Historical stories, articles and accounts

Browse the archive chronologically

The collection begins with The Coolie Ode, a verse about the first indentured labourers on Christmas Island. Its words have moved some Islanders to tears.

📜The Coolie Ode – (The good brothers speak)

1615 onwards – We were but sailing by – Early impressions of Christmas Island – Interesting to read these first hand accounts of early travellers.

1830 – Could this be the first ever painting of Christmas Island? It’s amazing what you accidentally discover in an archive when you are not looking for it.

📰 1852 – Shipwreck horror – an amazing tale of survival in 1852 – The shipwreck off Egeria Point and the rescue of three survivors. They were marooned on the Island for nearly 2 months.

📰 1852 – Shipwrecked on Christmas Island – amazing first hand account from 1852 – A nearly two month struggle for survival on Christmas Island as told by one of the three survivors.

1855 – Rambles in eastern Asia, including China and Manilla (excerpt) – Read why an adventuring American dentist in 1848 felt the need for pistols, sword-canes, dirks etc when visiting Christmas Island.

1863 – The American Civil War – was Christmas Island a Rebel supply base? – Amazing but true. Christmas Island (Indian Ocean) was investigated. Find out why.

1864 – Captain Gardner’s 1864 landing on Christmas Island – In his own words – Captain E. G. Gardner of the brig Guyon stops at Christmas Island and records his encounter with an Island that was almost unknown to the outside world at that time.

📰 1888 – The annexation of Christmas Island – Two accounts, each from 1888 and 1927, of the annexation of the island.

1894 – Historic Clunies-Ross carving revealed – A small treasure on a hillside is revealed.

1896 – Life on Christmas Island before mining – a visitor’s account – Arthur Louis Keyser writes about life on the Island before the commencement of phosphate mining. An interesting account of the natural environment and of the small Clunies-Ross settlement.

📰 1897 – A strange sea tale – the monster – An account of how, in 1868, an unknown monster latched on to the anchor of the Governor of Lombok’s vessel at Christmas Island and towed it around for the best part of a day.

1898 – Sikhs in their wonderful Sunday turbans – An article by Harchand Singh Bedi about the Sikh policemen and their long presence on Christmas Island starting from the earliest mining days.

1899 – Heaven and Earth on Christmas Island – What was the role of the Chinese society known as the Hungmen (洪門) or the Heaven and Earth Society (天地會) on the Island during the early mining days?

1900 – Clayton’s first report 1900 – Opening a door to the earliest days – Lewis Clayton’s Colonial Report No. 319, dated 1900, opens a door to the earliest days on Christmas Island. He covers all aspects of life at that time, but trouble was brewing on the horizon.

1900 -1902 – The kongsi – tiny photos hide unique historical detail – The business premises of Ong Sam Leong.

1900 – 1902 – A long winding track – Two wonderful unique photos from the earliest days of Christmas Island are revealed.

1900 – 1937 – History of the Tai Jins’ houses – There is quite a fascinating history with regards to the building of the District Officer’s houses on Christmas Island. Yes! There was more than one. This story includes early tender advertisements for the quarters, some ripper photos and more. Mention is made of an initial grand alternative to the road leading to Smith Point. Why was it a pipe dream? Who were the Tai Jins?

1901 – Alexander Macdonald’s adventures on Christmas Island – An interesting and colourful read from the most earliest days of Christmas Island.

1901 – 1910 – The old hospital and the scourge of beri beri – A timeline of the hospital buildings from the earliest days.

📰 1902 – Mandors and murder – the early years – Read about the early mandors and the murders of two of them.

1902 – A tragic accident – The sad fate of a young doctor only recently arrived on Christmas Island.

1903 – 1909 – A lucky horseshoe – Horses and stables on early Christmas Island.

1904 – Irvine Hill – What’s in a name? – Why was Irvine Hill noted as Irvine Hall on early maps and who was Irvine?

1904 – 1912 – Arthur’s Steps – A 1916 map of Flying Fish Cove reveals the name of some old steps. Who was Arthur?

📰 1906 – Christmas Island U.S.A. – A curious story – The claimed naming of Christmas Island by Americans in 1861.

1907 – Sara Maude Robertson – the real story – The story of a woman ahead of her time, uncovered through research into a headstone in the Old European Cemetery.

1907 – 1910 – Peter Grimes – his tangled webs – One of the most “colourful” characters to ever grace the shores of Christmas Island. Grimes was a handsome, charming and intelligent man; also an unscrupulous con artist!

