Inskip Point Light and Signal Station, Queensland, Australia

ORIGINS OF THE NAME

Inskip Point was named by Captain Owen Stanley, the Admiralty Hydrographer and Commander of the HMS Rattlesnake in October 1849 after Captain George Henry Inskip RN naval officer who served in HMS Rattlesnake and HMS Bramble October 1846 to 1849. Captain George Henry Inskip, born in Plymouth around 1824, was son of Peter Inskip and Harriet Palmer. His father was a sailor and his brother was Captain Peter Inskip (b1808). It seems George was quite prolific in naming remote coastlines and spent some time in the 1850s in British Columbia. The 1881 census lists him as Head of the house (click to view census document).

The voyages of HMS Rattlesnake and tender HMS Bramble along the Queensland coast were really rather famous. From 1846 to 1850 the Rattlesnake, an ageing 'donkey frigate' (28 guns) tendered by the schooner HMS Bramble, carried on from the earlier surveying work of HMS Beagle (Darwin's ship)¹. On 16th October 1847 Rattlesnake visited Moreton Bay en route from Sydney anchoring at Cowan Cowan Roads in Moreton Bay. She departed 4 November. In this time Scottish-born naturalist John Macgillivray (1822-1867) visited Moreton Island and studied aboriginal languages (this was the first encounter of the Rattlesnake with aborigines) and collected flora and fauna. In a second visit, HMS Rattlesnake under the command of Captain Owen Stanley, and HMS Bramble (under command of Lt Charles B. Yule and 2nd Master George Henry Inskip) entered Moreton Bay on 17 May 1849 on their way from Sydney to Cape Deliverance passing Fraser Island and the Great Sandy Straits. Rattlesnake and Bramble surveyed much of the northern East Coast of Australia - (treacherous because of the massive string uncharted reefs & shoals of the Great Barrier Reef ) and later Torres Strait & southern New Guinea.² Macgillivray's journal is available online.

WHY INSKIP POINT

Brisbane had been established as a penal settlement as a part of New South Wales in 1824 after surveys by John Oxley in late 1823. The first navigation aids to assist vessels entering Moreton Bay were those placed by John Gray in 1825 to mark the outer bar and inner channels for vessels entering by the South Passage. It was about this time that Fraser Island, and to some extent the point now known as Inskip, assumed world notoriety due to the Eliza Fraser story. In 1836 the Stirling Castle was wrecked on the Queensland Coast and two boatloads of survivors headed south to Moreton Bay. One boat bypassed Moreton Bay and arrived on the northern New South Wales coast - with one survivor. The other boat containing Captain Fraser, his pregnant wife Eliza and 10 other men made it to Orchid Beach on Fraser Island, 20 miles south of Sandy Cape. There they were watched-over by local aborigines - the Dulingbara clan. Because she was still bleeding after giving birth (to a baby that only survived a few hours), Eliza Fraser was confined to living with the aboriginal women at Hook Point on the southern end of the island (see map above). She was taken over to Inskip Point in canoe and thence to Rainbow Beach and rescue at Lake Cootharabah. Five men sailed separately to Inskip Point and three walked to Bribie Island to be rescued to Lt Otter and two men walked to Lake Cootharaba. Another two men, Elliott and Doyle, tried to swim from Hook Point to Inskip Point but drowned during their attempt. Fraser Island had become world famous - more for the increasingly elaborate and dramatic stories by participants and witnesses than for the natural beauty and resources of the island.

In the following years exploration and closer examination of Queensland's coast proceeded. For example, in 1842 Andrew Petrie discovered and explored what is now the Mary River and considered the land nearby suitable for grazing sheep. In 1847 the first shipment of wool from the Wide Bay district was taken to Sydney by the Schooner Sisters. By June 1848 wharves had been built on the north side of the river and the port became known as Port of Wide Bay - later Port of Maryborough. With the start of free settlement in 1842 the number of ships heading for Queensland increased dramatically. At the time of Queensland's separation from New South Wales in 1859 ports had already developed where there was access to the hinterland and safe anchorage for ships: Moreton Bay, Wide bay (Maryborough and Bundaberg), Port Curtis (Gladstone) and Fitzroy River (Rockhampton). The Wide Bay district continued to grow and in 1848 the first Harbor Master for Wide Bay was appointed: Government Botanist John Carne Bidwell. Not only did he perform harbour duties but he was also Commissioner of Crown Lands, Registrar of Births, Marriages and Deaths and had to perform marriage ceremonies and act as a magistrate. He died in 1853 aged 38 after being lost for 8 days in the bush at the head of the Mary River. He had forgotten to take his compass. The Government of NSW, located in Sydney, was not over-generous to the northern ports, especially as separation approached. Nevertheless, in 1857 £1000 was voted for improving navigation (mostly for wool ships) in the Mary River. In 1859, the Sub-Collector of Customs for Wide Bay Richard Sheirdan was appointed Harbor Master and, although not a nautical man, remained at this post for 19 years. He worked single-handed at first from a little office which later became the kitchen for the Criterion Hotel in Wharf Street, Maryborough. Not only was he the Harbor Master but also Water Police Magistrate, Emigration Agent and later, Polynesian Inspector for the kanaka labourers. The first pilot he employed was Joseph Mungomery from Sydney. Note spelling of harbour when referring to the place, as distinct from the title Harbor Master.

On a personal note: I sailed around the southern end of the Great Sandy Straits in October 2009 and the recent maps of sandbanks and channels had to be read with caution. Many of the sandbars had moved and channels were not where they were expected. We revisited the spots mentioned by Jack N. Devoy in his travel narrative of the Great Sandy Straits "A Yachting Cruise".³

The harbour pilot and two boatmen were stationed at Maryborough, several kilometers up the Mary River. Masters of vessels frequently had to leave their vessels at anchor in the bay and go up in their boats to secure the Pilot's services. The discovery of gold increased the trade at this port but an increase in pilot staff did not come at the same time. There was just the pilot and the coxwain of the pilot vessel. When the coxwain was engaged as the pilot, there was insufficient crew left behind to man the pilot vessel. It is worth describing the various titles and functions of the pilot staff at Maryborough. The coxswain is the master of the pilot boat (owned by the Department of Ports and Harbours). He will take the pilot from shore station out to the steamer or other ship requiring safe passage through the straits. The coxswain will have one or more deckhands to operate the sails or row the pilot boat. These deckhands are skilled operators of boats and are called boatmen. Once the pilot has boarded the ship (often by Jacob's Ladder) he will advise the ship's master of the course to sail. The pilot provides advice (only) to guide the ship through dangerous or congested waters. He will have knowledge of the tides, swells, currents, sandbanks and shoals that may not be on nautical charts. He has local knowledge. He is not in charge as the master remains in charge (legally). The pilot may give instructions such as "10 degrees to port" to the seaman on the helm who carries out his instructions with the agreement of the master.

