ACKHURST ISLAND.

The following extract continues to intrigue and confound me. It is taken from The Brisbane Courier, Saturday 20 May, 1911:

"I observe," continued Mr. Denham,

"that at a conference held recently at

Adelaide, some comment was made about 

providing communication between the light-

houses and Brisbane. At my request,

Capt. Mackay went into this matter, and

furnishes some interesting information.

He shows that the following lighthouses

are in direct telegraphic communication

with Brisbane, or they are able to

communicate by telephone, to telegraph 

stations giving connection with Brisbane:

Cape Moreton, Caloundra, Double Island

Point, Woody Island, Sandy Cape, Burnett 

Islands, Bustard Heads, Cape Capricorn, 

Flat-top, Cape Bowling Green, Cape

Cleveland, Archer Point, Grassy Island,

and Goode Island. 

It has proved difficult to establish the details of the Lighthouse (station) on Grassy Island referred to and in telegraphic / telephonic communication with the mainland - Brisbane. If one looks at present day images of Grassy Island it is deserted without any outward evidence of buildings or infra-structure. I have found Trove evidence that people lived on Grassy Island, 1911, but nothing about a lighthouse or keeper. I do not believe Captain Mackay would have listed Grassy Island unless it was relevant. I do not believe that he confused it with Grassy Hill Light. So where to from here?

Why would there have been any form of Light on Grassy Island? For the answer to this we need to go back in time before 1911. The following extract is taken from The Argus, Melbourne, Monday 5 November, 1866:

'Ackhurst Island is about a mile in length from north to south, and about the same width from east to west, is 545 ft. high, and is covered with grass and a few trees on its summit.'

So what's all this about Ackhurst Island? Grassy Island was originally called Ackhurst Island. Commander G.S. Nares (Nares Rock) of HMS Salamander (1866) named the island after his boatswain, John Ackhurst.

'The soundings around it are from five to three fathoms. Off its northwest point is a shoal of one and a half fathoms. There are also two smaller islands off the north point, one forty feet high and the other, ten feet. The forty foot high island has a reef off its south end, and the channel between it and Ackhurst Island is blocked by the shoal aforementioned. The ten feet high island has from six to ten fathoms all round, and the channel between it and the forty feet high is free from danger, with soundings from six to ten fathoms.'

'Olden Island is 300 ft. high with grass and trees near its summit. A sandy spit runs off its south entrance. Off the southeast end of this island is a rocky island, about 20 ft. high, connected to Olden Island by a reef. Between Olden Island and the main (land) is good anchorage, and the channel is free from danger.'

'Cannor or Gumbrill Island is 390 ft. high; has a reef running around its east side; outside of which the soundings are deep, having from six to nine fathoms all around the island. The channel between it and Olden Island is about two miles wide, with soundings from nine and a half to thirteen fathoms in it.'

So what is to be made of all of this? The images below give important clues. Steamers using the narrow inside passage from Dent Island via Cannon Valley, Grassy Island and up between (2 miles wide) Gumbrell and Armit Islands were confronted with one dangerous point where bearings needed to be radically altered. This point, as can be seen from the images, is directly off the northern point of Grassy (Ackhurst) Island. If a steamer over-ran this point there was only a 1 n mile separation from the shoal north of Grassy Island. If there was going to be a Light, the northern side of Grassy Island would have been the most crucial position to warn steamers in darkness and conditions of poor visibility. 

Further to this, the dangerous inside passage was used by many coastal steamers and Grassy Island was the penultimate island before exiting the safety of the Whitsunday Islands. If there were storm warnings this would have been the point to let masters know to seek anchorage within the islands, hence telegraphic communication with the mainland. In conditions of good visibility I'm sure it was possible to hail passing steamers, but in conditions of significantly diminished visibility the keeper would have required a Morse Lamp to communicate the warning. Again, drawing from period newspaper articles, the emphatic point was made that only Cape Moreton had a Morse Lamp. If this issue had been raised at the Inquiry it would have cast a very bad light on Queensland State-controlled Lighthouses. Hence the Lighthouse Act of 1911 and federalization.

I believe that subsequent to the Yongala disaster and high profile coverage of the inside passage dangers, ship masters were obliged to use the outside passage (which had been fully charted by this stage) and the role of Lighthouse at Grassy Island became defunct. There was no further use for a keeper or residents on the island. All signs of infrastructure must have been demolished over time.

Unless it was a lightship??

See important comments below. There was never a light nor a lightship. Thanks to the renowned maritime historian, Captain Stanley Robinson for his vital input.