Special Collections Fossickings 53 - Beacons of Light 1

Wharton Reef lighthouse.
Photo courtesy of Liz Downes.

When you drive or walk along Palmer Street, have you ever wondered about the bright red tower that stands on the roundabout at the Plume Street intersection? Even if you were curious enough to stop for closer examination you might easily overlook the tiny plaque which throws light on its origins. But “throwing light” is the key to this structure for it was a once a lighthouse, or at least a light tower, that guided shipping past a dangerous reef in the far north.

The Wharton Reef lighthouse was established in 1915 at Princess Charlotte Bay. It was one of the first of Queensland’s automatic lighthouses and is now the only survivor of that type of structure built in the first two decades of the 20^th century. It remained in operation for the next 75 years but it is not known why, in 1996, it eventually came under the custodianship of the Maritime Museum in Townsville, rather than Cairns. But it is not the only lighthouse in the Museum’s care.

The Bay Rock lighthouse (or at least its top half), which once stood on its eponymous rocky islet guiding shipping through the passage between Magnetic Island and the mainland, now stands proudly within the Museum’s precinct just a little further along Palmer Street.

Established in 1886, Bay Rock was the last and the smallest of the three local lighthouses. Like most lighthouses of this era its timber frame was clad in galvanized iron sheeting. In 1902 it became the centre of an unexplained mystery when its keeper, surname Gordon, vanished without trace. His widow and children remained on the island for some months, continuing to operate the light until a replacement keeper was found.

Bay Rock lighthouse.
Photo courtesy of Liz Downes.

Another tragedy struck nearly twenty years later. In March 1920 keeper John Lawson was returning to the island after a medical appointment in Townsville. He was with five companions when a wild storm sprang up and a freak wave capsized their small boat. Three of the men managed to swim to Bay Rock to raise the alarm and bring the lighthouse boat to rescue their mates but they found no trace of the missing men. The full story of this harrowing event, and the Lawson family’s desperate attempts to signal for help, is told in Trisha Fielding’s Queen City of the North. Lawson’s wife and children were brought back to the mainland and the lighthouse was de-manned, becoming fully automated in 1930. In 1992 the top section of the original lighthouse was relocated to the banks of Ross Creek and restored by the Maritime Museum.

Our next post will explore the history of two more of our local lighthouses at Cape Cleveland and Cape Bowling Green – and some dastardly deeds by the National Maritime Museum!

Story by Miniata.

References

Fielding, Trisha. Queen City of the North: A History of Townsville. Townsville: Trisha Anne Fielding, 2016.