About North Stradbroke Island - History & Heritage

Heritage walking trails

North Stradbroke has a very long history, with European contact dating back to 1770 when Captain Cook recorded the sighting of a rocky headland (which he named Pt Lookout) in his log book. Dunwich, Amity Point and Point Lookout all have historical significance, and a map showing the route, including descriptions of historical sites, can be picked up from the Stradbroke Island Tourism office at Junner Street, Dunwich (ph: +61 7 3409 9555) or from the Redlands Tourism office at Shore St, Cleveland (ph: +61 7 3821 0057).

Dunwich
Dunwich was home to a large Aboriginal population. It was also the site of many and varied European Settlements for 120 years. The Europeans used Dunwich as a convict outstation, a Catholic Mission, then a Quarantine Station and, finally, a Benevolent Institution. On this walk, see the convict causeway, privy pit, draughts boards, public hall, dormitory building, St Mark’s Church, museum, Benevolent Institution cottages, Dunwich cemetery, Polka Point Midden, the historical water pump and the fresh water Myora Springs, the site of a one day battle between the Aboriginies and Soldiers.
Amity Point
Amity Point was also home to a large Aboriginal population. In 1825, a pilot station was established at Amity Point. It was the first European settlement on the island. Serious erosion problems caused by the Rainbow Channel have claimed much of Amity’s early history. On this walk, see Cabarita, the Pilot Station and South Passage Bar, Amity Racecourse and the Amity School.
Point Lookout
The ocean beach south of Point Lookout has a long Aboriginal history and was the site of many middens some of which were lost due to early sand mining methods during the 1940's and 50's, and 4wding on the beaches. Point Lookout is the first place in Queensland to be named by Europeans. In 1770, Captain Cook recorded the sighting of a rocky headland in his log book. He named it Point Look-Out. On this walk, see North’s cattle dip, the Cylinder Beach hut, the Point Lookout lighthouse, Cook’s seat, the Prosperity wreck and Midden.
Amity Point Pilot Station
In 1825, a convict outstation was settled at Amity Point. It was established both as a pilot station for ships using the South Passage Bar and as a depot to discharge cargo for Brisbane. The Pilot Station, the first of Moreton Bay penal settlement’s outstation on the island, continued to operate at Amity Point until the wreck of the Sovereign in 1848 when it was relocated to Moreton Island shipping then used the northern entrance to the bay via Cape Moreton. It is at Amity Point, at end of Ballow Street
As a sand bar across the mouth of the Brisbane River prevented large ships from entering it, cargo had to be double handled. It was off loaded at Amity Point into smaller vessels for transport to Brisbane.
Amity Point was the first site of European settlement on North Stradbroke Island. Prey to erosion, most of its visual history has disappeared.
Benevolent Institution
A Benevolent Institution was briefly established at Dunwich in 1864 in the existing quarantine station. Shortly afterwards a quarantine emergency forced shared facilities. In 1866 the Legislative Assembly recommended that a Benevolent Institution serving a whole colony of Queensland be established at Dunwich, and alterations were made to the buildings of the quarantine station. The Institution was opened officially in 1867. The closing of this Institution ended approximately 120 years of government institutions operating at Dunwich. The unique, quiet appeal of Stradbroke Island began to attract people to establish homes here, as a result of Government land sales. It is on the left hand side of Bingle Road.
Steele (1984) suggests that one of the reasons Dunwich was chosen was because the telegraph line connected the Cape Moreton lighthouse to Bulwer and Amity Point. Lawson’s (1973) opinion was: The island institution removed a social nuisance out of sight and therefore out of mind. The institution was declared to be a home for the old and infirm. In fact from the beginning it also housed younger people who were badly disabled, inebriates and, for a short time, lepers. The inmates were regarded as undeserving and any expenditure on the institution was given begrudgingly. In 1901 inmates numbered 1016 and conditions were poor and overcrowded. (O’Keefe, 1975).
Benevolent Institution Cottages
These cottages were built for the administrative staff of the Benevolent Institution. They are now private homes. They are on the left hand side of Bingle Road.
The institution was declared to be a home for the old and infirm. In fact from the beginning it also housed younger people who were badly disabled, inebriates and, for a short time, lepers. The inmates were regarded as undeserving and any expenditure on the institution was given begrudgingly. In 1901 inmates numbered 1016 and conditions were poor and overcrowded. (O’Keefe, 1975).
