The Tuvalu Philatelic Bureau (now trading as Tuvalu Post Limited ) is the government body in Tuvalu that issues new stamps and first day covers, which are available for purchase by stamp collectors around the world. The Bureau is located in Funafuti .
98-526: The sale of stamps has since the independence of Tuvalu in 1976 has been an important source of revenue for the country and government. However, such revenue has significantly declined in recent years. The Tuvalu Philatelic Bureau was established on 1 January 1976, which was the day the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony was dissolved and Tuvalu was established with separate British dependency status. The first postage stamp cancellation devices were put into use
196-653: A Crown colony on 12 January 1916 by the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Order in Council, 1915. During the year 1916, the Union Islands ( Tokelau ) were also annexed to the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony. On 28 November 1919, Great Britain reasserted its claim to Christmas Island and annexed it to the colony. In July 1920, the Pacific Phosphate Company was liquidated and its assets sold to
294-515: A "Barney's Island" roughly at Canton's position, which may have been named and discovered by Capt. Joseph Barney of Equator , who was whaling in the area in 1823–4. The island was given the name "Canton" in 1872 by Commander Richard W. Meade of USS Narragansett , who named it after the whaling ship Canton , which had been wrecked there in 1854. On January 8, 1824, Capt. Kemin, of an unnamed ship, discovered what may have been Gardner Island (at 4°45'S, 186°20'15"E) and McKean Island, naming them
392-740: A colony) in the Pacific Ocean were part of the British Empire from 1892 to 1976. They were a protectorate from 1892 to 12 January 1916, and then a colony until 1 January 1976, and were administered as part of the British Western Pacific Territories (BWPT) until they became independent. The history of GEIC was mainly characterized by phosphate mining on Ocean Island . In October 1975, these islands were divided by force of law into two separate colonies, and they became independent nations shortly thereafter:
490-407: A large, salty lagoon with depths reportedly varying between 5 and 6 metres (16 and 20 ft). The island is covered with coconut palms, scrub forest, herbs, and grasses, including the species Tournefortia , Pisonia , Morinda , Cordia , Guettarda , and Scaevola . Manra contains definite evidence of prehistoric inhabitation in the form of at least a dozen platforms and remains of enclosures in
588-653: A member of his crew. Captain James Coffin of the British whaler Transit is credited with having discovered Enderbury Island in 1823 and named it "Enderby's Island" after the London whaling house. However, when Coffin described his discoveries to Arrowsmith and other geographers, he did not mention Enderbury. Birnie and Sydney Islands are reported to have been discovered in 1823 by a "Captain Emmett". This may have been
686-477: A rediscovery of Sydney is at 4°26'30", 171°18'. The same year, James Coffin recorded "Enderby's Island" at 3°10', 171°10. The United States Exploring Expedition seems to have been the first to use the name "Phoenix" to refer to the whole island group. It had previously been used only to refer to one of the islands within the group. McKean Island was the first of the Phoenix group to be reported and named. It
784-569: A staging post during the preparation for the Battle of Tarawa and the Battle of Makin that commenced on 20 November 1943. Colonel Vivian Fox-Strangways , was the Resident Commissioner of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony in 1941, who was located on Funafuti. After World War II, the colony headquarters was re-established on Tarawa , first on Betio islet and subsequently on Bairiki islet . In November 1945, Fox-Strangways
882-414: A tiny lagoon, which has all but dried up. A nesting place for flocks of seabirds, Birnie is devoid of trees and is instead covered with low shrubs and grass. Unlike most of the other Phoenix Islands, Birnie does not appear to have been worked for guano or otherwise exploited by humans. It was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1975. McKean Island is the northwesternmost island of the Phoenix group. Its area
980-510: A trading voyage from Port Jackson, Sydney, Australia to China. Captain Arent de Peyster sighted the rest of the Ellice island group in 1819, while sailing the ship Rebecca . He named Funafuti atoll "Ellice's Island", after Edward Ellice , a British politician and merchant who owned the ship's cargo. After the work of English hydrographer Alexander George Findlay was published, the name Ellice
1078-678: A vast expanse of water. In 1969, after political issues arose that had led to the creation, four years earlier, of the Gilbertese National Party , the hybrid term "Tungavalu" was suggested (combining the indigenous names for the islands of Tungaru and Tuvalu); the idea was rejected because of political tensions between those islands. On 31 December 1936, the population of the Crown Colony totalled 34,443 inhabitants, including 32,390 Gilbert and Ellice Islanders, 262 Europeans and 923 Chinese ("Mongoloids"). Henry Evans Maude ,
