1819: Peter Dillon now owner and master of the ships in which he sailed

On 22 September 1814 Dillon married Mary, daughter of Patrick Moore, an emancipist businessman and farmer. Marriage and the birth of three children cut him off for some years from the adventurous life of the islands. For two years he was employed in the coastal trade. In June 1816 he moved to Calcutta, from which [...]

1810 -1812 – Peter Dillon lived on the island of Borabora assembling cargoes of salt pork for Sydney merchant, Thomas Reibey

“Between 1809 and 1813 (age  21 – 25) Peter Dillon served, first as seaman and later as officer, on vessels trading mainly from Sydney to Fiji, New Zealand, and the Society Islands. This work involved lengthy periods ashore. In particular, he lived on the island of Borabora in 1810-12 assembling cargoes of salt pork for [...]

1808: Peter Dillon – 6ft 4in red-haired Irish Catholic, arrived in Fiji from India on a vessel trading for sandalwood

“Peter Dillon (1788-1847), adventurer, (and entreprenuer) was born (by his own account) of Irish parents in Martinique on 15 June 1788 and taken by his father, also Peter Dillon, to County Meath, Ireland, as a small child. A big man: As a youth he served in the navy. He arrived in Fiji from India in [...]

September 20 1813: Dillon described as officer on the Calcutta ship Hunter when it called at the Fiji Islands to trade for sandalwood

The interest in Peter Dillon’s scattered voyages lies in the fact that he solved the mystery of the death of the French navigator, La Perouse. Dillon was an officer on the Calcutta ship Hunter in 1813, when it called at the Fiji Islands to trade for sandalwood and found itself involved in a punitive expedition [...]

1826: Peter Dillon was sailing in command of his own ship, the St Patrick, from Valparaiso to Pondicherry, when he sighted Tucopia.

‘Thirteen years later ( after 1813) Peter Dillon was sailing in command of his own ship, the St Patrick, from Valparaiso to Pondicherry, when he sighted Tucopia.( Tikopia in the Santa Cruz group) Curiosity prompted him to stop to enquire whether his old friend Martin Bushart was still alive. Greetings-canoes contain old mates: ‘He hove [...]

1826: Peter Dillon was captain and owner of a ship named the St. Patrick; he did not find La Perouse ships; Martin Bushart, Tikopians and Lascar Joe the finders

In ’1826 Peter Dillon was captain and owner of a ship named the St. Patrick. On a voyage from New Zealand to Bengal, he anchored off the island of Tikopia ( Santa Cruz Islands) on May 13, 1826. ( Dillion had dropped Bushart, his wife, and a lascar off at Tikopia Island on September 20, [...]

In June 1838 a large canoe provided byTaufa’ahau of Ha’apai, the future king of all Tonga, brought to Lakeba six more teachers to serve the Fiji mission:

In June 1838 a large canoe provided by Taufa’ahau of Ha’apai, the future king of all Tonga, brought to Lakeba six more teachers to serve the Fiji mission: Joeli Pulu (spelt Bulu in Fijian), Sailosi Fa’one, Siuliasi Naulivou, Uesile Langi, Selemaia Latu and Semisi Havea. Guided by Cargill, they acquired the dialect of Lau. Long [...]