THE PILOTS AND LIGHTKEEPERS OF INSKIP POINT

At its inception in 1859, the new colony of Queensland adopted the laws of its parent - New South Wales. Responsibility for ports was given to the Harbor Master in Brisbane (W. H. Geary) - under the control of the Customs Department - which in turn was under the control of the Colonial Treasurer. In September 1860 Lt George Poynter Heath RN was appointed Marine Surveyor in the Department of the Surveyor General. One of his first tasks was investigate a new harbour to the north of Brisbane which would provide shelter for vessels hindered by bad weather from crossing the Wide Bay Bar at Inskip Point, and also be suitable for vessels to load the timber which grew in Tin Can Bay and Fraser Island. Aboard the Spitfire, Heath departed Brisbane on 15 April 1861 and reported back to the Board which was delighted with his work. In 1862 Heath was appointed to newly created position of Port Master to take overall charge of the Harbour Master's Department and and in 1863 a new Marine Board was constituted and given responsibility for the renamed Department of Ports and Harbours. Maryborough was one of eight ports to be recognised and had its own Harbour Master (Sheridan), Pilot (Henry Croaker), an Acting Pilot (Joseph Montgomery) and two boatmen. Maryborough was booming; wool had already become an export commodity by 1860 and the only town in Queensland returning a trade surplus was Maryborough. In 1866 the wage for the men at Maryborough was a total of £67-12-6 per month with the Lightkeeper at Woody Island receiving a further £12.5.0 per month. The area seemed destined for new facilities but history proved otherwise.

Prior to separation there had been only four ports in the colony: Moreton Bay, Wide Bay (Maryborough), Port Curtis and Fitzroy River. More ports were slowly being added to the list as Queensland developed and by 1863 there were another four: Curtis Island, Broadsound, Pioneer River and Port Denison. However, most of the ports were river ports which suffered from flooding, silting-up and difficult navigation. They were also developing somewhat haphazardly. The government set up an inquiry into the state of harbours and rivers in the colony and in 1864 it made several recommendations for improvements - none of which included the southern (Wide Bay) entrance to Maryborough. This was disappointing for exporters using the Maryborough port. The Sailing Directions for the port made it obvious how inaccessible it was. They warned "do not proceed to sea if there is any break across the [Wide Bay] bar, as it is attended with great risk and danger from the short abrupt sea which comes in, in the shape of rollers, with great velocity." From the bar at the southern end there was a buoyed and beaconed channel to the mouth of the Mary River passing over shallow flats having no more than 5 foot of water over it. Strangers to the area were advised to ask the natives of Fraser Island to come aboard and offer assistance guiding the ship through the narrow shallow channel. It was about this time - 1862 in fact - that the first emigrant ship to come directly to Maryborough from England arrived. The Ariadne left Liverpool on 5th June and arrived at Maryborough on 9th October with 260 people aboard. By the time direct migration to Maryborough stopped in 1890, 21000 emigrants had arrived at the port.

The discovery of gold at Gympie by James Nash in 1867 was reported in Maryborough on October 16, 1867. Within a week Maryborough was deserted, the sawmills were idle and crews deserted ships in their rush for gold. However, the opening of the goldfields at Gympie lead to a great increase in the demand for services at the nearest seaport of Maryborough but there was one big problem. The small staff could not cope with the demand and many ships went unpiloted. Some of the problems can be attributed to the loss of men as they headed to Gympie seeking their fortune; but there was a second problem, namely the organisation of the services. A large part of the pilotage work was done by men employed in the Customs Service and because the [Mary] River Pilot was often doing the duties of the Sea Pilot he and his boat not often at Maryborough. As said before, Harbor Master Sheridan (also Collector of Customs) was not a nautical man but tried to maintain an efficient service. However, he had insufficient time to develop sound systems in the port. For example, for three months in 1868, the markers for crossing the Wide Bay Bar were not distinguishable from outside the bar in bad weather - a decidedly inferior situation. As well, about 40 miles north of Inskip Point was without channel markers. This may have been a small problem to boats of shallow draught that had experienced masters who travelled the channels constantly, but to vessels of increased draught there caused great concern. In fact, they would have to get some unqualified person to help or go the extra 160 miles around the Breaksea Spit to the north. In the first 9 months of 1868, 49 vessels had crossed the Wide Bay Bar at Inskip Point all without the services of a pilot. Portmaster Heath in Brisbane was alarmed at the possibility of losing a ship on the Bar - with all souls - that he proposed a telegraph service be operated by lightkeepers at Inskip Point but to no avail; not straight away.

The revival of the economy in the early 1870s saw renewed interest in attending to the Wide Bar Bar. A decision was made to build a light-keepers' cottage for a Pilot at Inskip and tenders were called on August 30th 1872 to be in by 27 September. A pilot station was set up at Inskip Point in 1872 to help guide ships through the Wide Bay Bar and up the Great Sandy Strait to the Port of Maryborough. The first pilot was John Smith, coxswain of the pilot schooner Port Curtis - appointed 1 September 1872 on a salary of £96 pa - assisted by coxswain and two boatmen. Two lightkeepers were also appointed - Carbury and Watson but I am unsure if they lived at Inskip Point or just visited from Maryborough. An additional appointment was made in 1873 - that of Head Lightkeeper - George Byrne. My father Robert Walding often mentioned landslips at Inskip in his time there from 1934 to 1949. He said that every five years or so the sand banks at the end of Inskip Point - "an area of four acres or so" would slip away without warning leaving the light about 15-20 ft from the shore - in water 20-30 ft deep. Such an event happened on January 22, 1873. The Brisbane Courier of 22 January 1873 reported that the sea broke and undermined the ground at Inskip Point and "swept away all the boats, boat-shed, tents and provisions at the station. The men had a narrow escape with their lives".

By early 1875 a telegraph line had been installed from Maryborough to Inskip and the job of Post and Telegraph Office Keeper was given to the Lightkeeper George Byrne. As lightkeeper he was awarded a wage of £96 pa plus £40 pa to act as Postmaster and Electrical Telegraphist, another £40 pa as a "Foraging Allowance" and for the purposes of budgeting, the value of the Lightkeeper's Quarters was £26 and a further £10 was allocated for Long Service Allowance.

My great grandfather was Samuel James Reilly (pictured above) who joined the Queensland Lighthouse Service (Marine Department of the Queensland Treasury) as the Pilot & Receiving Officer at Inskip Point on 1st December 1875. He arrived at Inskip with his wife Emily and 5 month old daughter Emily Jane, born in Maryborough. His real name was Samuel Crouch - born in Middlesex, England, on 21 February 1839 -son of Stephen Crouch and Mary Ann Crouch (nee Reeves) and became an Able Seaman by age 19. It is believed that while being blackbirded he jumped ship and arrived in Australia under the name Reilly. He married Emily Compton - also from Middlesex England - in April 1875 at Maryborough. In May 1876 their first child Amelia "Milly" Beatrice Reilly was born at Inskip Point but she died the following year.

