lighthousekeepers

Comboyuro Lighthouse: To the west was the Comboyuro Lighthouse, established in 1877 and manned by a lightkeeper on £96 pa and increased to £108 pa. On 1st October 1902, the Inskip Point Pilot Samuel James Reilly was transferred from Inskip Point to Comboyuro Point as lightkeeper and remained in this job until 1915 on an annual salary of £96. In 1915 the Commonwealth Government took over responsibility for all lighthouses. Reilly died in October 1919 at the age of 80 - making him the oldest and longest-serving lightkeeper in Australia. From August 1920 and during the war the Comboyuro Point Lighthouse was operated by Charlie Waye, accompanied by his wife Doris, son Norm, and two daughters Joy and Dot. The lighthouse began as a "Comboyuro Point Light" - lightroom erected in 1863 with large kerosene burners. In 1867 a new lighthouse was built to replace the old lightroom. With the increased shipping into Brisbane, a higher tower with a new and powerful condensing apparatus was built in 1874 but this had to be shifted 200 ft inland in 1890 because of encroachment of the sea. Erosion continued and it was further shifted 366 ft inland in 1905 (see photo above). The cottage remained in position for 12 months then it too had to be shifted. This is how it appeared for the next 50 years - right through WW2 when Charlie Waye was the lightkeeper. He left for Hook Point in 1945. In 1954 it was converted to "gas automatic, unattended" and the services of the lightkeeper were dispensed with. After considerable erosion, the lighthouse was discontinued in October 1960. Finally, the Comboyuro Lighthouse collapsed into the sea later that year. The Lightkeeper's cottage - which was about 500 yards inland from the lighthouse - was a 4 bedroom weatherboard house with galvanised iron roof, verandah, big dining room, and lounge. It was dismantled in the 1960s. An era had come to an end. All that now remains are two mango trees and a Brazilian cherry tree about 40 m to the west of where the house once stood. Source: indicatorloops.com/comboyuro.htm

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