William Marsters
| William Marsters | |
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William Marsters on Palmerston Atoll
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| Born |
Richard William Masters 6 November 1831 Walcote, Leicestershire |
| Died | 22 May 1899 (aged 67) Palmerston Island, Cook Islands |
| Occupation | Sailor, cooper, merchant |
| Known for | English adventurer who settled on Palmerston Island in the Pacific |
William Marsters (born Richard Masters) (6 November 1831 – 22 May 1899) was an English adventurer from Walcote, Leicestershire who settled on Palmerston Island in the Cook Islands on 8 July 1863, with his Polynesian wife and two Polynesian mistresses. A handful of his descendants continue to live on Palmerston Island, while the majority now live in Rarotonga, or elsewhere in the Cook Islands, New Zealand and Australia.
William Marsters was born Richard Masters in 1831. He originated from Leicestershire, England, and arrived in the Pacific around 1856. He first settled in Penrhyn, the most Northern of the Cook Islands. He married the daughter of one of the chiefs on the Island and in 1862 they moved to Manuae and then to Palmerston on 8 July 1863 (or 1861 or 1864 according to different documents). They were accompanied by his wife's cousin with whom he later had children. His task was to produce copra and collect bêche-de-mer for a Tahitian trader named Brander, but Brander never returned. William Marsters decided to settle his family permanently on the island. He took up a third wife, and the descendants of these three Penrhyn women make up the present inhabitants of Palmerston. Marsters died on 22 May 1899 at the age of 67 (although his headstone records his age as 78). He had 23 children and 134 grandchildren.
In 1887, a Scotsman, George Darsie, contested an application by Marsters for a license to lease the island. Palmerston was annexed to the UK on 23 May 1891 and in 1892, the British Government granted William a 21-year lease which was extended until 1954. Full ownership of Palmerston Atoll was granted to the Marsters family in 1954 by an amendment to the Cook Islands Act passed by the New Zealand Government.
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