pearllugger

Shell found in or about coral reef bottom is hard and of good quality, although subject to these borers. Shell along the east coast of York Peninsula is very like the Papuan coast shell but is much larger and heavier when fully grown. The deep-water shell of Darnley Island waters is really a reef shell. The best quality is found on what is known as the old ground, which covers the area over the western approach to Torres Strait. The sea-bed, affected by the waste from the coast and by discharge from rivers, appears to affect the quality of the mother-of-pearl shell. The beautiful colouring of the pearl shell is divided into two general classes: white or silver-lipped and gold or orange-lipped. The white-lipped shell is the natural shell without the gold-lip colouring. The latter colouring extends over the entire back of the shell, penetrating a more or less shallow distance into the nacre, and then right to the thin outer edge, hence "lip." Gold-lip shell is some pounds sterling per ton of less value commercially than silver-lipped. Source: anglicanhistory.org/aus/white1918/05.html

Pearling Luggers of the Torres Strait By Christina Ealing-Godbold, Research Librarian, Information Services | 19 November 2014 The luggers were gaff-rigged ketches constructed of wood, and many have continued to sail for more than 60 years. Typically measuring 15 to 20 meters in length, with low waists and bulwarks to assist diving, the two-masted pearling luggers were graceful with curved lines. They were a magnificent sight as they entered the open sea under full sail. There were many hundreds of luggers working across the north of Australia, from Thursday Island to Broome. Many of the luggers were built by Japanese shipwrights on Thursday Island. Indeed, by the turn of the century, the Japanese had a monopoly on the shipbuilding and slipways of the island. The Queensland Museum has examined the woods used in the luggers and has found that typically a mixture of native timbers was used, including melaleuca, turpentine, hoop pine, and sometimes imported timbers such as Oregon pine. The Queensland Maritime Museum at South Bank has restored a pearling lugger that was built on Thursday Island in 1907. Called Penguin, it was a working boat for more than 80 years. Source: www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/pearling-luggers-torres-strait

Queensland Places - Torres Strait - History of Pearling By JOL Admin | 25 June 2015 The first commercial pearling station in the Torres Strait area was established at Warrior Island in 1868, by Captain Banner, who was said to have identified large quantities of pearl shell whilst looking for beach-de-mer. As pearl shell was a more valuable commodity than beche-de-mer, news of the lucrative alternative soon spread. By 1876, more than a hundred boats were working in the industry, and more than a thousand men were employed. The pearl industry has often faced difficulties outside of its control, such as unpredictable price or demand fluctuations or shortages of suitable, skilled labor. For instance, in the ten-year period between 1881 and 1891 prices fell significantly, forcing many skilled operators to leave the industry. Japanese divers and other workers took their place and were to become a mainstay of the industry right through until the beginning of the Second World War. A further dislocation to the industry occurred in 1885 when a large part of the Torres Strait fleet moved to Western Australia to work the rich sources of pearl shell in the vicinity of Broome. A major calamity also struck the industry in 1899 when many luggers and workers were lost when two devastating cyclones hit Princess Charlotte Bay. The industry did recover to some extent in the late 1920s when there was a general boom in demand for a wide range of marine products, including pearls and pearl shells, but this was to be short-lived, with the industry declining again in the post Depression period of the 1930s. The beginning of the Second World War and the war with Japan had a devastating effect on the viability of the industry with this being exacerbated by the post-Second World War development and use of plastics, further dampening the demand for pearl shells. In the 1960s the industry revived due to the successful development of cultured pearls by the Japanese and the establishment of a number of cultured pearl farms at various locations throughout the Torres Strait. Source: www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/queensland-places-torres-strait-h...

The Thursday Island group comprising Thursday Island (TI), Horn Island, Prince of Wales, and Hammond Islands is uniquely diverse and multicultural compared to the other Island Clusters because of the colonial and historic influences of the pearling industry and the different cultures and people who have settled on these islands. The Thursday Islands Cluster has distinct cultural characteristics which define them as a region and people. The islands were an important strategic airbase in World War 2 with Horn Island being home to over 5000 troops. Today, with a population of 539, it is the air hub for the outer islands and the Cape. Prince of Wales Island is the largest of the group while TI (only 3km²) is the administrative capital, 30 km off the tip of mainland Australia. Although it lacks its own fresh water supply, the island was selected for its deep harbor, sheltered port, and proximity to major shipping channels. One of 17 inhabited islands in the straits, TI was once a major pearling center, resulting in today's cultural mix of Southeast Asians, Europeans, and Islanders. Hammond Island became the pearling station headquarters for a short time until its relocation to Thursday Island and early in the 20th-century gold was also mined. A cattle industry was set up later to supply the population of Thursday Island. In 1929 the need was seen to establish a Catholic Mission on Hammond Island for the children of the Filipinos and Malays whose forefathers were brought to the Torres Straits as indentured labor. Source: www.nla.gov.au/research-guides/torres-strait-islands-coll...