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#17327974143561176-401: A village on the western end of the atoll, with wide, coral-paved streets, a parade ground, a cooperative store, an administrative center and residence, and a radio shack. Gallagher died on Nikumaroro in 1941, and was buried n the island (where his empty grave monument can still be seen, though his remains were later moved to Tarawa ). Like the other atolls in the settlement project, Nikumaroro
1274-407: Is 28 square kilometres (11 sq mi). The only island of any commercial importance is Canton Island (also called Abariringa). The other islands are Enderbury, Rawaki (formerly Phoenix), Manra (formerly Sydney), Birnie, McKean, Nikumaroro (formerly Gardner), and Orona (formerly Hull). The Phoenix Islands Protected Area , established in 2008, is one of the world's largest protected areas and
1372-592: Is 57 hectares (140 acres), devoid of fresh water or trees, though it has a hypersaline lagoon at its center. Carpeted with low herbs and grasses, McKean provides a sanctuary for the world's largest nesting population of lesser frigatebird ( Fregata ariel ), with a population of up to 85,000 birds. It was actively worked for guano in the mid-19th century but was abandoned by 1870, and no further use has been made of it. Rawaki , or Phoenix Island, measures approximately 1.2 km (0.75 mi) by 0.8 km (0.5 mi), and covers 65 hectares (160 acres) in area. Its lagoon
1470-779: Is clear that early 19th-century whalers were responsible for discovering most of Kiribati in the modern era, it is impossible to confirm exactly who discovered each of the islands due to conflicting reports and inaccurate mapping. Jeremiah N. Reynolds 's 1828 report to the American Navy recommended an exploring expedition to the Pacific because "the English charts, and those of other countries are as yet very imperfect. Much of their information has been obtained from loose accounts from whalers who were careless in some instances, and forgetful in others, and which were seized with greediness by
1568-575: Is covered with coconut palms, scrub forest, and grasses; it also contains evidence of prehistoric Polynesian habitation. An ancient stone marae stands on the eastern tip of the island, together with ruins of shelters, graves and other platforms. Unlike Manra, Orona does not seem to have been worked for guano, but it became a coconut plantation and was made a p. It was the British Phoenix Islands Settlement Scheme. Residents were evacuated in 1963 due to drought and
1666-677: Is home to about 120 species of coral and more than 500 species of fish. The Phoenix Islands are uninhabited, except for a few families who live on Canton Island . Historically, the Phoenix Islands have been considered part of the Gilberts Island group (sometimes known as the Kingsmill island group). Geographically, Baker Island and Howland Island , two unincorporated territories of the United States that lie to
1764-674: Is named). Despite this, Sir Alfred Stephen , the Chief Justice of New South Wales, found Pritchard and Dagget innocent on the grounds that the British Slave Trade Act 1839 did not apply to the South Pacific Ocean. In 1877, the United Kingdom established a protectorate over the islands designated as being British Western Pacific Territories . In 1886, an Anglo-German agreement partitioned
1862-492: Is shallow and salty, with no connection to the ocean. However, it has several freshwater pools—the only known freshwater wetlands in the Phoenix Islands. Treeless, Rawaki is covered with herbs and grasses, and provides another important landing site for migratory seabirds. Worked for guano from 1859 to 1871, Rawaki was abandoned and no human use seems to have been made of it thereafter. Manra , or Sydney Island, measures approximately 3.2 by 2.8 km (2.0 by 1.7 mi). It has
1960-494: Is the northernmost island in the Phoenix group and the only inhabited one. It is a narrow ribbon of land 9 km (3 sq mi), enclosing a lagoon of approximately 40 km (15 sq mi). Canton is mostly bare coral, covered with herbs, bunch grasses, low shrubs, and a few trees. Its lagoon teems with 153 known species of marine life, including sharks, tuna, stingrays, and eels. Land fauna includes at least 23 bird species, lizards, rats, hermit crabs, and turtles. In
2058-585: The British Phosphate Commission (BPC), a consortium established by the governments of Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand . The mining of the phosphate on Ocean Island represented the main revenue of the colony until it ended in 1979. In 1925, Great Britain asked New Zealand to accept responsibility for the administration of the Union Islands (Tokelau) and invited the United States to annex Swains Island . On 4 March 1925,
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#17327974143562156-665: The British Slave Trade Act 1839 to provide the authority to arrest blackbirding ships, and charge their captains and owners with slavery charges. However, this approach to suppressing blackbirding was not successful. In 1869, HMS Commander George Palmer of HMS Rosario (1860) , commenced a prosecution in the New South Wales courts of Thomas Pritchard and Captain Dagget of the Daphne . Commander Palmer had found
2254-754: The British Western Pacific Territories (BWPT) were administered by a high commissioner who resided in Fiji (and later in the British Solomon Islands ). Then, Sir John Bates Thurston appointed Charles Richard Swayne as the first resident commissioner of the Ellice Islands in 1892 and as the first resident commissioner of the Gilbert Islands in 1893. He was succeeded in 1895 by William Telfer Campbell , who established himself on Tarawa , and remained in office until 1908. Campbell