In April 1877 tenders were called for the erection of Pilots' cottages at Inskip Point. The tenders closed in May that year and by November Helmes & Co. had erected four more houses at Inskip. There were now five houses there, including George Byrnes' cottage and attached Post and Telegraph Office. Reilly was now assigned the job of coxswain. The cost to masters requiring pilot services was set in 1878 at 1 pence per ton (foreign), ha'penny per ton (intercolonial) and a farthing (¼d) per ton for coasters. In July that year the Reilly's first son - William Walter - was born, followed by Samuel Stephen in September the following year (1877).

In 1879 the Harbor Master Sheridan visited Inskip and recommended that extra lights be installed to assist the crossing of the Wide Bay bar. The following year Samuel Reilly was appointed to Boatman Pilot for the port of Maryborough "for vessels whose draught does not exceed 12 feet". As well that year (1880) the Reillys had another daughter - Maud - in January and a son Herbert Winterly in April the following year (1882). The infant Herbert died 11 months later.

The year 1881 saw some dramatic improvements to the Wide bar Bar. The Department erected large black leading beacons on the shore at Inskip Point. The use of black instead of the white previously used made them easily visible towards sunset when the light was behind them, although the old white beacons had the advantage when the sun was to the east. A cottage had also been built at Hook Point and he was responsible for lighting the leading lights for crossing the bar at night. Vessels could cross the bar at night from outside the bar providing the captain could judge, from the sea conditions and swell on the coast, as to whether the bar was safe to cross, but going out over the bar was far more difficult. By 1881 three pairs of lights led a vessel not only over the bar but five miles up the Strait, and a further pair at the Quarantine Station led in between Mary Heads. Additional buoys had been placed near Snout Point and Southern White Cliffs both on Fraser Island where it was difficult to keep beacons in position because of the sandy bottom.

Staffing at Inskip remained unchanged until 1882, namely John Smith (coxswain), Carbery and Watson (lightkeepers), Byrne (lightkeeper and telegraph officer), and Reilly boatman pilot). Reilly applied for a provisional school at Inskip Point to cater for the growing number of children. As well as his own four - Emily Jane (8), William Walter (6), Samuel Stephen (5) and Maud (3), there were a total of 11 school aged children. Daniel Byrne had George Thomas (8) and Reginald (6); Smith had Mary Anne (6), Anderson had one - Charles (4) and Peres had two - Ellna (5) and Hilda Elizabeth (4). Mr and Mrs Reilly also had twin babies - George and Blanche - four months old. My grandmother Ada May Reilly was yet to be born, as were also the other eight Reilly children. Up in Maryborough there was a changing of the guard: after 19 years as Harbor Master Richard Sheridan retired and captain E. J. Boult was appointed in his place. In Sheridan's time three lighthouses had been erected (two at Woody Island and one at Sandy Cape), Hervey Bay had been charted and beaconed, and a Quarantine Station set up at White Cliff.

On 12 July 1884 another landslip occurred at Inskip. It was about an acre in size. Smith, Carbery and Watson were awoken by a tent falling on them. Why they were in a tent is unknown. They had hardly any time to free themselves before they were surrounded by boiling surf and a constantly receding shoreline and soft sand. In 1884 Peres joined the team and Carbery and Watson were transferred. Captain Heath reported in November 1884 that a new cottage at Inskip Point had just been built and was just about ready for occupation. A most important change occurred on 1st February 1886 when Byrne was transferred to the Double Island Point light. He was replaced by Daniel Gorman who was previously stationed at Sandy Cape on the northern end of Fraser Island. Daniel Edward Gorman and his wife Johanna (nee Hayes) were married in July 1864 and Daniel entered Government service immediately after. He was at Sandy Cape from 1873-76 and then at Gatecombe Head, Gladstone for three years followed by a few years Lady Elliott Island until 1882. The Gormans moved to Sandy Cape Light to replace the 51-year-old John Simpson who had died of a gunshot wound and left a wife and 10 children to mourn his loss. After a short stint at Sandy Cape, the Gormans moved to Inskip in 1886. Daniel Gorman was to be in charge of the Post and Telegraph at Inskip (from 16th April). At the end of August 1886 the Post Office was closed down and he was left just in charge of the telegraph. Three sons of Gorman - Daniel, Elliott and Robert became lightkeepers at Inskip and Hook Point once they reached adulthood.

An unfortunate accident occurred in January 1887. The Pilot cutter was anchored at South White Cliff when at about 1am the steamer Balmain, coming down from the Mary River, struck her on the bow. The coxswain was unable to swim and drowned. Also in 1887 three cuttings had been dredged to a depth of 10 ft in the Great Sandy Strait and had been beaconed, but not lit, as there was no steam launch available to tend the lights. Consequently, all traffic along the coast for 30 miles was stopped at night, causing considerable annoyance to the coastal trade. Two years later - in 1888 - Turpin joined as a lightkeeper and Hopkins as a boatman. Smith, Gorman and Reilly continued on, with Smith taking on the additional duties of Telegraph Officer Keeper (1 July 1890). In 1890 Peres left and was replaced by Halliday (the boatman). The following year (1891) the first lightkeeper at Inskip - Smith - retired and Samuel Reilly took over the Telegraph Office (from 11 Feb 1891) for 10 weeks until B. Nelson was appointed. Also in 1891 a new channel had been buoyed and lighted across the Wide bay Bar. Now, in the Great Sandy Strait and Mary River there were no less than 50 lights, most of which were leading lights burning by day and night. These lights kept two steam launches with their crews constantly at work attending to them; the Llewellyn, Norman, Ostrea and Diana were used for maintaining the lights and oyster fisheries in the Straits. As you could imagine - it was very costly and quite elaborate. The Department was keen to find another means of making the channels safe for a smaller outlay. Reilly was reappointed TOK when Nelson left on 21 December 1893. Samuel Reilly's monthly wage in the 1890s was made up of a base salary as Coxswain & Boatman of £9.16.8, and the following allowances: Attending the lights at White Cliffs £2.10.0; Lightkeeper for Mary River and Sandy Straits £4.0.0; Sustenance Allowance on SS Norman, £1.0.0, making a grand total of £17.6.0 per month or £208.0.0 per annum (which is about $25,000 pa in 2009 dollars). The Lightkeeper at Inskip Point - Daniel Gorman - was getting £8.16.8 pm while his counterpart at Double Island Point - George Byrne - was getting £14.11.8 pm but Byrne had two assistants: S. Kenny (£9.16.8 pm) and John Dewar (£8.16.8 pm). Other people were working alongside Reilly on various tasks were: The Head LK on the Mary River and Sandy Straits - P. Farrell (£14.0.0) and assistant C. Hume (£8.16.8). They also received an allowance for attending the White Cliff Lights of £5.0.0 and £2.10.0 respectively. Reilly also had an assistant Coxswain at Inskip - J. McDonald - who received £8.0.0 per annum. These wages may seem low but, like Reilly's, there would have been other allowances paid; John Dewar, for instance, worked mainly on the Woody Point Light.

