Lady Elliot Island Lighthouse: First Queensland Iron Plated Timber Light

Summary: Built in 1973, Lady Elliot Island Lighthouse is the third light built by Australia's newly formed Queensland and the first Queensland iron plated timber light.

aerial view of Lady Elliot Island's two lighthouses, modern (right) and older (left): (WT-shared) Inas at wts wikivoyage, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Lady Elliot Island Lighthouse stands on its namesake coral cay in the southernmost end of the massive Great Barrier Reef off the eastern coast of Queensland in northeastern Australia.

Originally subsumed within the colony of New South Wales, Queensland separated as a self-governing colony June 6, 1859.

On Jan. 1, 1901, the Sunshine State achieved statehood with the formation of the Commonwealth of Australia.

Located 46 nautical miles (53 miles; 85 kilometers) from Queensland's southeastern coastal river city of Bundaberg, Lady Elliot Island was mined extensively for bird droppings, known as guano, valued for fertilizer and for gunpowder, for a decade from 1863 to 1873 and again from 1894 to 1900.

The Anglo-Australian Guano Company relied upon a temporary light suspended from the upper part of a flagstaff on a topmast as a navigational aid for their ships.

The loss of the upper flagstaff during a heavy gale, treetop interference with visibility of the light at its lowered perch, and a delay in replacing the flagstaff and topmast due to communication lags between the storm-battered cay and George Poynter Heath (June 19, 1830-March 26, 1921) induced the marine surveyor to emphasize the urgency of a permanent lighthouse on Lady Elliot Island in 1872.

Robert Ferguson (1840-Aug. 13, 1906), district foreman in the Queensland Public Works Department, designed his plans for Lady Elliot Island's lighthouse as an innovative prototype, the first of 12 in a series of economically durable lighthouse structures.

Built by contractors John and Jacob Rooney of southeastern Queensland's river city of Maryborough, Lady Elliot Island Lighthouse rises from a massive concrete foundation to a height of 59 feet (18 meters).

The tapering, truncated cone-shaped lighthouse with four interior levels features an economical timber frame clad, or covered, with durable, 0.098-inch-(2.5 millimeter)-thick wrought iron plates.

Surmounting the tower, the tri-part lantern enclosing the lantern, or lens, room consists of a hexagonal, timber-framed, iron-clad base, known as the murette. A glazed, hexagonal section has iron-framed glass panes. The iron-framed, metal sheeting lantern roof (also known as cupola or dome) has six curved facets.

Lady Elliot Island Lighthouse's day mark, or color scheme visual identifier, is a white tower capped with a red dome.

Automated in 1982, the original Lady Elliot Island Lighthouse was deactivated in 1995 with the activation of its nearby replacement, a square steel skeletal tower of 105 feet (32 meter) operated by Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) and closed to the public.

Added to the Commonwealth Heritage List in 2004, the original lighthouse is protected by the Lightstation Heritage Management Plan designed by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA), which jointly manages Lady Elliot Island with the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service.

A lease with the Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort, located on the island's east side, allows the private tourism operator to access the heritage precinct, where resort staff occupy the three former keepers' houses and use four other buildings (fuel store, new and old power houses, and workshop) for storage.

The lease allows the possibility of including the slumbering lighthouse within tourist accommodation expansions, contingent upon notification to GBRMPA by the resort.

The original Lady Elliot Island Lighthouse holds momentous historical value as the first iron plated timber frame lighthouse built in Queensland.

The Lady Elliot Island Lighthouse also is the first lighthouse built offshore in the Great Barrier Reef.

The Lady Elliot Island Lighthouse  is the third lighthouse built by Queensland colony, newly formed in 1859.

Perhaps one day this landmark lighthouse will be open for tours.

Until then, Old Lady Elliot Island Lighthouse enchants admirers via glimpses while enjoying pleasurable nature experiences afforded by the Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort.

Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort
contact details for day trips and overnight stays:
fax: 7 4156 4400
phone: +61 7 4156 4444
website: www.ladyelliot.com.au

contract drawing of Lady Elliot Island Lighthouse, signed in 1872: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

aerial view of Lady Elliot Island's two lighthouses, modern (right), older (left): (WT-shared) Inas at wts wikivoyage, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Australia_lei_lighthouse.jpg

contract drawing of Lady Elliot Island Lighthouse, signed in 1872: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lady_Elliot_Island_Tower_(Light_house),_1874.jpg

For further information:

Buchanan, Stuart. The Lighthouse Keepers. Samford QLD: Coral Coast Publications, 1994.

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Lady Elliot Island Lightstation Heritage Management Plan. Townsville, Qld: Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, 2012.

International Dictionary of Marine Aids to Navigation: Alphabetical Index F - O. Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France: International Association of Lighthouse Authorities (IALA), May 20, 2012.
Available via IALA AISM @ http://www.iala-aism.org/wiki/dictionary/images/8/88/20120520_Dictionary_Alphabetical_F-O.pdf

"Lady Elliot Island Lightstation Heritage Management Plan." Great Barrier Reef Marine Park > About the Reef > Heritage.
Available @ http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/about-the-reef/heritage/lady-elliot-island-heritage-values

Marriner, Derdriu. "Lady Elliot Island: Eco Resort in Green Zone of Great Barrier Reef." Earth and Space News. Monday, Aug. 24, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/08/lady-elliot-island-eco-resort-in-green.html

Thorburn, J.H. "Major Lighthouses of Queensland (Part 1)." Queensland Heritage, vol. 1, no. 6 (1967): 18-29.
Available via University of Queensland eSpace @ http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:242706/Qld_heritage_v1_no6_1967_p18_29.pdf