Lady Elliot Island - Culture and History

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This was published 15 years ago

Lady Elliot Island - Culture and History


Although both Captain Cook in 1770 and Matthew Flinders in 1802 had traversed the 2000 km length of the Great Barrier Reef it wasn't until 1816 that Captain Thomas Stewart, sailing the 353 tonne 'Lady Elliot' (it had been built in Bengal and named after the wife of Hugh Elliot, the colonial governor of India), sighted and named the island. The sighting was confirmed by Lieutenant Phillip Parker King who sailed past the island in 1819.

In 1843 the H.M.S. Fly, captained by F.P. Blackwood, anchored off the island. The crew killed some thirty turtles and the ship's naturalist noted 'The island was well stocked with birds, of which black noddies and shearwaters were the most abundant; the next in number being terns, gulls, white herons and egrets, oyster catchers and curlews.

Over centuries the droppings from these birds had covered the island with 'guano' (an excellent source of fertiliser) to a depth of more than two metres. Thus, in 1863, a Mr. J. Askunas applied for, and was granted, a 5 year mining lease over the entire island. It was extended to 10 years and by 1873 the island had been stripped of all its guano and most of its vegetation.

In 1873, because of the island's dangerous location, a lighthouse and a lighthouse keeper's cottage were built. The lighthouse continued to operate until it was automated in 1980. It still stands on the beach to the west of the airstrip.

The final major change to the island occurred in 1969 when Don Adams, a mixture of businessman and conservationist, built an airstrip on the island. At the same time he killed all the island's feral goats and began an active revegetation program. For the next 15 years visitors came to the island but it wasn't until 1985 that a lease for a low-key resort resulted in the establishment of the islands resort. Today the island offers a legitimate 'reef' experience with both resort residents and daytrippers being offered high class snorkelling, scuba diving, reef walking and swimming.


Lady Elliot Island Resort was established 1984 when a series of prefabricated buildings were brought to the island. They still provide comfortable, basic accommodation.

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