Remote Atoll of the Marsters Family
Southern Cook Islands, Cook Islands
A true atoll, Palmerston Island consists of a number of sandy islets on a continuous ring of coral reef enclosing a lagoon. The largest of the islets include Palmerston, North Island, Lee To Us, Leicester, Primrose, Toms and Cooks. The total land area of the islets is approximately 2.6 km². The coral reef covers about 15 km², and the lagoon is some 11 km across. There are several small passages through the reef for boats, though there is no safe entry for large ships. Palmerston enjoys a tropical climate but is exposed to severe hurricanes. A particularly destructive series of storms occurred during the 1920s and 1930s.
Nowadays the islands have a very small population of approximately 63 people.
Background
Palmerston was discovered by Captain Cook in 1774, but he did not land on the island until his third and final voyage in 1777. He found the island uninhabited, though some ancient graves were discovered. Cook named the island for Henry Temple, 2nd Viscount Palmerston, then lord of the admiralty. The ancient name of the island was supposedly Avarau, meaning “two hundred harbours.”
Due to the remoteness of the island it was not properly mapped until 1969 - previous positioning had been based on Captain Cook's original charts showing it some 15 kilometres away from its actual position.
All of the islands inhabitants are descendants of William Marsters - an English carpenter who landed on the island in 1863 along with his three wives, who were all cousins. Marsters fathered 17 children and 54 granchildren, there are currently approximately 60 Marsters living on the island - and numerous more spread throughout the islands. The Marsters family were given full ownership of the island in 1954 by the British Government and their family remain fiercly loyal to Queen Elizabeth II.