2352-398: The Daphne in harbour at Levuka in Fiji fitted out like an "African slaver", and filled with Islanders on board looking emaciated and having little knowledge of why they were on the ship. The Daphne was owned by Henry Ross Lewin , a long time blackbirder who had been commissioned to import south sea islanders for Robert Towns ' sugar plantations (the entrepreneur after whom Townsville
2450-511: The Ellice group . The island was later named after Capt. Michael Baker, who had discovered guano deposits on the island in 1839. Today, Baker Island is a United States territory; it is one of the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands . Howland Island is a United States territory and one of the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands . The discovery of Howland Island is sometimes credited to Captain George B Worth of
2548-629: The Phoenix Islands Settlement Scheme . By 1963, however, the settlements on these three islands were deemed to be unworkable, and the entire population was moved to the Solomon Islands. During the 1960s and early 1970s, the United States used Canton as a missile-tracking station. The island was abandoned in 1976 but then later resettled by members of the I-Kiribati community, who reside there today. In 2008,
2646-694: The Solomon Islands , New Guinea , Marshall Islands and the Caroline Islands . In 1877 the Governor of Fiji was given the additional title of High Commissioner for the Western Pacific. However, the claim of a 'sphere of influence' that included the Ellice Islands and the Gilbert Islands did not result in the immediate move to govern those islands. Ships from the navies of the United States of America and European powers that visited
2744-491: The United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842, Charles Wilkes identified Gardner's Island based on the previously reported position and confirmed its existence. The Frenchman Louis Tromelin , aboard the corvette Bayonnaise , came across Phoenix Island (as well as Sydney Island, discussed above), probably in 1828 (but some sources give 1823 as the date). and 1826. Tromelin placed
2842-522: The "High Court of Admiralty of England and every Vice-Admiralty Court in Her Majesty's dominions out of the United Kingdom shall have jurisdiction to try and condemn as forfeited to Her Majesty or restore any vessel, goods, and effects alleged to be detained or seized in pursuance of the principal Act or of this Act". The 1875 Act also provided authority for "Her Majesty to exercise power and jurisdiction over Her subjects within any islands and places in
2940-741: The "Kemin Islands". In 1825, Captain Joshua Gardner, reportedly aboard the whaler Ganges , discovered an island located at 4°20' S, 174°22' W, and named it "Gardner's Island". His discovery was reported in the Nantucket Enquirer in December 1827. However, Joshua Coffin (also reportedly aboard the Ganges ) is sometimes credited with the discovery, and is said to have named the island after his ship's owner, Gideon Gardner . During
3038-525: The "unclaimed" central Pacific, leaving Nauru in the German sphere of influence , while placing Ocean Island and the future GEIC in the British sphere of influence. German New Guinea was established in 1884, and German protectorates were established on the Marshall Islands and Nauru , in 1885 and 1888, respectively. Then, between 27 May and 17 June 1892, partly in response to the presence of
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3136-411: The 1990s and first decade of the 21st century, finding possible evidence, but no conclusive proof, for this theory. Investigation and expeditions to the island continue. Orona , or Hull Island, measures approximately 8.8 by 4 km (5.5 by 2.5 mi), and, like Canton, is a narrow ribbon of land surrounding a sizable lagoon with depths of between 15 and 20 metres (49 and 66 ft). Like Manra, it
3234-474: The Birnie ship owning family) in 1820. Frenchman Louis Tromelin came upon Sidney's Island, either in 1823 or 1828, and placed it at 4°26'30", 171°18'; he went on to survey Phoenix Island . Two islands that were reported and charted in 1825 with coordinates similar to those of Canton Island were referred to in those documents as "Mary Island" and "Mary Balcoutts Island". In addition, Reynold's report describes
3332-628: The Buen Viaje Islands ('good trip' islands in Spanish). In 1788, Thomas Gilbert , a British captain, encountered the archipelago while commanding one of two ships of the First Fleet that were looking for an outer passage route from Port Jackson to Canton . In 1820, a Russian admiral, Johann von Krusenstern , named the group "îles Gilbert" (French for Gilbert Islands) in honor of Captain Gilbert's earlier voyage. Around that time,
3430-581: The Captain Emmett (or "Emmert" or "Emment") of the British whaler Sydney Packet (or the Sydney ), who may have named the islands after the ship and its owner, the London firm Alexander Birnie & Co. Alternatively, it may have been Captain William Emmett, from Sydney , who sailed regularly in the area and is known to have bought the brig Queen Charlotte from the whaler James Birnie (of
3528-676: The Colony were transferred from Betio to Bairiki . This development included establishing the King George V Secondary School for boys and the Elaine Bernacchi Secondary School for girls. A Colony Conference was organised at Marakei in 1956, which was attended by officials and representatives (magistrates) from each island in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony, conferences were held every two years until 1962. The development of administration continued with
