1874: Measles: “50,000 have perished. Throughout the whole of Fiji, one in five has gone!”

“An additional melancholy has been thrown over our entry upon this new possession by the breaking out of a frightful epidemic at the very moment. Some wretched vessel carried the measles into the islands; and out of a population of 250,000 souls, more than 50,000 have perished. Throughout the whole of Fiji, one in five [...]

12 August, 1874: leader of British squadron, of warships, Commodore Goodenough mortally wounded with poisoned arrow at Santa Cruz

“Commodore Goodenough was in command of the squadron employed in the Pacific, of which the headquarters are at Sydney. He had taken Sir Arthur Gordon, the new governor, to Fiji, and had afterwards gone on a cruise among the islands in her Majesty’s ship Pearl. Lying in a curve running east and south-east from New [...]

1874: Cakabau gets a pension from the English government

Anthony Trollope wrote in 1875, “As soon as the transfer was completed, Thakombau, with some of his relatives and followers, paid a visit to Sir Hercules Robinson at Sydney, and was entertained in semi-regal state. The old man expressed himself pleased with everything, and was evidently gratified at the treatment he received. But he did [...]

1868: three-way fight for control of Fiji by Britain, America, and Australia; Thakombau crowned king, Melbourne-based Polynesian Company offers to pay Cakobau’s debt; but on 10th October, 1874, a deed of cession to Britain, was executed at Levuka

Trollope, Anthony reported in 1875 the Sir Hercules Robinson view of Fijian affairs which lead up to the signing of the deed. It appeared a three-way fight for control of Fiji by Britain, America, and Australia. A group of 10,000 Melbourne investors formed the Polynesian Company, and offered to pay Cakobau’s debt in exchange [...]

1870: Kopsen joined the missionary ship John Wesley and reached Levuka in May

KOPSEN, WILLIAM (1847-1930), manufacturer and ship-chandler, was born on 29 December 1847 and baptized Gustaf Wilhelm at Vaxholm, Sweden, only son of Erik Gustav Kopsen, marine customs house porter, and his wife Anna Greta, née Ohrstrom. His early childhood was marred by family discord and straitened circumstances. Orphaned at 15 he lived in 1862-64 on [...]

October 1874: Chiefs sign Deed of Cession of Fiji to Great Britain

One original of the Deed of Cession was retained in Fiji, and until the late thirties of the present century was in the archives of the Colonial Government. Full text below.

C. W. Whonsbon-Aston’s 1937 sea journey, to visit to Maafu at Loma Loma

By C. W. Whonsbon-Aston in Levuka Days of a Parson in Polynesia in London: Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, 1937 reported on a visit to Maafu, as he was about to end his term in Levuka.
Stars of the Southern Cross overhead: Long hot tropical days, in a turtle boat, [...]

1874: Measles killed over 40,000 in Fiji

1874: Measles killed over 40,000 in Fiji, reportedly after Ratu Cakobau and his two sons returned from Australia, where they contracted the disease.
Fiji’s first Governor, Sir Arthur Gordon arrived from Australia.

1874: Fiji ceded to Great Britain after a meeting of the first Great Council of Chiefs

1874: On September 28 the Council of Chiefs gave Fiji unreservedly to the Queen. Following this Sir Hercules Robinson, Ratu Cakobau and Thurston went island hopping to get all the necessary signatures
October 10th; Fiji was ceded to Great Britain after a meeting of the first Great Council of Chiefs, who were there to witness [...]