Wesleyan missionaries from Tonga had arrived on…
May 1881 CE
Wesleyan missionaries from Tonga had arrived on Fiji’s Rotuma Island in 1842, followed by Catholic Marists in 1847.
Conflicts between the two groups, fueled by previous political rivalries among the chiefs of Rotuma's seven districts, had resulted in hostilities that led the local chiefs in 1879 to ask Britain to annex the island group.
On May 13, 1881, Rotuma is officially ceded to the United Kingdom, seven years after Fiji had become a colony.
The event is annually celebrated as Rotuma Day.