3626-558: The Ellice Islands became Tuvalu in 1978, and the Gilbert Islands with Banaba (Ocean Island) became part of Kiribati in 1979. The Gilbert Islands sometimes also known as Kingsmill Islands or King's-Mill Islands are a chain of sixteen atolls and coral islands in the western Pacific Ocean. They are part of Remote Oceania , and traditionally part of the Micronesia subregion of Oceania . The Gilbert Islands are
3724-531: The French captain Louis Duperrey became the first to map the whole Gilbert Islands archipelago. He commanded La Coquille , circumnavigating the globe between 1822 and 1825. The first recorded sighting by Europeans of an Ellice Island was on 16 January 1568, during the voyage of Álvaro de Mendaña from Spain, who sailed past Nui and charted it as Isla de Jesús (Spanish for "Island of Jesus") because
3822-588: The GEIC. The Ellice Islands comprise three reef islands and six true atolls , spread out between the latitude of 5° to 10° south and longitude of 176° to 180° , west of the International Date Line . The Ellice Islands are midway between Hawaii and Australia , and they, too, lie in the Polynesia subregion of Oceania. In 1568, when Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira
3920-732: The Gilbert and Ellice Islands included: Ships of the Royal Navy , on the Australian Station , were involved in suppressing the coercive labour recruitment practices, known as blackbirding in the South Pacific Ocean. 1872, from 10 to 14 October, the sloop HMS Blanche (1867) , under Captain Cortland Herbert Simpson, visited Tawara, Abaiang and Butaritari. Also in 1872, the sloop Basilisk (1848) , under Captain John Moresby , visited
4018-656: The Gilberts, and the corvette HMS Barossa (1860) , under Captain Lewis James Moore, visited Tabiteuea. 1873, from 28 to 30 June, the schooner HMS Alacrity (1872) , under Captain Francis W. Sanders, lands islanders on Tabiteuea and Maiana who had been kidnapped in 1871 by the brig Carl . The screw sloop HMS Dido (1869) also visited the Gilberts in 1873. 1874, in August,
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4116-580: The Gilberts. SMS Eber of the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy), was sent to the Pacific to serve in the German colonial empire . In 1888 she visited the Gilberts, and also disarmed the inhabitants of Nauru , ending their civil war and annexing the island to the German Empire. 1891, the steam corvette SMS Alexandrine visited the Gilberts (Marakei, Tawara, Abaiang, Abemama and Tabiteuea). Also in 1891,
4214-557: The Governor of one of the Australian colonies to have the authority to licence British vessels in the South Pacific Ocean to carry "native labourers". The 1875 Act amended that licensing system and stated that any "British vessel may, under the principal Act, be detained, seized, and brought in for adjudication by any officer, all goods and effects found on board such vessel may also be detained, seized, and brought in for adjudication by such officer, either with or without such vessel" with
4312-541: The Kingsmill Islands or Kingsmill Group in English). While in the Gilberts, they devoted considerable time to mapping and charting reefs and anchorages. Alfred Thomas Agate made drawings of men of Butaritari and Makin . In 1876 Britain and Germany agreed to divide up the western and central Pacific, with each claiming a 'sphere of influence'. In the previous decade German traders had become active in
4410-665: The Marquesas, and the Cook Islands and were transported to the Phoenix and Line Islands during the 12th–14th centuries AD. In 1568, when Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira was commanded to explore the South Pacific, he sailed between the Line Islands and the Phoenix Islands without sighting land, ultimately discovering "Isla de Jesus" (probably one of the islands in the Ellice group ). The oceans of
4508-527: The Nantucket whaler Oeno , around 1822, who called it "Worth Island". Daniel MacKenzie of the American whaler Minerva Smith , charted the island in 1828, and, believing it to be a discovery, named it after his ship's owners. Most of the Phoenix Islands were annexed by Great Britain in the late 19th century. The United States claimed Howland and Baker Islands in 1935. In 1937, Britain incorporated all
4606-409: The Pacific Ocean not being within Her Majesty's dominions, nor within the jurisdiction of any civilized power, in the same and as ample a manner as if such power or jurisdiction had been acquired by the cession or conquest of territory", although the 1875 Act did not specify any Pacific islands to which this authority was to be applied. The 1872 & 1875 Acts were intended to work in conjunction with
4704-403: The Phoenix group, but the coordinates he gave do not always compare to the now-established coordinates of that area. Other contemporary reports of the islands added to the confusion about the details of the initial discoveries. The Frenchman Louis Tromelin reported his 1823 discovery of Phoenix island at 3°42'S, 170°43'W, while cartographer John Arrowsmith plotted it 12 minutes further north;
