Rotuma was sighted in 1791 by Captain Edward Edwards in H.M.S. Pandora while searching for the mutineers of the Bounty. The vessel, according to the accounts of Captain Edwards and the ship's surgeon, Dr. George Hamilton, was received with considerable suspicion. The Rotumans approached the ship with great caution and were prepared for war, but through constant coaxing with offers of presents and signs of friendliness the crew managed to lure the reluctant natives on board, and negotiated successfully for supplies. Before the 18th century had ended the island was visited by a second European ship, the Duff, but the Rotumans were not eager to trade, and after a minor incident involving an attempted theft by one of the natives, all trading ceased.
Rotumans eventually came to welcome opportunities for trade, and during the first half of the 19th century contact with Europeans increased dramatically. Whalers found the lush island an excellent station for replenishing their stores, and it became a favorite stopping place. In addition to the whalers were labour recruiters, who found the Rotumans more than willing to leave their homeland; scores of young men were transported to plantations in all parts of the Pacific. Others eagerly signed on board visiting ships as crew members, and sailed to every part of the globe. In addition to these contacts, a large number of Europen deserters settled on the island and although most stayed for limited periods and were unwelcome intruders, others married Rotumans, raised families, and lived out their lives there.
Soon after the middle of the 19th century missionaries from the Wesleyan and Roman Catholic Churches established themselves. Unfortunately, the French priests and English ministers were somewhat less than tolerant towards one another's labours, and a religious factionalism, based on previous political rivalries, ensued. Each mission marked off its own territorial domain and jealously guarded its converts from the influences of the other side. An increasing number of disputes arose between adherents of the opposing faiths, often over the question of rights to build churches on communally held land. Antagonisms continued to mount until 1878, when they culminated in a war between the two sides, in which the Catholics were defeated by the numerically superior Wesleyans.
The unrest following this war led the paramount chiefs of Rotuma's seven districts to petition England for annexation, and in 1881 the island was officially ceded to Great Britain. The British decided that Rotuma should be administered as a part of the Colony of Fiji--the nearest crown colony--rather than as a separate unit. A Resident Commissioner was appointed to govern Rotuma along with an advisory body consisting of the seven paramount chiefs. Government under English law had the desired effect of reducing overt conflict, but tensions remained between Catholics and Methodists well into the 20th century.
Contact with Europeans transformed Rotuman society. By the end of the 19th century Rotumans had been Christian for nearly half-a-century, had engaged in commercial trading for a comparable period of time, and had submitted to English law for nearly twenty years. They wore European clothes, used European tools, and supplemented their native diet with tinned meats, tea, biscuits and innumerable other items of European food. They also paid taxes to the government, applied for marriages and divorces through government offices, sought medical aid from the Resident Commissioner, and sent their children to the mission schools.
Rotumans did not simply adopt Western culture uncritically, however. They worked hard to preserve their own customs, and resisted the colonial government's sometimes misguided attempts to introduce radical change. Throughout most of their colonial history Rotumans attempted to retain control of their own destiny in whatever ways they could. It would be more correct to characterize the colonial period as one of selective borrowing, in which the Rotumans adopted into their society a considerable number of foreign elements, successfully integrating them into a new, distinctively Rotuman, configuration..
Rotuma has continued to change, but it has changed more as a part of the modern world than as a distinct entity. Although the Rotuman community has retained its unique cultural identity to a considerable degree, socially, politically and economically it has become thoroughly integrated with the rest of Fiji. Today Rotuma is in the position of a hinterland community to Fiji's urban centres, and particularly the city of Suva, which is the center of government, commerce and communication for the Republic.