Blue Lake
Blue Lake has a surface area of 7.3 hectares and a maximum depth of 9.4 meters. The lake is a depression that extends below the island’s water table – described as the ‘window lake’. The lake is home to the southern sunfish. It is located 10 kilometres from Dunwich on the Trans Island Road.
The Aboriginal people of North Stradbroke Island know this lake as Karboora (Blue Lake).
A story was told that Karboora was once a dry valley where the people went to bury the headman of the clan who was known as Yarraka. One day after burying Yarraka the young men of the clan decided to stay at Karboora to camp and hunt for food. This however was forbidden and as punishment the earth swallowed them up leaving in their place a lake. When the survivors of the clan came to look for their people they discovered that they had disappeared and that the lake had been formed. The young men realized that they had broken the law and never again camped or hunted there and would return to Karboora to bury the headman (Yarraka), of the tribe.
Brown Lake
Bummeira is called Brown Lake because of the colour of its water. The clear ‘tea’ colour comes from the surrounding trees and reeds and from the layer of organic matter, which forms the bed of the lake. It is located 4 kilometres from Dunwich.
Brown Lake is also special because it is a perched lake.
There are several suggestions to explain why the perched Brown Lake has formed on Stradbroke Island: firstly, a depression could have been sealed by an accumulation of organic matter through which water was unable to escape; secondly, the sand rock bed that existed below the layers of sand and organic matter could have formed a layer that contain the water in the lake.
Convict Causeway
The convict causeway is the rock causeway leading to the jetty at Dunwich. It was used for transferring goods to and from smaller craft which travelled up and down the Brisbane River servicing the major convict settlement. Over the years it has been added to and is still used as a public ramp.
The causeway was hand built by convicts in 1827 under the command of captain Logan. It was added to in 1850 by the prisoners of St. Helena for use by the Quarantine Station and again in 1886 for the Benevolent Institution.
Despite many requests to local and state government to take steps o preserve it as one of the oldest European structures in the Brisbane area, the original causeway is being engulfed by other structures and buried under a modern veneer.
Cylinder Beach
Matthew Flinders, a passenger on a ship wrecked on Middle Reef in 1803, decided with some of the ship’s crew to row back to Sydney in a small cutter for help. Passing Stradbroke Island he sent some men ashore to fill the water barrels. They landed on Cylinder beach where some friendly Aborigines pointed to a spring in the corner of the headland and beach.
Cylinder Beach was first known as Hope Well, which confirms the location of the spring where Flinders’ men filled their water cask. The Aborigines associated the spring with the 1803 visit of the cutter Hope. The area was renamed Cylinder Beach in the 1930s when a shed was built near the spring to store the acetylene cylinders used to operate the newly constructed lighthouse. Its cement base, with indentations to hold the cylinders, is still there.
Dunwich Cemetery
The cemetery bears witness to the many phases of Dunwich’s history. The oldest graves date back to 1850, the first year of the quarantine station. Around 800-900 people have been buried in this cemetery. It is located on the left hand side Flinders Avenue, East Coast Road, Yabby Street
An immigrant ship arrived with a typhus outbreak aboard. Many lives were lost. Simple unmarked iron crosses commemorate the 26 immigrants who died while their ship was quarantined at Dunwich in 1850. Dr George Mitchell, and Brisbane’s Resident Surgeon, Dr David Ballow, also died of the disease. Also in this cemetery is the grave of Dr Patrick Smith, the first medical superintendent of the Benevolent Institution. Many of the graves are unmarked so a memorial has been erected for institution inmates buried somewhere in the cemetery.
Dunwich Lazaret Cemetery
In the Dunwich area there are three cemeteries. The general cemetery lies within the town, the Aboriginal cemetery at Myora and the cemetery for lepers just south of Dunwich. There are about 6 grave markers in the Lepers Cemetery, bearing numbers varying from 6 to 32. One named headstone is also present. The actual number of burials is unknown. Near the cemetery was the lazaret where the patients were cared for. Until 1901, 81 patients had been admitted but after that date the lazaret was moved to Peel Island. It is located on the left hand side Flinders Avenue, East Coast Road, Yabby Street.
In 1889 a lazaret for non-European leprosy cases was established on Dayman Island in the Torres Street. When in 1891, James Quigley, a young European, was diagnosed with the “loathsome and dreaded disease”, he was sent to Stradbroke Island to be isolated in a tent near the Benevolent Institution.