4802-839: The Tuvalu government was proposing to merge the Bureau with the Tuvalu Post Office, which is regulated by the Tuvalu Post Office Act 1977 . The Tuvalu Post Office is not separately constituted and is a government department. The Tuvalu Philatelic Bureau has published a newsletter since March 1976, initially under the name News and Views . In 1999 the name was changed to Tuvalu Philatelic Bureau Newsletter . The Newsletter provides information about new stamp issues and articles about Tuvalu. Gilbert and Ellice Islands The Gilbert and Ellice Islands ( GEIC as
4900-493: The Union Islands (now known as Tokelau ); Christmas Island was included in 1919 but was unofficially contested by the USA under its Guano Islands Act of 1856. The Union Islands were transferred to New Zealand in 1926, but formally only in 1948. The Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony continued to be administered by a Resident Commissioner. In 1930 the Resident Commissioner, Arthur Grimble , issued revised laws, Regulations for
4998-410: The United States and Kiribati signed the Treaty of Tarawa , under which the United States released all claims to the Phoenix Islands (except for Baker and Howland), which thenceforth became recognized as part of Kiribati. The Phoenix Islands began to be known by that name sometime around the 1840s, as a generalization from one of the islands in the group, which had been named Phoenix Island earlier in
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#17327974143565096-436: The United States in Butaritari , Captain Edward Davis of HMS Royalist made the sixteen islands of the Gilbert Islands a British protectorate . Between 9 and 16 October of the same year, Captain Herbert Gibson of HMS Curacoa declared the Ellice Islands to be a British protectorate. The British government found it administratively convenient to govern the Ellice and Gilberts islands together. At first,
5194-408: The United States officially annexed Swains Island as part of the territory of American Samoa . On 11 February 1926, an Order in Council transferred responsibility for administration of the Union Islands (Tokelau) to New Zealand which in turn placed administration of the islands under its Western Samoan mandate. Fanning Island and Washington Island also became included in the colony together with
5292-419: The atolls as Lagoon Islands . Nanumea was sighted by Spanish naval officer Francisco Mourelle de la Rúa who sailed past it on 5 May 1781 with frigate La Princesa , when attempting a southern crossing of the Pacific from the Philippines to New Spain . He charted Nanumea as San Augustin . In 1809, Captain Patterson in the brig Elizabeth sighted Nanumea while passing through the northern Tuvalu waters on
5390-415: The buildings erected during the occupation of the island by Great Britain and the United States between 1936 and 1976. Enderbury is a low, flat, small coral atoll lying 63 km (34 nmi; 39 mi) east-southeast of Canton. Its lagoon is rather tiny, comprising only a small percentage of the island's area. Herbs, bunchgrass, morning-glory vines, and a few clumps of trees form the main vegetation on
5488-435: The century (probably because Phoenix was a common name for the whaling ships that frequented the nearby waters at the time). The Phoenix Islands were the site of the last colonial expansion attempted by the British Empire (through the Phoenix Islands Settlement Scheme ) in the late 1930s. Phoenix Islands ( Kiribati ) Submerged coral reefs U.S. territories to the north Canton Island (also called Abariringa)
5586-428: The creation in 1963 of an Advisory Council of five officials and 12 representatives who were appointed by the Resident Commissioner. In 1964 an Executive Council was established with eight officials and eight representatives. The representative members were elected in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Advisory Council election held in 1964. The Resident Commissioner was now required to consult the Executive Council regarding
5684-413: The creation of laws to make decisions that affected the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony. Phoenix Islands The Phoenix Islands , or Rawaki , are a group of eight atolls and two submerged coral reefs that lie east of the Gilbert Islands and west of the Line Islands in the central Pacific Ocean , north of Samoa . They are part of the Republic of Kiribati . Their combined land area
5782-486: The declining copra market. Evidence suggests that Howland Island was the site of a prehistoric settlement, which may have extended down to Rawaki, Canton, Manra, and Orona—probably in the form of a single community using several adjacent islands. Archaeological sites have been discovered on Manra and Orona that suggest there were two distinct groups of settlers, one from eastern Polynesia and one from Micronesia. The hard life on these isolated islands undoubtedly led either to
5880-473: The extinction or emigration of these settled peoples, in much the same way that other islands in the area (such as Christmas Island and Pitcairn ) were abandoned. These ancient settlements were probably founded around 1000 BC when eastern Melanesians are known to have traveled northward across the water. Later settlement by Polynesians and contact with Polynesia is evident from archaeological digs. These have yielded basalt artifacts that originated in Samoa,
5978-409: The good Order and Cleanliness of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands , which replaced laws created during the BWTP. In the 1930s, British officials tried to choose a less cumbersome name for the GEIC. Critics jocularly called the arbitrary collection of atolls scattered across the central Pacific the " Gilbert and Sullivans " (a reference to the famous light opera composers). One official suggested renaming