LIGHTKEEPER'S TASKS
The duties of Lightkeepers has varied over the years but their core responsibilities have remained the same. In brief:

In mid-1891 a terrible tragedy ocurred at the Inskip Light and Signal Station. Samuel and Emily Reilly's daughter Emily Jane was accidently shot and killed by her younger brother William. The following are the depositions to the Magisterial Enquiry into the death of Emily Jane Reilly as reported in the Maryborough Chronicle - Tuesday 16th June 1891. See Queensland State Archives Inquest Files 36/190, 251-300.

On October 1st 1894 Daniel Gorman's son Elliott W. Gorman was appointed to be in charge of the Inskip Point Post office; and then J. McDonald was appointed Boatman in 1895. Samuel Reilly's oldest son William Walter (aged 19) was appointed to the crew of the Queensland Government Steamer Llewellyn at £5 per month from 1st January 1896. The wage bill for the month of December 1896 tells the story. The lightkeeper was Daniel Gorman (£8.16.8). Samuel Reilly had several jobs: Lightkeeper for the Mary River and Sandy Straits (£4) along with C. Hume (£8.16.8) and P. Farrell ((£14); Coxswain and Boatman for Inskip Point (£9.16.8) along with J. McDonald ((£8), attending lights at White Cliff (£2.10.0), along with P. Farrell and C Hume. Reilly was also given a foraging allowance of (£1) while aboard the pilot ship S.S. Norman. In March 1899 William Reilly was transferred from the Llewellyn to become Lightkeeper at Mary River and the Sandy Straits (and to tend to the White Cliff light for which he received an extra £3.15.0). In September 1899 Reilly's next son Samuel Stephen Reilly (aged 21) was appointed as "Boy" to the Inskip station at £5 per month. In February the next year William Reilly was transferred out of the district. The regulations of the Department forbade any son of a Lightkeeper or Pilot from remaining with the family at a lighthouse or light station after turning 19 years unless permission was granted.

A YACHTING CRUISE
In April 1902 the Reilly and Gorman families at Inskip Point had special visitors. The visitors were not anything special to the Inskip Point fraternity but only special because the leader published a booklet on his adventure - "A Yachting Cruise of the Sandy Straits". The visitor was John ("Jack") N. Devoy, secretary of the Castlemaine Brewery and manager of the legal firm Quinlan, Gray, and Co., Limited. He was born in Ireland and came alone as an eight-year old passenger aboard the British sailing ship Chariot of Fame in 1866. By the age of 20 he was a member of the No. 1 Battery Queensland Volunteer Artillery and became an excellent shot. It was his interest in rowing and boating that eventually lead him to Inskip. At the age of 21 he became am Intercolonial champion rower for the Brisbane Rowing Club, competing successfully in many events held at the regatta bend in the Brisbane River. He was soon the club president and life member. His rowing friends formed a "The Up-the-River Picnic Party" and would go on all sorts of boating adventures. In 1891 he was appointed as secretary to the Castlemaine Brewery and soon after married Annie Fitzgerald - the niece of the man who was to become Mr Fourex of the brewery - Paddy Fitzgerald. That's a long introduction but it sets the scene for their story. In 2009, I decided it would be good to retrace the voyage of Devoy's boat Ide through the Sandy Straits. With two companions, Alan Marrs (Pilot and Coxswain), John Oates (deckhand) and me as photographer, we visited as many of the spots mentioned by Devoy in 1902.

In 1902 there were very few vessels that required the services of a Pilot through the Sandy Straits so the Inskip Pilot Station was discontinued in 1902 and Samuel James Reilly and his family left Inskip and stayed at Cape Moreton from 21 July 1902 where the children Mildred, James, Ada, Violet, Harold, Myrtle and Cornelius (Con) were enrolled at the Cape Moreton School. On July 30, 1902 the Inskip Point Pilot Service was officially abolished and the Pilot Station was closed and the school dismantled. Pilot services were provided from Maryborough providing 24 hours notice was given before departure from Brisbane. Pilot Evans retired from Maryborough in 1902 leaving just the two boatman pilots. In view of the small number of vessels requiring a pilot, Evans was not replaced. However, in the interests of shipping, the signal and telegraph station was maintained at Inskip. In the meantime, the steam launch Norman with a crew of three hands had the task of marinating the 60 odd lights in the Straits burning without mishap. It was even considered that maybe the lights should be withdrawn seeing the channels had become shallower as the years progressed - down to 3 to 4 ft. This would force vessels to use the Breakwater Spit to the north (Hervey Bay), except for small vessels during daylight hours. Wiser heads prevailed and this was not done. On October 1, 1902 Reilly was appointed Lightkeeper at the Comboyuro Point Lighthouse on £96 per year and remained there until his death on October 21, 1919, of a ruptured heart. (making him the oldest lightkeeper in Australian history). Their children attended Bulwer school.

During the 17 years at Comboyuro Point his son Harold (b 2 July 1893) was appointed Howard Range Lightkeeper (from 1 Jan 1913, aged 20); his other son George (b 20 June 1883) was lighthouse keeper at Lowe Island from Nov 8, 1909 then transferred to Piper Island Lightship on May 1, 1910 where he became Superintendent in Charge on May 1, 1912. He was subsequently posted to Point Archer on Nov 11, 1914. In 1914-1915 he was stationed at Archer Point, Cooktown. A third son - William Walter Reilly, known to me as "Uncle Bill" (b 28 July 1877) was appointed as deckhand on QGS Llewellyn and in March 1899 was transferred to become Lightkeeper for Mary River and Sandy Straits, and attendant on White Cliff light - but this seems to have lasted only until March 1900. He was taken on as master aboard QGS Cormorant from 1 July 1917, and later Mate on the QGS John Oxley. Lastly, his youngest son Cornelius "Con" Reilly (b 25 February 1896) enlisted in the Army on 15 May 1915, was wounded in Gallipoli and France in 1916. He returned to Australia in March 1919 seven months before his father's death. In 1902, upon the departure of Samuel Reilly, the sole remaining person at Inskip was Elliott W. Gorman, telegraphist and son of earlier lightkeeper Daniel Gorman. On 1st October 1905, he was appointed Lightkeeper, married Mary Hinds on July 13, 1981 and continued as lightkeeper until the early 1920s when he was transferred to Burnett Heads Lighthouse and died from a stroke on 27th December 1929 at the age of 52. Thomas Kelly Gray took over until 15 April 1926 when Victor Hamilton MacDonald was appointed Lightkeeper and also appointed Post and Telegraph Operator in place of Gray. MacDonald's family - Constance (wife), son Charles (6 weeks) and six other children ranging in age from 3 to 13 years arrived soon after. The MacDonalds stayed at Inskip until 17th May 1934 when they left for Bajool Government Explosives Store, 20 miles south of Rockhampton. The Telegraph Office Keeper (TOK) had the following hours of duty: M-F 9am-1pm, 2pm-5pm; Sat 9am-12. The wage was £13 per annum.