Dunwich Quarantine Station
With the withdrawal of the military and the closure of Brisbane Penal Colony in 1849, a quarantine station was needed to protect the burgeoning free settlement from possible epidemics. Before adequate buildings or staff could be organised the Emigrant arrived with a serious outbreak of typhus fever on board and was taken to Dunwich. The convict facilities on the island were the intended accommodation for the sick but the buildings were too dilapidated. Stradbroke Island was last used as a quarantine station in 1865. Inmates of the next government institution the benevolent asylum, for the old and infirm were already installed at Dunwich.
Captain Wickham, the government resident for Moreton Bay district was asked to recommend a place suitable for a quarantine station. The legislative council decreed that the site should have clean water and be isolated such that no contact with other people was possible. Captain Wickham recommended the northern section of Stradbroke Island which was duly proclaimed on 16 July 1850. Dunwich, the site of an early convict out station now became a government quarantine station. Ships arriving for Brisbane were directed to spend time in quarantine station before proceeding to the settlement.
Eighteen Mile Swamp
The Eighteen Mile Swamp is a unique, beautiful and tranquil part of the island where much of the island's wildlife can be observed. It is located on the east coast of North Stradbroke Island.
That the remains of some early wreck lie hidden in Eighteen Mile Swamp is a popular island legend. Taking into account the early Dieppe maps and changes in coastline, this story could have some substance. The story persists that eighteen Mile Swamp conceals the wreck of a Spanish galleon. The writings of Isobel Hannah of Southport support hearsay that the remains of a ship lie in the southern end of the swamp. In 1979, Bonty Dickson of Dunwich wrote in his unpublished papers about the Spanish galleon. He said that Cecil Dillon of Southport, an employee of the sand mining company on Stradbroke, and Fraser Brown, a stockman rounding up cattle on the island, claimed to have seen the ship’s remains. While both men agreed that the wreck was located in the swamp two miles north of Swan bay, they disagreed as to which side of the swamp it was to be found. These were the last reported sightings.
A four-wheel drive track allows people to safely drive along the side of the swamp from the Causeway.
Frenchman’s Beach/Deadman’s Beach
Frenchman’s Beach is a secluded spot, nestled between the North Gorge and Cylinder Beach next to Deadman’s Beach. This beach is a great place to explore the rockpools, where you can see small fish, anemones, shells and crabs. There are no lifesaving patrols on this beach. These beaches are located south-east of Point Lookout, between the North Gorge and Cylinders Beach.
It is said that a 133 ton ship was wrecked during the night in poor weather in 1902 half a mile south-east of Point Lookout. The Prosperity was travelling from Sydney. She was carrying a cargo of sugar machinery for Mourilyon Harbour in North Queensland pieces of rusted machinery can still be seen wedged in the crevices of South Rock. The captain and the four members of the crew managed to reach the shore and were cared for by Billy North who has a part of his cattle has a stockman’s hut head of the South Gorge Point Lookout. Billy who supplied meat to the Benevolent Institution was able to notify the authorities of the wreck and because of his well stocked hut, was able to look after the survivors until help arrived. Unfortunately the cook and the mate were drowned. Some 50 years later in 1956 a skeleton and a leather boot were partially uncovered on Deadman’s beach. They were believed to be the remains of either the cook or the mate who perished as a result of the wreck.
Jumpinpin
The point where North and South Stradbroke Island once were connected. It is located at the southern point of North Stradbroke Island.
In 1894, when North and South Stradbroke Island were still joined by an extremely narrow isthmus of dunes, the 1651 ton barque, Cambus Wallace, was wrecked on the ocean side of this strip of sand. The Braque had sailed from Glasgow with a load of cargo for Brisbane. When almost within sight of her destination, rain and gale force southerly winds drove her off course and into the Pacific breakers pounding Stradbroke’s ocean beach. The barque was lifted by the force of these waves to the second line of breakers. To reach the safety of the beach, the crew had to swim through two hundred yards of highly dangerous seas. It is believed that salvage work and in particular the detonation of the Cambus Wallace’s cargo of explosives on the beach, caused gaping wounds in the dunes and made it easy for the sea to break through. The memorial and the seamen’s graves were lost when furious seas broke though the narrow strip of land where they lay at Jumpinpin thus making North and South Stradbroke Islands.