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#17327974143566076-571: The government of Kiribati designated the islands the " Phoenix Islands Protected Area ", which was at the time the world's largest marine protected area . Collaborations between Kiribati, the New England Aquarium , and Conservation International have allowed scientific expeditions to explore the Phoenix Islands to quantify the ocean's flora and fauna. This area is of particular scientific interest because it has been relatively untouched by human activity. The Phoenix Islands have been surveyed by TIGHAR in an attempt to determine whether they may have been
6174-455: The gunboat SMS Wolf (1878) visited Tawara, Abaiang and Maiana, and the cruiser SMS Sperber visited Butaritari, Maiana and Tabiteuea. In 1872, the United Kingdom passed legislation in an attempt to control the coercive labour recruitment practices known as blackbirding : the Pacific Islanders Protection Act 1872 (the principal Act), which was amended by the Pacific Islanders Protection Act 1875. The principal Act provided for
6272-412: The identification of the initial discoverers, a situation only complicated by the numerous names given to each of the atolls. In 1828, the U.S. Navy commissioned J.N. Reynolds to compile a survey of American discoveries in the South Pacific. Reynolds interviewed several New England whalers and inspected their logbooks, charts, and documents. His report included at least 13 islands that fit roughly within
6370-403: The island at 3°42'S, 189°17'E, and noted his belief that it had already been reported on Norie's map. Reynold's report also mentions an island referred to as "Phenix", as well as other unnamed islands, at similar coordinates. The island's discoverer and the origin of its name are unknown. Still, there are several possible candidates: the whaling ship Phoenix of Nantucket, Massachusetts , which
6468-460: The island was abandoned in 1963. Nikumaroro , or Gardner Island, is approximately 6 km (3.7 mi) long by 2 km (1.2 mi) wide, enclosing a large central lagoon. Vegetation is profuse, including scrub forests, coconut palms, and herbs. Large quantities of birds nest on the island, which was once the headquarters for the British colonial officer heading up the Phoenix Islands Settlement Scheme , Gerald Gallagher . Gallagher constructed
6566-428: The island, while birds, rats, and a species of beetle are the known fauna. Heavily mined for guano in the late 19th century, Enderbury has seen little human impact following the evacuation of the last four residents in 1942, during World War II . Birnie Island is a small, flat coral island about 20 hectares (49 acres) in area, measuring 1.2 km (0.75 mi) long by 0.5 km (0.3 mi) wide. It contains
6664-413: The islands "Quateria" (after the word "quarters"), because the main inhabited archipelago extends over four notable quarters of the globe: It lies partly north and partly south of the equator, and also partly east and partly west of the international dateline. There were indigenous names, such as Tungaru and Tuvalu , but they were used to refer to only some of the islands in the group; they did not include
6762-499: The islands in the Phoenix group, except for Howland and Baker islands, into the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony. The United States claimed sovereignty over Canton and Enderbury in 1938, but in 1939 agreed with Britain to form the Canton and Enderbury Islands condominium and exercise joint control over the two islands for a term of 50 years. (The agreement continued in force until 1979 when Kiribati's independence nullified it.) During this period of joint U.S.-British control, Canton
6860-404: The land commissioner of the colony, considered the then colony overcrowded. The Phoenix Islands were added to the colony in 1937 with the view of a Phoenix Islands Settlement Scheme . On 6 August 1936, a party from HMS Leith landed on Canton Island in the Phoenix Group and planted a sign asserting British sovereignty in the name of King Edward VIII . On 18 March 1937, Great Britain annexed
6958-453: The main part of what is now the Republic of Kiribati ("Kiribati" is the Gilbertese rendition of "Gilberts" ) The atolls of the Gilbert Islands are arranged in an approximate north-to-south line. Geographically, the Equator is the dividing line between the northern Gilbert Islands and the southern Gilbert Islands. South of the Gilbert Islands lie the Ellice Islands (now called Tuvalu ), which were previously politically connected as part of
7056-492: The makers of maps and charts, in order to be the first to make these discoveries known." This proposal came to fruition in the 1840s, when Charles Wilkes led the United States Exploring Expedition , consisting of the USS ; Peacock and the USS Flying Fish . The expedition surveyed the islands under the direction of William Hudson . Contemporary reports and later analysis provide conflicting evidence regarding
7154-403: The maladministration of Telfer Campbell, linked it to criticisms of the Pacific Phosphate Company , which was operating on Ocean Island , and challenged Mahaffy's impartiality, because he was a former colonial official in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Protectorate. In 1908, the government's headquarters was moved to Ocean Island (today known as Banaba ). Ocean Island had been hastily added to