The fate of the Reilly children leads us into the next chapter in the history of Inskip Point Light and Signal Station. Soldier Con Reilly returned to Australia from Gallipoli, France and Egypt in March 1919 where he joined Queensland Tug Company and later returned to the Pilot Service in 1924 aboard the John Oxley. Con became telegraphist aboard the chief pilot ship in Brisbane the Matthew Flinders where he graduated to mate then master. He was then appointed to the replacement vessel - also known as Matthew Flinders. He retired in 1962. One son - Harold - was acting lighthouse keeper at Comboyuro Point in September 1924 for C. P. Waye but never stayed with the Department. One daughter Ada may Reilly (b 30 May 1890) moved to Brisbane in 1908 to live with her older sisters in Petrie Terrace. She married (Robert) Oscar Walding on 27 August 1910 and he entered Government Service on 10 January 1913 as assistant to T. H. Flint at Bulwer Island at the mouth of the Brisbane River where he was employed for several years. In 1919 Ada and Oscar Walding moved to Cairns and their first son (Oscar) Robert Walding was born. He was my father. In 1934 they shifted to Maryborough and then to Inskip Point. The story is as follows.

THE WALDING FAMILY: 1934 - 1949
My great grandfather was Samuel James Reilly - the Inskip Pilot from 1874-1902. His daughter Ada May Reilly (my grandmother) married Oscar Robert Walding on 27 August 1910. She and Oscar returned to Inskip Point as Light Keepers in 1934. Oscar Robert Walding was the son of William Eli Walding who drowned on about 22 December 1899 off Mackay. He was the lone passenger aboard the 59 ton ketch Lalla Rookh (Capt. C. A. Nordstrum) when it struck cyclone Sigma. It was last seen while passing 'L' Island (now Scawfell Is.) 60 km NE of Mackay and was wrecked on Bremner Point, Rocky Bay, Magnetic Island. The ship was carrying a load of timber from Townsville for the Maryborough sawmill. Captain Boult (Maryborough Harbor Master) took the Government Steamer Llewellyn to Sandy Cape (Fraser Island), then Lady Elliott's Island and on to the Bunker Islands to search for the ship but no trace was found. Some months later a piece of timber - 15" x 18' with a brass ring bolt - was discovered on No. 1 Percy Island and was identified as coming from the Lalla Rookh. All hands were lost (F. Tracey, J. Heavenin & J. Scott). The Maryborough Chronicle (23 Jan 1900) reported the incident and that "William Eli Walding, a well known Maryborough citizen was a passenger on board".

The following story was told to me by my father Robert Walding, son of the Inskip Lightkeeper Oscar Walding:

I was born in Cairns on the 5th of March 1919 at the Nurse Herries Private Hospital. My parents were Oscar Robert Walding and Ada May Walding (née Reilly) – daughter of the Inskip Point Pilot. At that stage their first child Oscar Robert (Jnr) – my older brother – had died of dropsy at the age of 3½ (in 1917) and in 1923 my younger brother Edward George also died of dropsy - at the age of 6 months. We lived at Draper Street in Cairns, just near a large swamp which I suspect had the malarial mosquitoes that caused my brothers’ illness. In those days mosquito control was unheard of.

My parents decided to move south and we landed in Maryborough in 1925 where my father took up house painting. Prior to this he was with the Public Works Department travelling all over Queensland, particularly in the Gulf Country. Both he and his father were Merchant Seamen on the Australian Coast. His father, William Eli Walding went down on the sailing ship the Lalla Rooke somewhere off the Queensland Coast in January 1900. When we came to Maryborough, my parents bought a 10 acre block in Odessa Street Granville on which they built their home. My father's sister, Kate Greaves also lived in Granville with her two daughters Lillian and Kate plus sons Mick (who I remember well), William, Percy, Robert and Douglas. I do not know what happened to our house and land there as we shifted to Inskip Point. I feel that it may have been sold to cover unpaid debts.

Some of our neighbours were Tom and Mrs Elwyn; Minnie Cockburn and her sons (in the last house before Walker’s Point), "Waddy" Mullins who had TB and used to spit a lot, Mr and Mrs Carswell and their son Allan – my schoolmate, "Dinty" McDougal who had a lot of freckles, and my schoolmates Bobby and James and Peggy (much younger). Other schoolmates included Ted Smith, Brendan Hansen (later a MHR), Les Martin and John Hoyle. Tom Burns (later MLA Lytton) was also from a Granville family. I went to Granville State School with other members of the family during the time when Bill Hall and Mr Brennicke were Headmasters.
At 13 I worked for H. Rawlinson the local chemist and in addition, carried trays around the bungalow and Wintergarden Theatres selling sweets and ice-creams and eating many free. This was during the Great Depression of the 1930s and as my father was unemployed like many other tradesman. The 13 shillings and 4 pence I earned from the Chemist and the six shillings from the theatre was a big help in addition to the one guinea per week my father received. Before getting these jobs I used to bring home soup from the soup kitchens two or three times a week, carrying it two and bit miles home, barefoot. Couldn't afford shoes. Things were tough. My sister Betty was born in 1927. Any strangers entering Maryborough were given a food ration coupon at the local Police Station and told to move on to some other town. They used to walk to Mungar junction and 'jump the rattler' to get a free train ride to God knows where. They were often caught and thrown off.

The visit of His Grace the Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Church of Australiasia to Inskip Point on Wednesday 20 September 1939. From left: Anthony Moriaty (Wondai), John Black (Goomeri), Frank Ellisew (Tin Can Bay), Robert Walding (Ass. Lightkeeper - Inskip Point), Oscar Walding (Lightkeeper - Inskip Point), His Grace Archbishop Timotheos, Mrs Ada Walding (I.P.), Betty Walding (I.P.), Mick and John Patrick (Gympie), Sandy (kneeling - Tin Can Bay).

Visit of Archbishop Timotheos of Greece to Inskip in 1939. He is shown here on the outer beach of Inskip with the Patrick family, Greek cafe owners from Gympie who invited him.

