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Teraura

Consort of Ned Young

She was known by several names:

Teraura was probably born on Moorea, the island adjacent to Tahiti. It appears that she may have been the daughter of a chief of some prominence. It is unknown whether she was one of the Polynesian women kidnapped by Christian and his crew when they left Tahiti in 1790, but several things are clear; at 15, she was the youngest of the women (Sully, of course, was an infant) and she was fiercely loyal to Midshipman Ned Young, who became her first "partner". She was not tall like Miamiti/ Mainmast, but was petite and her looks were constantly competed for by men on the Pitcairn.

Teraura always was in the center of the firestorms that encompassed Pitcairn. After five of the mutineers were killed by the Polynesians, it was Teraura who the Polynesian Timoa tried to win by playing the flute, causing a jealous Menealee to shoot Timoa. Later, when the surviving whites conspired to kill the remaining Polynesians, it was Teraura who beheaded Tetahiti while he slept with Will Brown's widow.

Although Teraura stayed with Ned Young until his death in 1800, she had no children by him. Ned was a polygamist of the highest order, the father of seven children with the widows of Fletcher Christian and John Williams. Teruara did have a child with the infamous Matt Quintal, however, leading to speculation that Quintal was killed by Adams and Young because of Young's jealousy of Quintal.

After the turn of the century when John Adams remained the only original adult male on the island, Teraura married Fletcher Christian's first born, Thursday October Christian. Thursday was merely 15 and Teraura was past 30. They had seven children, beginning the incredible legacy of the Christians on Pitcairn. Sadly, during the ill fated migration to Tahiti in 1831, Thursday died, leaving Teraura a widow once more.

Teraura lived to the age of 75, dying in 1850. She outlived the last other survivor, Miamiti, by nine years. In her later years, Teraura would cut locks of her hair, a hue of grey and black, to give to visiting sailors. Her demeanor was always affiable and she flashed that same hypnotic smile. She witnessed the first Burning of the Bounty Day in 1850.

It is indeed a tragedy that she was never interviewed, for a story of her life would be quite the historical tale.

(Provided by Rick Sims)