William Marsters
Encyclopedia
Walcote, Leicestershire
Walcote is a village in the English county of Leicestershire.It is on the A4304 road some two miles east if the town of Lutterworth and a mile east of Junction 20 of the M1 motorway. It is the major settlement of the civil parish of Misterton with Walcote and forms part of Harborough...
, Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
who settled on Palmerston Island
Palmerston Island
Palmerston Island is a coral atoll in the Cook Islands in the Pacific Ocean about 500 km northwest of Rarotonga. It was discovered by James Cook on 16 June 1774.-Overview:...
in the Cook Islands
Cook Islands
The Cook Islands is a self-governing parliamentary democracy in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand...
on 8 July 1863, with his Polynesian
Polynesians
The Polynesian peoples is a grouping of various ethnic groups that speak Polynesian languages, a branch of the Oceanic languages within the Austronesian languages, and inhabit Polynesia. They number approximately 1,500,000 people...
wife and two Polynesian mistresses
Mistress (lover)
A mistress is a long-term female lover and companion who is not married to her partner; the term is used especially when her partner is married. The relationship generally is stable and at least semi-permanent; however, the couple does not live together openly. Also the relationship is usually,...
. He had 23 children on the island and 134 grandchildren. A handful of his descendants continue to live on Palmerston Island, while the majority now live in Rarotonga
Rarotonga
Rarotonga is the most populous island of the Cook Islands, with a population of 14,153 , out of the country's total population of 19,569.The Cook Islands' Parliament buildings and international airport are on Rarotonga...
, or elsewhere in the Cook Islands
Cook Islands
The Cook Islands is a self-governing parliamentary democracy in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
External links
- William Richard Marsters and Richard Masters by Maureen Hilyard
- The Marsters of Palmerston - The definitive story of a unique family saga.
See also
- Scratch My Arse RockScratch My Arse RockScratch My Arse Rock is a popular fishing location off the coast of Palmerston Island, a coral atoll belonging to the Cook Islands archipelago. The rock's name was reputedly conferred by William Marsters, the 19th-century progenitor of the Marsters family, which continues to inhabit and administer...