Polynesians are believed to have lived on Penrhyn since 900 or 1000 AD.
According to oral tradition, the island was fished up by Vatea, using part of his thigh as bait, and has been inhabited since the time of creation.
Other lends tell of the island being visisted by various ancestors of Tangiia-nui of Rarotonga on their way from Samoa to Tahiti.
Other ancestors came from Aitutaki and Rakahanga.
The Polynesians named the atoll Tongareva ("Tonga floating in space", "Tonga-in-the-skies" and "Away from the South").

The island was first discovered by Europeans in 1788, when the Lady Penrhyn commanded by Captain William Crofton Sever, passed by the island on 8 August while returning from delivering the first convicts to Australia.
It was later visited by the Russian explorer Otto von Kotzebue in April 1816, and then by the American brig USS Purpose, under command of Lieutenant Commander Cadwalader Ringgold as part of the United States Exploring Expedition in February 1841.
The brig Chatham ran aground at Penrhyn during a storm in January 1853, resulting in some of the crew being stranded on the island for almost a year.
One of them, the trader Edward Henry Lamont, documented his stay in Wild Life among the Pacific Islanders.
The London Missionary Society, which had begun missionary activities in the Cook Islands from 1821, sent a grop of three Polynesian missionaries to Penrhyn in 1854.

Robert Louis Stevenson visited Penrhyn in May 1890.
Polynesians are believed to have lived on Penrhyn since 900 or 1000 AD. According to oral tradition, the island was fished up by Vatea, using part of his thigh as bait, and has been inhabited since the time of creation. Other lends tell of the island being visisted by various ancestors of Tangiia-nui of Rarotonga on their way from Samoa to Tahiti. Other ancestors came from Aitutaki and Rakahanga. The Polynesians named the atoll Tongareva ("Tonga floating in space", "Tonga-in-the-skies" and "Away from the South").
The island was first discovered by Europeans in 1788, when the Lady Penrhyn commanded by Captain William Crofton Sever, passed by the island on 8 August while returning from delivering the first convicts to Australia. It was later visited by the Russian explorer Otto von Kotzebue in April 1816, and then by the American brig USS Purpose, under command of Lieutenant Commander Cadwalader Ringgold as part of the United States Exploring Expedition in February 1841. The brig Chatham ran aground at Penrhyn during a storm in January 1853, resulting in some of the crew being stranded on the island for almost a year. One of them, the trader Edward Henry Lamont, documented his stay in Wild Life among the Pacific Islanders. The London Missionary Society, which had begun missionary activities in the Cook Islands from 1821, sent a grop of three Polynesian missionaries to Penrhyn in 1854.
Robert Louis Stevenson visited Penrhyn in May 1890.
Penrhyn atoll