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Fiji Royal Gazette:
Instructions to High Commissioner, Western Pacific
from Secretary of State (Chamberlain)
(June 22, 1898)

No. 28.] WEDNESDAY, 22 JUNE. [1898.
WESTERN PACIFIC HIGH COMMISSION.

In conformity with the direction of The Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies, the following instructions are gazetted for the information of those concerned.

By Order,                                         
M. KING.                             
Secretary to the High Commissioner
  Office of the High Commissioner
      for the Western Pacific,
            Suva, Fiji, 18th June, 1898.

———

INSTRUCTIONS TO THE HIGH COMMISSIONER, WESTERN PACIFIC.

Under and by virtue of the provisions of Articles 4 and 6 of the Pacific Order in Council, 1893, —

      I, the Right Honourahle Joseph Chamberlain, Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies, do hereby direct that jurisdietien under the said Order in Council shall be exercisable in relation to the British Settlement known as Pitcairn Island, situated in the Pacific Ocean, in Longitude 130° 6' W., and in Latitude 25° 3' S.

      And I hereby further direct that these Instructions shall be published in the Government Gazette of Fiji, and in the manner specified in the 146th Article of the said Order in Council, and that all persons -within the limits of the said Order in Council as hereby further defined shall govern themselves accordingly.<.p>

      As Witness my hand.

J. CHAMBERLAIN     

Notes.

      Joseph Chamberlain (1836–1914) was an influential British
businessman, politician, and statesman. He was Secretary of State for the Colonies, June 1895 to September 1903.

      Harry Albert Christian was born on Pitcairn Island on Mar. 11, 1872, one of 12 children of Alphonso Downs Christian and Sarah McCoy. In the early 1890s a relationship developed between Harry and Julia Warren. A daughter, Eleanor Linda Warren, was born to the couple on Aug. 14, 1895. Some time later Harry's attentions turned to another woman. On Jun. 17, 1897, Harry killed Julia and the child and threw their bodies into the sea. Though the bodies were never found, the crimes were found out, and Harry admitted to them. Harry was tried on Pitcairn and found guilty of murder. He was taken on H.M.S. Royalist to Suva, Fiji. There, on October 8, 1898, in the Suva gaol, he was hanged for the murders.
Source: Pitcairn Islands Study Center "Who Are the Pitcairners?"

      Sir George Thomas Michael O'Brien KCMG (1844 – 1906) was a British colonial official who served as Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong from 1892 to 1895, and as Governor of Fiji and High Commissioner for the Western Pacific from 1897 to June 1901.

Source.
Document no. 112. June 22, 1898. "Fiji Royal Gazette: Instructions to High Commissioner, Western Pacific from Secretary of State (Chamberlain)". Page 1681.

This transription was made from a documents in a collection of documents at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa Library.

Last updated by Tom Tyler, Denver, CO, USA, Aug 7 2022.

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