7252-446: The mid-20th century, Canton had an important trans-Pacific airport and refueling station called Langton, but its importance declined in the late 1950s with the introduction of long-range jet aircraft. After a brief stint as a U.S. missile-tracking station, the airport fell into disuse. However, today, the airport is still there, and (as of 2016 ) it was still home to a small military presence: 20 persons were residing there, mostly living in
7350-481: The mid-Pacific and Micronesia opened up to new exploration in the early 19th century as whalers from Europe and the Americas began arriving. An influx of whaling vessels in the 1820s led to the secondary discovery and mapping of the islands between 1821 and 1825. They were the last islands in the Pacific to be fully explored and charted, probably because they were predominantly small, low, and isolated. While it
7448-515: The mostly uninhabited Phoenix and Line island groups, or Banaba (also called Ocean Island), whose phosphate rocks provided half of the GEIC's tax revenue. Further complicating the naming problem, the Tokelau atolls were made part of the colony for a decade (1916–1926), and at one point a governor of Fiji, Sir J.B. Thurston , suggested adding Rotuma to the colony to enable a more organized administration of islands that were scattered over such
7546-476: The murders in 1874, of Cornelius Sullivan on Tarawa, and St. John C. Keyes on Abaiang. The screw sloop HMS Sappho (1873) , under Commander Noel Stephen Fox Digby, was also sent to the Gilberts in support of HMS Renard . 1881, from 13 May to 6 June, the corvette HMS Emerald (1876) , under Captain William Maxwell , visited the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. 1883, from 26 May to 10 June,
7644-528: The north of the Phoenix Islands, could be considered part of the same island group as the Phoenix Islands. However, politically and for statistical compilation purposes, Howland and Baker are considered part of the group known as the United States Minor Outlying Islands . The United States once laid claim to all the Phoenix Islands under the 1856 Guano Islands Act . However, when Kiribati became an independent republic in 1979,
7742-411: The northeast and northwest portions of the island. K. P. Emory , an ethnologist at Honolulu 's Bishop Museum , has estimated that two groups of people were present on Manra, one having migrated there from eastern Polynesia , the other from Micronesia . Wells and pits apparently dug by inhabitants were also found. Extensively worked for guano beginning in 1884 by John T. Arundel & Co, Manra
7840-568: The previous day was the feast of the Holy Name . Mendaña made contact with the islanders but was unable to land. During Mendaña's second voyage across the Pacific, he passed Niulakita on 29 August 1595, which he named La Solitaria . Captain John Byron passed through the Ellice islands in 1764, during his circumnavigation of the globe as captain of the Dolphin (1751) . He charted
7938-421: The protectorate in 1900 to take advantage of the improved shipping connections resulting from the Pacific Phosphate Company 's increased activities. On 12 January 1916, the islands' status was changed to that of a Crown Colony. The British colonial authorities emphasised that their role was to procure labour for phosphate mining on Ocean Island, and to maintain law and order among the workers. The islands became
8036-658: The same day. The first issue was a set of provisional overprinted definitive stamps and a commemorative set of three stamps. Tuvalu became fully independent within the Commonwealth on 1 October 1978. The philatelic business activities are authorised by the Tuvalu Philatelic Bureau Ordinance (1982). Karl Tili was the first Tuvaluan general manager of the Tuvalu Philatelic Bureau from 1989 to 31 December 2011. In 2013,
8134-467: The screw sloop HMS Rosario (1860) , under Commander Arthur Edward Dupuis, visited Tawara and Abaiang searching for William "Bully" Hayes , who was notorious for his blackbirding activities. 1875, the survey ship HMS Myrmidon (1867) , under Commander Richard Hare, visited the Gilberts. 1876, from April to June, the schooner HMS Renard (1873) , under Lieutenant Horace J. M. Pugh, visited Abaiang and Tawara, regarding
8232-630: The screw sloop HMS Royalist , under Captain Edward Davis , visited the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. 1825, the schooner USS Dolphin (1821) , under Lieutenant Hiram Paulding , visited Nikunau and Tabiteuea. 1870, from 15 to 26 May, the sloop USS Jamestown (1844) , under Captain William Truxtun, visited Tawara, Abaiang and Butaritari. 1872, in August, the sloop USS Narragansett (1859) visited Nikunau, Beru, Tabiteuea, Abaiang and Tawara. 1889,
8330-513: The sloop HMS Espiegle (1880) , under Captain Cyprian Bridge , visited the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. 1884, from 13 June to 26 July, the survey ship HMS Dart (1882) , under Lieutenant-Commander W. W. Moore, visited the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. 1886, from 10 May to 26 June, the sloop HMS Miranda , under Commander Eustace Rooke, visited the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. 1892, from 14 April to 30 August,
8428-497: The steam powered sloop USS Iroquois (1859) visited Butaritari. 1874, the corvette L'Ariane visited Arorae and Ocean Island . 1888, the cruiser Le Fabert , under Commander Benoit, visited Nikunau, Nonouti and Butaritari to deliver Father Joseph Leray, Father Edward Bontemps and Brother Conrad Weber, Roman Catholic Missionaries of the Sacred Heart , who were the first Roman Catholic missionaries to arrive in
