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Susan Young, The only surviving Tahitian woman, Pitcairn's [Island], Augt 1849, 1849 (pen & ink, brown)
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Susan Young, The only surviving Tahitian woman, Pitcairn's [Island], Augt 1849, 1849 (pen & ink, brown)
7295590 Susan Young, The only surviving Tahitian woman, Pitcairn's [Island], Augt 1849, 1849 (pen & ink, brown) by Fanshawe, Admiral Sir Edward Gennys (1814-1906); 17.9x12.6 cm; National Maritime Museum, London, UK; (add.info.: Creator: Admiral Sir Edward Gennys Fanshawe
No.10 in Fanshawe's Pacific album, 1849 - 1852. Captioned by the artist on the album page, below the image. The woman shown, with a British seaman from Fanshawe's Daphne and two Pitcairn children, is the Tahitian-born wife of Bounty mutineer Simon Young: their grandson, also Simon, was the annual magistrate on Pitcairn when Fanshawe called there, 11th- 12th August 1849. She was presumably about 70 at this time and apparently blind in the left eye.
Fanshawe's journal briefly mentions her in his account of the fate of the Bounty mutineers. Towards the end of the feuding that saw Christian and other mutineers killed by the Tahitian men who had accompanied them to Pitcairn, only two Tahitian men and four Englishmen remained: Adams and Young in the village, and McCoy and Quintal hiding in the woods. Adams and Young then led a plot in which the stronger Tahitian was lured to bed by one of the other Tahitian women and, when asleep, killed by Susan Young with an axe: at the same time she shouted Fire as the signal for her husband to shoot the other Tahitian man. This Simon Young immediately did with a musket that he had been loading in his victim's presence, telling him it was to shoot a hog (Fanshawe [1904] p.187).); © National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
Media ID 38175694
© © National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London / Bridgeman Images
Dom Tom French Polynesia Polynesia Polynesians Polynesisch Tahiti Inhabitant
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EDITORS COMMENTS
The print of Susan Young, the only surviving Tahitian woman on Pitcairn's Island in August 1849, captured a moment in history that is both tragic and fascinating. In this image by Admiral Sir Edward Gennys Fanshawe, we see Susan Young with a British seaman from the ship 'Daphne' and two Pitcairn children. She was the Tahitian-born wife of 'Bounty' mutineer Simon Young, and their grandson was serving as the magistrate on Pitcairn at the time.
Susan Young's story is one of survival and resilience amidst turmoil. At around 70 years old and apparently blind in one eye, she played a pivotal role in the events that unfolded on Pitcairn following the mutiny on the 'Bounty'. According to Fanshawe's journal, during a period of feuding between remaining mutineers and Tahitians on the island, Susan Young took matters into her own hands. She lured one of the Tahitian men to sleep with another woman before killing him with an axe while her husband shot another man.
This image serves as a poignant reminder of the complexities of human nature and relationships under extreme circumstances. It captures not just a moment frozen in time but also tells a larger story about survival, loyalty, betrayal, and ultimately redemption.
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