Inskip Point was our salvation. We arrived there about 1933 for my father to take up his new position as light keeper. I was 14 and shortly met some local net fishermen and subsequently joined them to work the nets on a half-share. I also took a job in Tin Can Bay tending the diesel engine of the ice-plant and fish freezing store at 30 shillings per week plus all you could eat. No set hours to work, only a lot of them with only one day per week off. I was sick of that so it was back to professional net fishing for a few years up and down Sandy Straits at Fraser Island or running Gympie fishing cranks out in my own boat for the day.

Tin Can Bay - 1935.
Taken by Robert Walding using a Kodak 120 Folding Camera and Kodak Dufaycolor colour positive film.

Walding family and visitors. Back row: second from left Mrs Ada Walding (lightkeeper's wife), centre - Lightkeeper Oscar Walding. Front: second from left - Robert Walding (son), Betty (daughter). Robert Walding - sitting on his boat the "Wee-One" wityh his single-barrelled shotgun.

The ocean beach on Fraser Island from Hook Point north was a dangerous place in heavy S.E weather for fishermen’s launches and was not attempted in such weather but only in light S.E or easterly winds. Engine trouble in this area could be disastrous if a S.E. wind should spring up as there is no shelter along the eastern seaboard. We, as professional fishermen, often steamed in our 30 ft launches to the lagoon at Double Island Point in the search for net fish in commercial quantities. We used what was known as the “Fisherman’s Gutter” – shallow but safe in calm weather – as our course would be practically parallel to the beach that runs from Double Island Point to Inskip Point. But even this was not attempted in doubtful S.E or east weather as we had no radio communication in those pre-war years. When strong to gale force S.E winds had been blowing for a few days the Wide Bay Bar was impassable for even steam cargo ships proceeding south and they would have to anchor for sometimes up to three days until signals at Inskip for a safe crossing were hoisted on the flagstaff at the signal station. These signals were also semaphored to Inskip by the lightkeeper at the Hook Point signal station. When strong to gale force winds had been bowing onshore to Fraser Island’s east coast for a few days, the view of the bar area from Inskip across to Hook Point was a wall of white breakers and these, as high as a house, crashed on to the ocean seaboard beach of Fraser Island.

Lightkeeper's residence Inskip Point 1938. Lightkeeper's wife Mrs Ada walding is at the back door and Toby and Mike are fighting in the yard.

The lightkeeper’s house on Fraser Island was situated on the eastern shoreline some distance from the triangular black and white beacons for the Wide bay Passage. In the late 1930s a large new house was built a mile or so back from Hook Point and 100 yards towards the bush from the beach. I was employed as a builder’s labourer on this job.

As well as net fishing, I also relieved on the 40 foot Q.G. Edith in prewar years. The “Edith” was the Fisheries Inspector’s launch skippered by George H. Price out from Maryborough and serviced the Sandy Straits and Tin Can Bay areas. Mr Price often criticised my cooking abilities on these occasions. He said all I could do was boil eggs and not well at that. Usually he gave me the tiller of the launch while he cooked his own breakfast. My job was also to tend the Edith’s 3 cylinder Wilson engine which was pretty simple after years maintaining the engines at the iceworks. I heard that the Edith sank off Double Island Point in the Beverley Group.

During these pre-war years I also serviced the beacon lights in the Mary River, Sandy Straits and Stewart Island on the Q.G.M.L. Nellie. They were kerosene-fuelled double-burner lights – about 50 in all – some on shore beacons and the rest on sea beacons. I did this in a relieving capacity for 3 weeks at a time when the regular man was on leave. At all lights I would have two clean lamp glasses wrapped in a tea-towel inside my shirt and a half-gallon of kerosene in my hand. I would then jump from the “Nellie” into the small dinghy and row ashore or “scull” by oar, extinguish the light, trim both wicks, refill it with kerosene, fit new glasses (one to each beacon light), wrap the used glasses in the tea-towel and row back to the launch. For this job – with two lamp glasses under your shirt – you had to be sure-footed as a mountain 26at.

There was a special technique used for trimming wicks that my father taught me. He was “lampy” on some cargo ships in his earlier sea-faring days and knew that you never trimmed wicks with scissors as it tempting to do. You rubbed your thumb across the wick in one direction (left to right) after it had been turned down level with the top of the burner. Any other way would have made the flame uneven resulting in a “burn-up”. If this happened the glass would become sooted-up and blacked out and this would not be found out for a week. After trimming the wicks and refilling the lamp you would leave it burn for a few minutes to allow it to reach maximum flame height without smoking. Sooted-up lights are useless as a leading beacons and a real danger for cargo ships. We used to fill and trim lights from Maryborough to the last light in Sandy Straits on the way down and then double check that the lights were working properly on the way back.

As well as working on the Nellie, on several occasions I was also the relieving deckhand on the 90 foot steamer Q.G.S. “Relief” skippered by Captain James Wilson. I remember the feeling of pride as a lad of about 16 to 18 when skipper “Jim” would allow me to take the wheel all the way to the Mary River wharf on leads and signal the engine room movements until the ship berthed at the Maryborough wharf when I would signal “F.W.E.” (Finished With Engines). One of our jobs on the Relief was to take steel bottles of gas about 5 foot long from Maryborough to the Harbours and Marine lighthouse on Woody Island. There were nine bottles which landed on the north shore of Woody Island by lifeboat from the “Relief”. They were hauled up the steep slope by a horse on a railed trolley to the light. The light keeper in those days was Norm Price, brother of George H. Price (then Inspector of Fisheries) and brother of Eddie Price, fireman on the Relief. The crew also included: Don McGilvray - Engineer, Mick Teague - Bo's'un, and other deckhands Ernie Dau and Norm Lucas. The Port Master at the time Mr F. F. Roberts and the Harbour Masters were Captains’ Walter, Snewin, Murchie and John Douglas Gray.

Double Island Point taken from "Eight Mile Rocks" near where Rainbow Beach now is - about 8 miles south of Inskip: "I used to walk to Double Island Point lighthouse from Inskip to help unload the stores. We used a horse and sled to get them up the hill". Coloured sands between Inskip and Double Island Point (now known as The Coloured Sands): "My mother used to get me to collect the sand and she would sell little bottles of it to visitors".

I also relieved my father on the Inskip Point Light and Signal Station when he went on holidays, up to the outbreak of World War II. We had no radio in those days but had a portable gramophone and at night used to play popular records to the telephone exchange switch girls in Maryborough. They appreciated it as it killed monotony – theirs and mine. While I was in charge, in the day time I would go fishing and also trim the beacon lights for navigation across the Wide Bay Bar. Once my father was relieved by Hans “Honce” Bellert – a dugong fisherman and the last known aboriginal resident of the area we called “Bogimba”. In 1934, I remember looking for bush turkeys along the back shoreline at Inskip, about 200 yards past Bob’s Bight, and about 100 yards into the bush from the mangroves’ high water mark when I came across a grave. It was about 6 foot by 3 foot fenced with sawn hardwood timber about 2” x 1” properly spaced about chest high. There was no headstone – nothing else – to indicate who was buried there. I think the fence was erected to keep dingoes out. My mother said it was grave of her sister Emily - who died in the early 1890s. There were two other marked graves down on the Point. One was next to the coconut palm and fig tree near the house. Old-timers said this was a seaman’s grave. Another grave was in the bushy part leading to Pelican Banks. It was complete with a cross and chain surround on low posts and we used to paint the chain and cross white. Neither grave had any names on them.

