintal, great grandson of Matthew Quintal, 9 children
- Ann Naomi Nobbs (July 4, 1838 - September 27, 1931) married Caleb Quintal, grandson of Matthew Quintal, 7 children
- James Wingate Johnstone Nobbs (September 22, 1839 - March 26, 1909) married Isabella Emily Christian, great-granddaughter of Fletcher Christian, 12 children.
- George Edwin Coffin Nobbs (May 5, 1843 - September 5, 1864)
- Jemima Sarah Nobbs (May 13, 1845 - January 14, 1920) married Gilbert Edwin Christian, great grandson of Fletcher Christian, 1 child
- Alfred Augustine Nobbs (November 27, 1846 - September 28, 1906) married Mary Emily Christian, twice great great granddaughter of Fletcher Christian and great granddaughter of Matthew Quintal, 8 children
- Sydney Nobbs Rawdon (born Sydney Herbert Nobbs) (born May 27, 1848 died in England) married Dora (a Canadian), 3 children
- Alice Henrietta Florence Nobbs (born March 12, 1857) married Joseph Whiteley Hebblethwaite, 2 children