📰 1908 – Poaching, bribery and death – the unsatisfactory case of PC Sochot Singh – The event and death of a Sikh policeman.

1908 – Dr James Cyril Dalmahoy Allan – Succourer of Many – Wonderful accounts of the everyday life of Dr Allan during his postings to Christmas Island; the first being in 1908.

1908 – 1942 – William Henry Rusholme – A concrete link to the past. Curiousity and a serendipitous observation leads to this story of a colonial engineer working on Christmas Island.

1910 – The coolies of Kasumasu speak – A rare surviving glimpse of the coolies’ own collective voice, in a 1910 tribute letter thanking Dr Allan for his care.

1913 – 1919 – A lost hospital, eye disease and an angry deity – A lost hospital found, eye diseases, an interesting method of eye massage, “dry ice” treatments, and an upset deity are just some of the interesting things to be read in this article. Also photos, maps and charts!

📰 1916 – Death at the White House – A report of a homicide at the Island brothel and the subsequent trial in Singapore.

1917 – William Joseph Ryan (1874-1917) – The man beneath the grave – Gillian Sandle tells the story of her grandfather, William Ryan, after her decades long search to find out more about him. Her search finally culminated in a visit to his grave on Christmas Island.

1917 – Sng Choon Yee – the young translator – Sng Choon Yee was 20 years old when he was sent to Christmas Island as a translator to replace William Ryan who had died suddenly. He gives a most interesting account of daily life on the island from those early days.

📰 1922 – British eclipse expedition – To test part of Einstein’s theory of relativity.

📰 1922 – Off to Christmas Island – What does a lady pack and expect when visiting the Island?

1924 – Norman Howard – turning in his grave – The story of Norman Howard’s tragic fate and how his gravesite identity was lost and replaced by the “Unknown Sailor”. Was there a deception or just a strange sequence of events?

📰 1925 – Caught red handed – An open and shut case? – Two men attempt to rob the offices of the Christmas Island Phosphate Company. They and a third accomplice are caught. The ensuing court case has a surprise ending.

1926 – The Pooh Bah of Christmas Island – Victor Purcell’s island interlude – his observations of the people and lifestyle on the island taken from his memoir.

📰 1927 – Christmas Island – lost treasure and pirate ghosts – A memory of Christmas Island as told by Robert M. MacDonald.

1927 – Charles Thomas Prideaux – A long way from scandal – European Pilot for the Christmas Island Phosphate Company, Charles Prideaux arrived on the island in 1924, escaping a scandalous charge in England for which he was acquitted.

📰 1934 – Newspaper saves Island chickens – A perilous time for the Island’s chickens during the swell season.

📰 1935 – “Lonely Spot” – Stinky crabs, stinging bushes and a treasure map.

📰 1936 – Christmas Island in the Early Days: An account by W. Rus. Darling – A colourful firsthand account of life on the Island from 1906 to 1909, but was its author really the Island’s “Governor” as he claimed?

📰 1940 – “Malaysian Island as Gulliver’s Lilliput” – Was Lilliput’s location in Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift based on Christmas Island?

1939 – 1946 – Christmas Island and World War 2 – An extensive collection of Christmas Island World War 2 stories — believed to be the most complete available online.

1946 – 1956 – A glimpse back to the Island’s secret societies – Including with a claim of a South Point triad in 1934/35.

📰 1947 – A friend in need – Young nurse sails to Christmas Island.

1950 – Benjamin Hobson – Lost in the Old European cemetery – Confirming the burial location of Benjamin Hobson; the man with no headstone or gravesite.

1952 – 1955 – Home Davies papers discovered in house clearing – Some interesting papers from this 1955 Acting District Officer.

1956 – The parachuting doctor – a heroic tale – A very brave RAF doctor parachutes in bad weather onto Christmas Island to save the life of a woman.

1957 – Edna Thomas – A fortuitous teaching post – A career choice that changed the course of Edna’s life.

📰 1958 – “Thugs flee to Christmas Isle” – 300 secret society gangsters escaping the police dragnet in Singapore lying low on the Island.

📰 1958 – “Gangbuster ‘King’ of Christmas Island” – The appointment of Donald Evan Nickels, Australia’s first representative to the Island.

1961 – About our Island, by Gwen Pettigrew. – Looking back. Life on Christmas Island 1946-1947 just after the Japanese occupation from the perspective of a European woman.