Myora – Capembah Spring
Along Dickson Way, five kilometres north of Dunwich, a clear, fast flowing stream enters Moreton Bay where the closed forest meets the mangrove forest. Capembah is the correct name of the creek; Myora (meeting place) was the name given to the Aboriginal Mission south of the spring. Myora – Capembah Spring is a beautiful spot and source of fresh water for the wildlife of the Dunwich area. Myora – Capembah Spring has a pure fresh water spring that is running today, just as it has done for thousands of years. In the forest surrounding the Myora Springs there is an abundance of freshwater crayfish, prawns, bungwal fern and other plant foods. It is located just a few kilometres out of Dunwich on the road to Point Lookout.
Extensive shell middens bear testimony to the creek’s outlet being a favourite Aboriginal camping site.
This area was the site of a battle between the Aborigines and military. The men from Amity and Dunwich Stations sought out the Aboriginal women, causing tempers to flare and resulting in a fight between the two groups.
NSI Historical Museum
The museum is operated by an entirely voluntary committee and is open by appointment and every Wednesday and Saturday. It is on the left hand side of Welsby Street.
The museum is part of the Benevolent Institution ward which has been removed and remodelled several times.
Polka Point Midden
Middens are refuse dumps composed mainly of shells, but also contain bone fragments along with broken or discarded stone tools. Because shell fish were in great quantities by the Stradbroke Aborigines, many middens were once a common site on the island. Middens are valuable, not only for their archaeological content, but for Aboriginal people to identify with their culture. This midden is located on the left hand side of Flinders Avenue.
Shellfish were a major component of the diet of Stradbroke Island Aborigines. This is reflected in the composition of the middens. The shells of the middens found on the bayside, like this one, are a mixture of oysters, whelks, cockles and periwinkles. Prior to the commencement of sand mining in the 1940's there were 86 recorded midden sites on the ocean side of North Stradbroke Island. In the 1950's, Titanium and Zirconium Industries (TAZI) commenced operation of the first dredge mine on Stradbroke. During this time the frontal dunes were mined and and some middens were damaged or lost. The sandmining industry began its operation on the frontal dune of the ocean beach. In the 1960’s dredges operating on the frontal dunes destroyed or damaged these sites. The Polka Point Midden is one of the largest on the island.
Prosperity and Shell Midden
Middens are refuse dumps composed mainly of shells, but also contain bone fragments along with broken or discarded stone tools. Because shell fish were in great quantities by the Stradbroke Aborigines, many middens were once a common site on the island. Middens are valuable, not only for their archaeological content, but for Aboriginal people to identify with their culture. It is south-east of Point Lookout
Portions of the brigantine Prosperity, wrecked southeast of Point Lookout in 1902, came to rest in South Gorge. Rusted pieces of the cargo of machinery she carried can be seen wedged into the rocks. Billy North aided the survivors of the Prosperity. The remnants of a large midden can be seen around the life saver clubhouse. Many of the large ocean beach middens, composed mainly of eugarie shells, have been lost due to early sandmining operations in the 1940's and 50's, and tourism and developement of the island. The bayside middens are composed of different shells.
St. Mark’s Church
St. Mark’s Anglican Church was designed by Brisbane’s Diocesan Architect R.S. Dods, built in 1907 and dedicated in 1908. It is on Ballow Road, Dunwich
The longest serving chaplain was Canon W.P.B. Miles of the Anglican Church Mission (1927-1964) who is still fondly remembered by the people of Dunwich and Amity Point. Because of generous contributions to St. Mark’s Maintenance Account, repair and restoration work is carried out regularly. Also a group called the Friends of St. Mark’s looks after the church.
When the wife of the then Governor of Queensland, Lady Chelmsford visited the Benevolent Institution, she was horrified to find that the inmates had no place of worship, so she donated the money to build the church, which is still on its original site.
Whale Rock
Whale Rock is a place to enjoy the raw beauty of nature. It is located on the North Gorge walk situated at the north eastern tip of Point Lookout.
Legend says that many years ago an aboriginal woman demented and senile, was abandoned by her people to a small rocky island at Point Lookout because she was very hard to control. When the people returned to the headland, they could not find the woman but her wailing cry could be heard as she called to her people. The headland where she was abandoned was then called Whale Rock by the Aboriginal people who could hear her wailing cries in the wind.
At the rocky point was a hole in the rocks where the water had gradually forced its way through the rock creating a water spout on high tide. As time went by, the point has become known as the “The Blowhole” as it resembled a whale breathing and with the arrival of tourists, the name changed to Whale Rock. The visitors not knowing the Aboriginal story thought that the rock must have been named after the whales which pass close by the headland from June to November.
Watch the whales as they travel to and from Hervey Bay each year, and to wonder at the power of the sea when the south easterly swell causes the blow hole to erupt.
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