Robert Walding piloting the 45' MV Miss Gladys to Tin Can Bay in 1938. The boat was owned by brothers Heinrich William Langer and Henry James Langer of Maryborough (proprietors of "Langer's Shoes" ). It was built in the backyard of their home at 119 March Street, Maryborough. The minesweeper HMAS Vigilant at Maryborough in 1941. Robert Walding worked on this ship while in port. Photo taken from the stern of HMAS Maryborough.

With the onset of the war, I worked on naval ships in Walkers Ltd Maryborough as an Electrical Assistant for one year clearing £15 per week, mostly in overtime when the normal wage was about £3 or so. At night during 1939-1940 I was a member of the Volunteer Coastal Patrol (from Scarness to Inskip Point which takes in Hervey Bay) - mainly patrols at night. This was commanded by Captain J. D. Gray, the Harbour Master at Maryborough in whose department my father worked. As the crew were from all types of jobs, most had no knowledge of the bay. With my experience at Inskip and as a fisherman I had a good local knowledge of all the channels in the patrolled area. I was given responsibility of an advisory nature. At that time, with the Japanese forces pushing towards Australia, it was all very necessary for early detection of a possible enemy infiltration.

Launch of the minesweeper HMAS Maryborough at Walkers Ltd, Maryborough in 1941: "I helped install the ship's wiring. I took this photo from the deck of QGS Relief on which I had worked as a deckhand".

Badge of the AOC. Diameter 20 mm.

I also joined the Volunteer Air Observer Corps in Maryborough commanded by the Department of Air and administered by the R.A.A.F. We had a spotting telescope with a 4 inch diameter objective commandeered from the University by the R.A.A.F for the duration of the war and this was mounted in the most suitable and highest tower that could be found. This was in the Royal Hotel tower in Kent Street, Maryborough. Our telephone was connected to R.A.A.F. Headquarters in Brisbane and if we rang the codeword through to Brisbane the phone connection was immediate. This of course was to be used only if an aircraft was heard or seen. Needless to say, the telescope commanded a highly magnified view of the goings-on in many hotel rooms in a wide sweep of the city. Many and lurid were the descriptions given by one observer to the other who came at a late hour to relieve and couldn't see anything. We tried to get another telescope but were unsuccessful.

Brisbane Base Watercraft workshops - Aust. Electrical and Mechanical Engineers - Apollo Road, Bulimba - 1945. Officers (from left): Captain Colin C. Winter; Lt John "Frosty" Winter (Adjutant); Colonel Sidney E. "Sammy" Samuels O. C.

I joined the Army on the 5th May 1942 with the 56 Australian A/A Battery employed as an electrician/welder and served until 4^th September 1946 mainly servicing searchlights at the Bulimba army workshops. During this time I got married (in 1943) and was able to visit Inskip Point when on leave. At war’s end I was asked to join the Harbours and Marine Department in Maryborough but stayed in Brisbane engaged in the electrical trade from then on.

My father, Oscar Walding, died on the 24^th November 1949, aged 62 at Inskip Point. He had coronary sclerosis and was buried at the Gympie Cemetery the following day. I was on the Coral Sea off Inskip Point when I heard the news. I had seen him for the last time on 16^th November when I called in enroute to Bowen in the Coral Sea.

I later served as shipyard electrician with Steamships Trading Company, Port Moresby, and as ship's electrician on John Burke’s passenger-cargo M.V. Waiben for a year or two as an electrical engineer on the Thursday Island run. The trip took three weeks and then I had a week off at home. My final maritime job was with the Department of Harbours and Marine. I was dock electrician at both the South Brisbane Dry Dock (now the Maritime Museum) and then the Cairncross Dock.

My father Robert Walding died in 1998.

The following map was drawn by Robert Walding in 1997 to show the relative locations of the buildings, the beach and the leads. The arrow indicating North was added later.

The centre photo (above) shows the palm tree with the kerosene "Oil Shed" in the background. The white posts at the lower left are part of the fence surrounding the signal flagstaff and flagshed. To the left of the lower part of the palm is the Lightkeeper's house and cypress pines. There was also a fig tree several yards to the south of the coconut palm and both trees were close to the kerosene shed (for lights and domestic use).

In May 1949 Oscar and Ada Walding took annual leave from Inskip and the Relieving Officer was C. J. Neilson from Maryborough. On 1st October 1949 the Inskip Lightkeeper Oscar (Robert) Walding became ill and was taken to Maryborough Hospital with a chronic lung condition. The Relieving Light Keeper at Inskip was Eric Turton who stayed until Oscar Walding's death in hospital on 25 November 1949. James Neilson Hunter took over that day and relieved until Norman Price arrived as permanent lightkeeper on 20th October 1950. Norm had been the lightkeeper at Woody Island in the Great Sandy Starits since 1945. In 1952 (5 August) the telegraph office at Inskip was closed as a radio telephone service was instigated to allow communication with Brisbane and other coast stations. However, the lightkeeper continued his duty caring for the lights. Permanent closure of the telegraph office was not until 1 August 1956 and Norm Price retired on 31 December that year. He died in May 1959. After Norm's departure from Inskip Stan Birtles was appointed lightkeeper and a new house was erected for him and his wife Irene. They stayed until 1974 when Roy Majors took over.

VISITOR'S BOOK ON-LINE
The Visitor's Book is now available on-line to researchers. The links below take you to each of the 83 pages.

