2020-03-06 Fri

On 6 March, the people of Norfolk Island celebrate Foundation Day. Foundation Day looks back to the time in 1788 when the island’s first European settlers arrived.

Caption James Cook had discovered the island 14 years earlier in 1774 and had named the island after the Duchess of Norfolk. The island was at first colonized from New South Wales, then a separate British colony but today a state of Australia.

After the penal colony status was abolished in 1855, new settlers came from the Pitcairn Islands. By 1901, the island was officially joined to Australia. In 1979, however, it became a self-governing dependency of Australia. There are actually no descendants of the original settlers in Norfolk Island today, but the date 6 March is still celebrated by the people as Foundation Day.

In the year 1988, Norfolk Island Post issued a set of ten stamps commemorating Bicentenary of Norfolk Island Settlement. Raging from 1 Australian cent to 1 Australian dollar, the stamps show different facets of the British settlement on the Island. The above stamp is a 37 Australian cents which depicts the Hoisting of Union Jack – the Flag of the UK.

Image Courtesy: colnect.com

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