Teraura

Teraura, also Susan or Susannah Young ( – July 1850), was a Tahitian woman who settled on Pitcairn Island with the Bounty Mutineers. She took part in Ned Young's plot to murder male Polynesians who had travelled on HMS Bounty and killed Tetahiti. A tapa maker, examples of her craft are found in the British Museum and at Kew Gardens.

== Biography == Whilst little is known about Teraura's early life, it is likely that she was born on Moorea, an island in French Polynesia. Tradition on Pitcairn states that she was from a chiefly family. It is possible that she was born c. 1775, since she was reportedly 15 years old when she left Tahiti with Fletcher Christian and his crew in 1789. It is unknown whether she was kidnapped or went with them of her own volition. The journey lasted several weeks, and according to Teraura they passed the island of Tanna. During the journey, she and Ned Young became sexual partners, a relationship that continued once the group landed on Pitcairn Island on 15 January 1790. Teraura also had an affair with Matthew Quintal, another mutineer, and had a son, Edward Quintal, who became the island's first magistrate.