pearllugger

The administrative centre for the Torres Strait Islands which have been part of Queensland since 1872, “T.I.” as it is usually known, is just over three square km in area and 39km off the tip of Cape York. The strait’s population of 25,000 live on more than 20 islands (around one-tenth of these live on Thursday Island), and is engaged mostly in fishing, prawning and a declining pearling industry. Thursday Island is now identified as one of the last great frontiers in Australia, as it holds some great Australian history. In 1880, Thursday Island acted as the defence centre for Australia and evidence of this still exists in that the cannons still remains in place. Although Thursday Island has lost its former importance as a stopping point for vessels, it’s still a popular pause for passing yachties. History: The island has been populated for thousands of years by the Melanesian Torres Strait Islanders, who named the island Waiben, thought to mean ‘no water or place of no water’, owing to the scarcity of fresh water on the island. It was named Thursday Island on 4th June 1789 by Captain William Bligh on his epic voyage of survival after being cast adrift in a longboat during the mutiny on HMS Bounty. He named it because the day he arrived and went ashore there was a Thursday. In 1877, an administrative centre for the Torres Strait Islands was set up on the island by the Queensland Government. A lucrative pearling industry was founded on the island in 1885, attracting workers from around Asia, including Japan, Malaya and India, seeking their fortune. By 1883 over 200 pearling vessels were based on the island. Additionally, many south Pacific Islanders were also imported to work in the industry, many against their will. While the pearling industry has declined in importance, the mix of cultures is evident to this day. The pearling industry centred on the harvesting of pearl shell, which was used to make shirt buttons. Pearls themselves were rare and a bonus for the owner or crew. The boats used were a very graceful two-masted lugger with, in good times, a stern diver, one midship, and one diver off the bow. The fear of a Russian invasion lead to a fort on Battery Point being built in 1892 to protect the island. During World War II, Thursday Island became the military headquarters for the Torres Strait and was a base for Australian and United States forces. As a result, the island was bombed by the Japanese in 1942, which saw the evacuation of civilians from the island. They did not return until after the end of the war. The island was mostly spared from bombing in World War II, due, it was thought, to it being the burial place of many Japanese pearl shell divers. However, neighbouring Horn Island was extensively bombed. It had an airbase there, used by the Allies to attack parts of New Guinea. Following the conclusion of the war, the island tradition of a no footwear policy was reinstated in respect for the ancient spirits believed to reside on the island. In the 1950s the CSIRO attempted to establish a cultured pearl industry and in the 1970s there was an attempt to farm green turtles. The Melanesian background of the Thursday Islanders became an issue in the 1970s when Papua New Guinea sought to include the Torres Strait Islands within its borders. The Torres Strait Islanders insisted that they were Australians, however, and after considerable diplomatic discussion all of the Torres Strait, including Thursday Island, remained part of Australia. Source: www.australiaforeveryone.com.au/north-queensland-21/

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

Was Yasi the most severe cyclone ever to cross the Queensland coast? Maybe not. Striking the Cape York coast on 4 March 1899, Cyclone Mahina is still regarded as Australia’s worst natural disaster since European settlement, with the loss of over 400 lives and dozens of ships. Clement Wragge, the subject of a previous Fossickings post, identified and named this terrifying storm but tragically his warnings were transmitted after the event. With a central pressure of 27 inches (914Mb) compared with Yasi’s 930Mb, Mahina was even more intense than her modern cousin. Moreover, the cyclone generated a combined storm surge and “wave run-up” of at least 13 metres, spreading 5km inland and causing many Aboriginal deaths. A police constable at Barrow Point, 30 km to the south, found himself and his Aboriginal troopers in waist-deep water despite being camped on a ridge 12 metres above sea level. Mahina destroyed several pearling fleets, operating out of Thursday Island, which had taken last minute shelter in Bathurst Bay, only to find this was in Mahina’s direct path. Of more than 320 souls lost from the pearling fleets, the vast majority were from the Pacific or Torres Strait Islands, Japan or South-East Asia. Most of the Aboriginal deaths occurred on land, or indeed as they desperately tried to rescue the stricken pearlers. Only 12 European deaths were recorded. One of the real treasures in Special Collections must surely be the contemporary account, “The Pearling Disaster 1899: A Memorial”, published by the Outridge family who lost two members aboard the schooner “Sagitta”. The National Library of Australia is currently providing access to a digital copy of this book. Hector Holthouse devotes a chapter of his 1971 book “Cyclone” to Mahina, while Ian Townsend’s gripping 2008 novel, “The Devil’s Eye” is based on events surrounding the storm and lists the names of nearly all the non-European victims. All titles are held in the North Queensland collection. Source: jculibrarynews.blogspot.com/2012/12/special-collections-f...

In the book "The Pearl King" by Robert Lehane 2014. is the same photograph with description: " Donning diving dress Arthur Outridge- father of Harold and brother Alfred, both lost with the schooner Sagitta in the cyclone also brother of Percy with Captain W.F. Porter (holding a helmet) of Crest as the Wave from Pearling disaster, 1899 memorial.