Settled by mutineers from HMS Bounty who married South Pacific islanders, some residents of Pitcairn Island are now pressing for independence from Britain.
The descendants of a group of daring 18th Century mutineers made legal history last week, telling a New Zealand court that their ancestors' rebellion amounted to a declaration of independence. The claim was made by lawyers representing seven men from the http://www.abc.net.au/ra/pacbeat/stories/s995752.htm
Pitcairn, the South Pacific home of the descendants of the Bounty mutineers, has never been British territory and is instead the world's smallest and most isolated independent nation, a court was told. Reported in the Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/11/19/wpit19.xml