The history of Norfolk Island dates back to the fourteenth or fifteenth century when it was settled by Polynesian seafarers.
Early history
Norfolk Island was first settled by East Polynesian seafarers either from the Kermadec Islands north of New Zealand or from the North Island of New Zealand. They arrived in the fourteenth or fifteenth century, and survived for several generations before disappearing. Their main village site has been excavated at Emily Bay, and they also left behind stone tools, the Polynesian rat, and banana trees as evidence of their sojourn. The harakeke , or New Zealand flax plant, was brought to Norfolk Island either from New Zealand directly or from Raoul Island by these Polynesian settlers. The so-called flax is, in fact, no relation of the European flax but is related to the daylily and other genera within the sub-family Hemerocallidaceae. The final fate of the early settlers remains a mystery.

The first European known to have sighted the island was Captain James Cook, in 1774, on his second voyage to the South Pacific on HMS Resolution. He named it after the Duchess of Norfolk . The Duchess was dead at the time of the island's sighting by Cook, but Cook had set out from England in 1772 and could not have known of her May 1773 death.

Cook went ashore on Tuesday 11 October 1774, and is said to have been impressed with the tall straight trees and New Zealand flax plants, which, although not related to the Northern Hemisphere flax plants after which they are named, produce fibres of economic importance. He took samples back to Britain and reported on their potential uses for the Royal Navy.

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