The English adventurer who settled on a tiny Pacific island 145 years ago ... and left everyone with Gloucestershire accent

There may only be a total of 63 residents on Palmerston, one of the Cook islands, but they all share the West Country burr of their ancestor Thomas Marsters.

Mr Marsters, a carpenter to trade, headed to California for the Gold Rush in the 1840s before his wandering spirit took him across the Pacific and eventually arriving on Palmerston.

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The Englishman landed on July 8, 1863, with three Polynesian wives in tow. Clearly, there wasn't much to do on the tiny atol so he later took a fourth wife.

Between them they produced a total of 17 children and 54 grandchildren before Mr Marsters passed away on May 22, 1899, at the age of 78.

His youngest daughter Titana died in 1973, but those 63 descendants remain on Palmerston and they all speak in what sounds almost identical to a Gloucestershire accent.

Now a writer and historian has launched a quest to find out more about Marsters. John Roberts, who has been researching the history of the Cook Islands, wishes to contact anyone who is related to the mysterious pioneer.

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From the little information there is about Marsters, it is thought his family roots were in Gloucestershire.

The name Marsters is believed to be a corruption of "Masters" in the West Country dialect.

Mr Roberts has discovered that today Marsters' descendants can be found all over the globe.

He said: "I get at least one e-mail a week from somewhere in the world saying 'I'm related to that family'.

"I got a message last week from someone in New Zealand who said they're proud to be part of the family and who had named their grandson in William's honour."

Tales of Marsters say that he turned his hand to exporting coconuts and he once bargained his way off the island by trading nuggets of gold he had found in California.

The house he built from shipwreck timbers on Palmerston was the only building left intact after a hurricane in 1926 and still stands today.

Mr Roberts, from Cheshire, said he is hoping publicity in Gloucestershire will help him find out more about the early days of the Palmerston community.

"There seems to be nothing written down about Marsters after he ran away to sea when he was 18," he said.

"It was at an awkward time before records had to be kept by law. There is absolutely nothing on the internet about him."

Mr Roberts' website, www.cookislands.org.uk is visited by more than twice the number of people each year than actually visit the island themselves.

"I'm fascinated by the Cook Islands and visit them frequently. I try to get to Palmerston when I go but the trouble is it's so inaccessible," he said.

"It wasn't mapped properly until 1969. Before that all we knew about it was from Cook's original observations."

Mr Roberts would like people to get in touch with him if they are descended from Mr Marsters by e-mailing him at author@cookislands.org.uk.