11 Facts About Tom Christian

Tom Christian MBE was a citizen of Pitcairn Island, and was its long-serving radio operator.

Tom Christian served as the Governor's appointee on the Pitcairn council for forty years.

In 1983, Tom Christian was appointed a member of the Order of the British Empire.

When Tom Christian was 17, he left the island for New Zealand and stayed for three years, where he was trained to operate the radio station ZBP, first set up by the New Zealand military during World War II.

In 1989, according to People magazine, Tom Christian was the highest paid native islander, earning $10,000 a year.

The Telegraph reported that Tom Christian had spent other relatively brief periods off-island, that he had always been attracted to life off-island, and never expected to stay on the island so long.

Tom Christian, like most Pitcairn Islanders, was a follower of Seventh-day Adventism, and worked for six months at a Seventh-day Adventist radio station in California.

Tom Christian made several cruises as a radio operator on a freighter vessel.

In later years, Tom Christian visited the outside world where he delivered lectures on Pitcairn and its history.

Tom Christian was described as one of the two most sought after amateur radio operators in the world.

Tom Christian died aged 77 in 2013, from the after-effects of a stroke.