8526-564: The time were also named Phoenix, and one of the individual islands in the group had already been reported at an earlier date to bear the name "Phoenix Island". Reynold's report of 1828 included an unnamed reef at coordinates similar to those of Carondelet Reef. In August 1825, Captain Obed Starbuck of the whaler Loper sighted a low, barren island at 0°11'N, 176°20'W, which he named "New Nantucket" after his home ( Nantucket, Massachusetts ). Starbuck had previously discovered islands in
8624-687: The uninhabited Phoenix Islands (except Howland and Baker Islands ) to the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony. Banaba (Ocean Island) remained the headquarters of the colony until the British evacuation in 1942 during the Pacific War when Ocean Island and the Gilbert Islands were occupied by the Japanese . The United States forces landed in Funafuti on 2 October 1942 and on Nanumea and Nukufetau in August 1943 and constructed an airfield on each island and other bases. The atolls of Tuvalu acted as
8722-494: Was abandoned in 1963 due to the scarcity of fresh water , together with the declining market for the copra that had been produced on the island. Nikumaroro has appeared in media stories due to a theory that Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan might have landed their plane at low tide on the edge of the atoll's barrier reef during their fateful around-the-world attempt in 1937. The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) made several expeditions to Nikumaroro during
8820-535: Was active in the area and was the discoverer of Winslow Reef ; the London whaler Phoenix , owned by Daniel Bennett (W. Bennett & Co), which was whaling in the Pacific in 1815; the Phoenix , under the command of John Palmer in 1824; and another vessel named the Phoenix , under the command of a Captain Moore, which was in the Pacific in 1794. Little is known about the discovery of Hull Island, but its existence
8918-536: Was applied to all nine islands in the Ellice Island group, which is now called Tuvalu . Two ships of the United States Exploring Expedition , USS Peacock (1828) and USS Flying Fish (1838) , under the command of Captain Hudson, surveyed the Gilbert Islands of Tabiteuea , Nonouti , Aranuka , Maiana , Abemama , Kuria , Tarawa , Marakei , Butaritari , and Makin (then called
9016-501: Was commissioned to explore the South Pacific, he sailed relatively close to the Gilbert Islands. He sailed between the Line Islands and the Phoenix Islands , but without sighting land. He ultimately sailed past what he called "Isla de Jesús", (probably Nui , amongst the Ellice island group ). In 1606, Pedro Fernandes de Queirós sighted two of the islands in the Gilbert island group: Butaritari and Makin , which he named
9114-485: Was confirmed by the United States Exploring Expedition in 1841, which found it to be inhabited), and it was named by Charles Wilkes after Commodore Isaac Hull . The reef was discovered in 1851 by the whaler Phoenix . Perry Winslow was the ship's master on that occasion. Some have speculated this could have been the ship after which the Phoenix Island group is named. Still, several other whaling ships of
9212-444: Was criticised for his legislative, judicial and administrative management. It was alleged that he extracted forced labour from the islanders. An inquiry into this allegation was held by Arthur Mahaffy , a former district officer in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands (1896–1898) and Solomon Islands (1898-1904), and he issued his findings, which were published in 1910. In 1913, an anonymous correspondent to The New Age journal described
9310-467: Was developed into a copra plantation in the early 20th century. In 1938, Manra was selected as one of three atolls to be included in the Phoenix Islands Settlement Scheme , which represented the final expansion of the British Empire. Manra was subsequently plagued by drought and the death of the project's organizer. Due to these events, the effects of World War II, and the declining copra market,
9408-430: Was discovered on May 28, 1794, by a British captain, Henry Barber , of the ship Arthur . Barber named it Drummond's Island , plotting it at 3°40'S, 176°51'W. It was later named Arthur Island and appeared as such in charts of the time and was recorded as located at 3°30'S, 176°0'W. On August 19, 1840, Commander Charles Wilkes of the United States Exploring Expedition mapped it and renamed it McKean Island , after
9506-512: Was extensively developed, first as a seaplane-landing site, then later as a refueling station for trans-Pacific civilian and military aircraft. It remained in use until 1958. Although shelled and bombed a few times during World War II, neither Canton nor any of the Phoenix Islands was ever occupied by Japanese forces. Between 1938 and 1940, to reduce overcrowding on the Gilbert Islands , the previously uninhabited Orona (Hull), Manra (Sydney), and Nikumaroro (Gardner) islands were colonized as part of
9604-558: Was replaced as Resident Commissioner by Henry Evans Maude (1946 to 1949). He was succeeded by John Peel , who retired in 1951. By the Tokelau Act of 1948 , sovereignty over Tokelau was transferred to New Zealand. The five islands of the Central and Southern Line Islands were added to the colony in 1972. In 1946, Tarawa , in the Gilbert Islands, was made the administrative capital, replacing Ocean Island. The headquarters of
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