Sunday 6 May 2018

Bringing light for safe passage through the Great Barrier Reef in 1883.

22 April 1882 tenders  for two lighthouses, keeper's cottage, and boatshed at  Cooktown were received from J: Salisbury, ten months, £3,750, John Mott, twelve months, £4,350 ; T. Green, ten months, £3,538 13s 8d. ; Vowls and Quinn,six months, £3,497 ; Laws and Langlands, eight months, £2,979 10s. . (galvanised iron, £60 extra). (1)
The Queensland Government Gazette announced that Laws and Langlands were awarded the contract in  20 May 1882.  





While they were waiting for timber to arrive for the Rocky Islet lighthouse William  Laws came to the rescue of the schooner bringing the awaited timber that had run aground nearby. (3)
Account Laws & Langlands,The Queensland National Bank, Cooktown page starting 30 October 1882
















4 August 1883  the announcement mariners were waiting for
" Notice to Mariners,(No 13 of 1883.)
New Lights at Point Archer and Rocky Islet.
NOTICE is hereby given that on and after this date two New Lights will be exhibited from Point Archer and Rocky Islet respectively. The former, which stands on the highest part of the point, at an elevation of 220 feet above high water, consists of a 4th order holophotal condensing apparatus exhibited from a circular tower forty-five feet in height.
The light is seen from the southward, from Cape Tribulation round to S.W.¼S., but is intensified on a N.W. by N.¼N. bearing, when it is in line with the light on Rocky Islet. It is obscured between the bearings of S.W.¼S. and S. by E. southerly when it is seen as a green light until it bears S. by E. ¼E. Between that bearing and S.S.E, it is seen as a white light, and again as a red light from the latter bearing to S.E. by S.¼S.
The apparatus at Rocky Islet is a holophote, showing a beam of light S.E by S.¼S. The light is exhibited from a tower 20 feet high, standing on the western slope of the Islet, at an elevation of 90 feet above high water.
The lights can be seen at a distance of 20 and 14 miles respectively." (4)
Unfortunately we are not able to see the lighthouses now as they have been demolished.
To view more about the style of the lighthouses see  Archer Point light  



(1)GOVERNMENT TENDERS. (1882, April 22). The Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 - 1947), p. 4. Retrieved May 6, 2018, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article170211680
(2) Official Notifications. (1882, May 27). The Queenslander (Brisbane, Qld. : 1866 - 1939), p. 663. Retrieved May 6, 2018, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article19784491
(3) COOKTOWN. (1882, December 2). Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser (Qld. : 1861 - 1908), p. 2. Retrieved May 6, 2018, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article123274502
(4)Notice to Mariners. (1883, August 4). Northern Territory Times and Gazette (Darwin, NT : 1873 - 1927), p. 1. Retrieved May 6, 2018, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3154393

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