After the publication of An Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands, William Mariner never went to sea again. He rose from a counting-house job to become a London stockbroker. He did well financially and joined the settled English gentry.
In 1818 he married Margaret Roberts, a daughter of a banker, and had eleven children — six daughters and five sons. As far as is known, all his sons entered the maritime service and all were lost at sea; so that there were no sons surviving to carry on the name. When he retired from business, he moved to Gravesend, a small town on the banks of the Thames River below London. One day in October 1853, at the age of 68, he fell from a small boat while crossing the Thames and was drowned. His grave and that of his wife, who died in 1871, are in the cemetery at Gravesend, and are recorded in the records of the graveyard curator but the headstone is missing. According to these records, his full name was William Charles Mariner.
The Port au Prince sent two prize-ships to Australia, the Santa Anna and the Santa Isidore; only the Santa Anna made it. It is not known if any of the proceeds of the sale of the Santa Anna and her cargo in Sydney ever reached Mr. Mariner. This was the only prize money available to the surviving members of the crew of the ill-fated Port au Prince.
Some crewmen from the Port au Prince chose to settle permanently in the Tonga Islands. They were the elderly James Waters who wished to end his days in Tonga, Nicholas Blake, William Brown, and Thomas Eversfield; all of whom declined to be rescued. A Negro boy by the name of John Roberts who had been picked up in South America, George Wood, William Singleton, a boy named Alexander Macay, and the half-Hawaiian child of William Stevenson also remained in the Tonga Islands. In 1822 the Reverend Walter Lawry, on a second missionary attempt to bring Christianity to the islands, found William Singleton living happily in his island home at Tongatapu and heard from him that there were other Englishmen from the Port au Prince living at Vava’u.
The young king that Mariner left behind in Tonga became Finau ‘Ulukalala III, though he did not himself use that title. His reign was a peaceful one, and he was loved by his people. Unfortunately, he died of some disease in 1811 when only twenty-five years of age. His uncle, Finau Fisi, was killed in battle not long after in 1811 by Mariner’s other dear friend, Hala’api’api.
Tupouto’a, whom Finau II had banished to Ha’apai, continued to be an important leader in Tonga. By 1812 he became the virtual king of all of Tonga and reigned for eight years until his death in 1822. He was buried at ‘Uiha, close to the grave of his rival, Tupouniua. His son, Taufa’ahau, became the founder of modern Tonga. His life and reign spanned the transition into a more nearly European mode of civilization. He became a Christian and called himself King George Tupou I and ruled the islands until his death at the age of 96 in 1893. He was the great-great-great grandfather of the present King of Tonga. (1995)
Captain P. Dillon stopped at the Tonga Islands on his way to search for the fate of La Perouse and there met Mafi Hape, Mariner’s Tongan mother. The narrative of his voyage has this entry for August 22 and 23, 1827.
“As usual we were surrounded with canoes, some laden with produce, others with ladies whom curiosity had enticed to view the ship. Among their number was Maffee Heppay. This lady was the wife of King Fenow. She adopted Mr. Mariner as her son and behaved with the greatest kindness. This trait in her character induced me to invite her on board and treat her with marked respect. As we were going to breakfast, she accompanied me to the gun-room, followed by a numerous train of female attendants. After breakfast, I showed her the first volume of Mr. Mariner’s narrative which contained a portrait of her adopted son habited in the costume of the Friendly Islands. She immediately recognized the likeness and exclaiming, ‘It is Tokay,’ she wept bitterly. She appears to be now about thirty-seven years old, but is much afflicted by some disease of one of her hands.
“August 23rd. This morning I was visited by Maffee Heppay, who begged of me to write a letter to Mr. Mariner informing him that I had seen her, and that she was unwell; that she entertained the highest regard for him, and hoped to see him before she died; adding, ‘I hope that he will visit his old friends at Tonga before long.’”
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