**12. Lord Howe Island – A comparison**

The fortunate traveller who has visited both Lord Howe Island in the Pacific Ocean and the island archipelago of St Kilda in the Outer Hebrides will be struck by the many common features of these two remote islands; yet today one is a thriving society and the other was evacuated as a non-sustainable society in 1930. 12

Lord Howe Island is situated in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, 600 kms from the Australian west coast. Lord Howe Island has no detectable trace of human habitation prior to 1788 in spite of the extensive exploratory maritime voyages of the Polynesian people. Its first known sighting was by the HMS Supply captain Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball and his crew on 17 February 1788 while sailing to Norfolk Island. They subsequently landed there on 13 March 1788 during the return journey to Sydney and named the island after Richard Howe, the First Lord of the Admiralty.

Fig. 16. Map of LHI

Fig. 17. Picture of LHI

The fortunate traveller who has visited both Lord Howe Island in the Pacific Ocean and the island archipelago of St Kilda in the Outer Hebrides will be struck by the many common features of these two remote islands; yet today one is a thriving society and the other was

Lord Howe Island is situated in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, 600 kms from the Australian west coast. Lord Howe Island has no detectable trace of human habitation prior to 1788 in spite of the extensive exploratory maritime voyages of the Polynesian people. Its first known sighting was by the HMS Supply captain Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball and his crew on 17 February 1788 while sailing to Norfolk Island. They subsequently landed there on 13 March 1788 during the return journey to Sydney and

named the island after Richard Howe, the First Lord of the Admiralty.

**12. Lord Howe Island – A comparison** 

evacuated as a non-sustainable society in 1930. 12

Fig. 16. Map of LHI

Fig. 17. Picture of LHI

Both islands are remote even today. Although the distance from Glasgow to St Kilda (main island, Hirte) is only some 340 km as the crow flies, it can take three or four days to get there using sea, land and air transport, including a landing on the 'airstrip' at Barra –the beach at low tide. The journey from Brisbane to Lord Howe Island, a distance of 740 km, in the past took several days by sea, but now a return flight is possible in one day. Both islands are small and have sheer cliffs and high rainfall. Both have UNESCO World Heritage status in which ornithological significance plays a large part, an abundant supply of fish in the surrounding sea and a nearby sea stack renowned for unique bird life. The difference in latitude and ambient temperature were significant factors in the success of one society and the failure of the other.

The earliest settlers on Lord Howe Island had widespread genetic origins, coming from England, Portugal, America, South Africa, Micronesia, New Zealand and Australia, probably with a much greater biodiversity of histo-compatibility antigens creating more resistance to infections than that of the Hebridean people of St Kilda. One of the early settlers, Nathan Chase Thompson, from Somerset, Massachusetts, in the USA, arrived in 1853 with two business partners, George Campbell and Jack Brian, and two women and a girl from the Gilbert Islands (now Kiribati). Thompson initially married Boranga, one of the women, but their only child died aged 11 years and Boranga died soon after. Thompson subsequently married the Gilbertese girl, Bokue, who was by then aged 24. They had five children, two boys and three girls, whose descendants are an important part of today's island population.

Supporting evidence comes from an epidemic of measles, a disease with a mortality of up to 25% in the developing world. In 1868, some inhabitants of the Pitcairn Islands visited Lord Howe Island in the schooner *Pacific* while suffering an outbreak of measles. They landed and recovered on the island, causing an inevitable outbreak of the disease among the islanders. No more details are available, but no deaths in 1868 are to be discovered in the island records or graveyards, implying that poor herd immunity allowed the outbreak of measles but the genetic and environmental background resulted in uneventful recovery.

In contrast to St Kilda, Lord Howe Island appears a paradise of good health and longevity. Regular visits by whalers in the early years of settlement would have helped to reduce isolation and perhaps improve the herd immunity. William Clarson, a visiting teacher, wrote in 1882 that 'sickness is almost unknown'.

A visit to the four island graveyards shows that most inhabitants born more than 100 years ago survived into their 80s, and today Lord Howe Island has 347 permanent residents, with a thriving tourism business.

Medical factors played a major role in the success of Lord Howe Island and the failure of St Kilda. Appendicitis became a manageable problem on Lord Howe Island, with recorded surgery on kitchen tables, but was a final straw leading to the evacuation of St Kilda, when two weeks passed before Mary Gillies with acute appendicitis could be notified and transported to a Glasgow hospital where she died within twenty-four hours. The climate and virgin soil allowed the Pacific islanders a much more beneficial varied diet with food rich in vitamin C. This fact plus the biodiversity of the early settlers and their improved obstetric care protected the young children of Lord Howe Island from infections and guaranteed the survival of the Pacific island society.
