George Hunn NobbsPrint Page

The two outer stained glass windows of the East Window of the church commemorate George Hunn Nobbs (1799 - 1884)  who was a teacher and pastor of the Pitcairn community. After the Pitcairners arrival in 1856 the Commissariat store at Kingston was converted into All Saints church. 

In 1852 during his two-month visit to London, Nobbs was ordained as a minister in the Colonies, was accredited by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel with an annual stipend of £50, addressed the first meeting of the Pitcairn Fund Committee and was received by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at Osborne House. He set sail on his return voyage to Pitcairn on 17 December 1852. During his visit to London Nobbs had convinced his supporters that the island could no longer support the Pitcairn community. On his return he found the islanders badly affected by a prolonged drought and an outbreak of influenza. In 1856 the community moved to Norfolk Island, a Crown Colony previously occupied by convict prisoners.

Much of the island had been cultivated, and there were roads and houses awaiting occupation. However, it became clear that the islanders could no longer continue in the same seclusion they had experienced on Pitcairn. Nobbs expressed their disappointment in a letter her wrote to Sir Fairfax Moresby in 1866: "We own nothing beyond our 50-acre (200,000 m²) allotments, not sheep, nor ground on which the sheep feed; all is Government property and may be best disposed of as seems best to Government." Ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the island was now claimed by the Melanesian Mission.  After a period of intransigence, he was eventually reconciled and accepted the work of the mission on the island. When Nobbs died most of the island community, numbering around 470, attended his funeral.

The death of a very old pastor of the Pitcairn Islanders is recorded by our Norfolk Island correspondent, who writes on November 12 :- " It is my sad duty to chronicle the death of the aged chaplain of the Pitcairn community, the Rev. George Hunn Nobbs, who died peaceably, surrounded by his numerous family, on the evening of the 6th November, the 56th anniversary of his landing on Pitcairn Island, and in the 86th year of his age. The story of his early career was eventful. As a sailor he visited most parts of the world, and in his wanderings, hearing of the Pitcairn community, he set his mind on getting there and settling. After several abortive attempts he eventually left Callao in a small vessel, attended by but one companion, and after a perilous voyage of some weeks arrived off the island in October, 1828. The voyagers were well received by old John Adams and the inhabitants, and his companion dying soon after, the vessel was broken up, and helped to build him a house. From the beginning he kept school, and on old Adams' death in March, 1829, he was appointed teacher of the community. He leaves 10 children, 65 grandchildren, and 19 great grandchildren. The funeral was a grand affair, and was attended by nearly everybody, the Revs. A. Penny and R. B. Comine performing the final ceremony."
Sydney Morning Herald (NSW), 27 November 1884.

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