Mauatua Miamiti Isabella Christian - Young

Mauatua is referred to as Miamiti, Mainmast and Isabella in various references to the early days of Pitcairn Island.

Rosalind Young, in her book, writes:

In the year 1841 Christian's widow died. Her name, given by the Englishmen, was Isabella, but as Christian himself had dubbed her "Mainmast," this latter name was the one by which she was exclusively called, only it was abbreviated to "Mai'mas'.

In "The Visit of the Tuscan" it mentions:

The eldest, Isabella, is the widow of the notorious Fletcher Christian, and the mother of the first-born on the island. Her hair is very white, and she bears, generally, an appearance of extreme age, but her mental and bodily powers are yet active. She appeared to have some knowledge of Capt. Cook, and relates, with the tenacious retrospect of age, many minute particulars connected with the visits of that great navigator to Tahiti.

'Miamiti' was assigned during the journey from Tahiti to Pitcairn Island where she got quite sea sick. The name means 'sea sick' in Tahitian.

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MAUATUA (Maimiti, “Mainmast,” Isabella) Christian’s consort. We do not know when Mauatua was born, but she claimed to remember Cook’s first arrival in Tahiti (1769), so she must have been at least twenty-three or twenty-four when the Bounty arrived in 1788. There is no evidence that Christian had a serious attachment to her before the mutiny (in fact, it is unlikely), but she did follow him both to Tubuai and later to Pitcairn.

When the loyalists and half of the mutineers had gone ashore on Tahiti on September 22, 1789, Christian left the island the same night. The reason was that Mauatua had found out about a plot among the Tahitians to overpower the nine mutineers and take over the ship (the plot may even have been incited by one or more loyalists, although Morrison does not mention anything about it). If she had not learned about the scheme, or had not told Christian, the Bounty story could have had a very different ending and Pitcairn might not be inhabited today.

Mauatua bore Christian two sons, Thursday October and Charles, before he was murdered on Massacre Day, September 20, 1793, and one daughter, Mary Anne, born after his death.

When Christian died, Mauatua became Edward Young’s consort (actually she shared him with Toofaiti) and bore him three children: Edward, Polly, and Dorothea.

Mauatua survived the disastrous attempt to migrate to Tahiti in 1831, but saw her first-born child, Thursday October, succumb to the diseases then rampant there to which the Pitcairners had no immunity. She herself died on Pitcairn ten years later – September 19, 1841 – of an epidemic brought by a visiting ship. Of the original settlers on the island, she was survived only by Teraura. In her later years, she was known affectionately as “Maimas,” and abbreviation of Mainmast.

Mauatua is referred to as Miamiti, Mainmast and Isabella in various references to the early days of Pitcairn Island.

Rosalind Young, in her book, writes:

In the year 1841 Christian's widow died. Her name, given by the Englishmen, was Isabella, but as Christian himself had dubbed her "Mainmast," this latter name was the one by which she was exclusively called, only it was abbreviated to "Mai'mas'.

In "The Visit of the Tuscan" it mentions:

The eldest, Isabella, is the widow of the notorious Fletcher Christian, and the mother of the first-born on the island. Her hair is very white, and she bears, generally, an appearance of extreme age, but her mental and bodily powers are yet active. She appeared to have some knowledge of Capt. Cook, and relates, with the tenacious retrospect of age, many minute particulars connected with the visits of that great navigator to Tahiti.

'Miamiti' was assigned during the journey from Tahiti to Pitcairn Island where she got quite sea sick. The name means 'sea sick' in Tahitian.

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http://www.thepeerage.com/p11908.htm#i119079;

Mauatua (?) was born before 1764 at Tahiti. She married, firstly, Fletcher Christian, son of Charles Christian and Ann Dixon, on 16 June 1789 at Tahiti. She died on 14 September 1841 at Pitcairn Island. Mauatua (?) also went by the nick-name of Mainmast (?). She was also known as Maimiti (?). She was also known as Isabella (?). From 16 June 1789, her married name became Christian.

She and Edward Young were associated at Pitcairn Island.1

Children of Mauatua (?) and Fletcher Christian Thursday October Christian+5 b. 7 Oct 1790, d. 21 Apr 1831 Charles Christian+5 b. c 1792, d. 14 Jan 1842 Mary Ann Christian6 b. 21 Sep 1793, d. 2 Jan 1866 Children of Mauatua (?) and Edward Young Edward Young+6 b. c 1796, d. 6 Nov 1831 Dorothy Young+6 b. 1797, d. 24 Apr 1863 James Young2 b. 1799, d. 1806