Inside Front Cover
Page 0 - 26 March 1936 to 22 May 1936
Page 1 - 22 May 1936 to 8 July 1936
Page 2 - 3 August 1936 to 2 November 1936
Page 3 - 10 November 1936 to 4 January 1937
Page 4 - 4 January 1937 to 10 January 1937
Page 5 - 10 January 1937 to 31 January 1937
Page 6 - 9 February 1937 to 15 April 1937
Page 7 - 15 April 1937 to 31 July 1937
Page 8 - 31 July 1937 to 4 October 1937
Page 9 - 26 October 1937 to 7 November 1937
Page 10 - 7 November 1937 to 5 December 1937
Page 11 - 5 December 1937 to 26 December 1937
Page 12 - 5 December 1937 to 31 December 1937
Page 13 - 1 January 1938 to 6 March 1938
Page 14 - 1 January 1938 to 3 April 1938
Page 15 - 5 April 1938 to 20 April 1938
Page 16 - 5 May 1938 to 8 August 1938
Page 17 - 29 August 1938 to 28 September 1938
Page 18 - 18 October 1938 to 4 December 1938
Page 19 - 4 December 1938 to 28 December 1938
Page 20 - 1 January 1939 to 4 January 1939
Page 21 - 7 January 1939 to 9 April 1939
Page 22 - 9 April 1939 to 17 July 1939
Page 23 - 20 June 1939 to 29 July 1939
Page 24 - 10 August 1939 to 20 September 1939
Page 25 - 31 October 1939 to 24 December 1939
Page 26 - 26 December 1939 to 30 December 1939
Page 27 - 30 December 1939
Page 28 - 1 January 1940 to 10 January 1940
Page 29 - 20 January 1940 to 1 February 1940
Page 30 - 6 March 1940 to 31 May 1940
Page 31 - 22 March 1940 to 28 March 1940
Page 32 - 29 March 1940 to 26 May 1940
Page 33 - 16 June 1940 to 8 September 1940
Page 34 - 8 September 1949 to 10 October 1940
Page 35 - 21 October 1940 to 29 December 1940
Page 36 - 30 December 1940 to 11 January 1941
Page 37 - 20 January 1941 to 2 March 1941
Page 38 - 4 March 1941 to 13 May 1941
Page 39 - 30 May 1941 to 23 August 1941
Page 40 - 28 August 1941 to 12 October 1941
Page 41 - 26 October 1941 to 23 February 1942
Page 42 - 13 January 1942 to 14 March 1942
Page 43 - 16 March 1942 to 28 April 1943
Page 44 - 10 May 1942 to 9 July 1942
Page 45 - 19 July 1942 to 16 August 1942
Page 46 - 14 September 1942 to 22 November 1942
Page 47 - 24 November 1942 to 29 December 1942
Page 48 - 17 January 1943 to 2 March 1943
Page 49 - 20 March 1943 to 28 March 1943
Page 50 - 29 March 1943 to 24 April 1943
Page 51 - 1 May 1943 to 18 June 1943
Page 52 - 18 July 1943 to 5 January 1944
Page 53 - 5 January 1944 to 2 February 1944
Page 54 - 29 February 1944 to 7 April 1944
Page 55 - 18 April 1944 to 15 May 1944
Page 56 - 1 June 1944 to 27 July 1944
Page 57 - 13 August 1944 to 14 September 1944
Page 58 - 15 September 1944 to 24 September 1944
Page 59 - 30 September 1944 to 12 December 1944
Page 60 - 15 December 1944 to 4 May 1945
Page 61 - 4 March 1945 to 14 June 1945
Page 62 - 3 July 1945 to 12 December 1945
Page 63 - 18 December 1945 to 25 December 1945
Page 64 - 26 December 1945 to 2 February 1946
Page 65 - 17 February 1946 to 3 June 1946
Page 66 - 5 June 1946 to 6 September 1946
Page 67 - 14 August 1946 to 11 December 1946
Page 68 - 21 December 1946 to 6 February 1947
Page 69 - 19 February 1947 to 18 May 1947
Page 70 - 31 May 1947 to 6 October 1947
Page 71 - 21 October 1947 to 23 December 1947
Page 72 - 26 December 1947 to 28 December 1947
Page 73 - 30 December 1947 to 13 April 1948
Page 74 - 15 April 1948 to 27 June 1948
Page 75 - 4 July 1948 to 18 August 1948
Page 76 - 22 August 1948 to 9 February 1949
Page 77 - 5 December 1948 to 14 December 1948
Page 78 - 19 December 1948 to 31 December 1948
Page 79 - 2 January 1949 to 15 April 1949
Page 80 - 10 April 1949 to 11 June 1949
Page 81 - 11 June 1949 to 19 July 1949
Page 82 - 1 August 1949 to 16 November 1949.
Page 83 - no entries. Death of Lightkeeper. End of Journal.
Letter re telephone accounts
Last Page
Inside Back Cover
Back Cover

1. Goodman, Jordan (2005). The Rattlesnake: A Voyage of Discovery in the Coral Sea. London: Faber & Faber (ISBN 0571 210732).

2. The National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection: G. H. Inskip - Records Ref MS 3784 Description - Journal kept from 8 March 1849 - 3 November 1850. For much of this period Inskip served on HMS Bramble the tender to the Rattlesnake. 260 pages.


The only coconut palm at Inskip Point in 1902 showing Pilot's cottage. Devoy photo.	The fig tree and coconut palm in 1925. The Pilot's Cottage has been removed and only the Lightkeeper's Cottage remains. Bauer photo.	The same fig and coconut palm taken in 1949 with the kerosene "oil shed" to the right. The Lightkeeper's Cottage is just visible in the centre distance. Walding photo.	Still only one coconut palm tree on the Point in September 1993. The fig tree is long gone. Walding photo.	In the roundabout - October 2009. Walding photo.


Pilot's Cottage 1902	Unloading at Inskip 1902	Former cottage site - Inskip 2009


The HMS Rattlesnake depicted near the reefs of the Louisiades to the north of Australia on 14 June 1849. While the Rattlesnake hauled off and waited, Lieutenant Yule of the tender Bramble (to the left) examined the opening in one of his boats. State Library of NSW.	HMS Rattlesnake, painted by Sir Oswald Walters Brierly, 1853. National Maritime Museum, London.


Solar powered beacon with Fraser Island to the right.	We passed over this sandbank two hours earlier.


Emily and Samuel Reilly - 1906	Samuel Reilly - 1906 - in the swamp behind the Comboyuro Lighthouse


Emily Reilly's grave at Inskip Point. Photo by Natasha Cooper, Kingaroy, 1994.	Dr. Richard Walding at the grave of his Great Aunt Emily Reilly. Photo by Alan Marrs - Oct 2009 Location: S 25° 48' 44.4", E 153° 03' 34.3"


Me and Alan Marrs (right) - just near Garry's Anchorage on Fraser Island, south of White Cliff.	Commodore Alan Marrs and deckhand John Oates passing along Boult's Gutter. Whew, that's shifted.


The Ide anchored at Inskip Point as the crew come ashore in a dingy - 24 April 1902. Photo: Jack Devoy. Annotations by Robert Walding 1934.	The beach at Inskip Point with Snout Point, Fraser Island in the distance - 4th October 2009. Photo: Richard Walding.


Launching the Ide off the Flinders at South White Cliff - Sunday 25th April 1902. When the Flinders ceased visiting Maryborough in 1920 the passenger trade almost died (although cargo ships still came).	Here we are launching our boat at Tuan Creek because the tide was too low at Poonah Creek. On Saturday 4 May 1902 the Ide left Tin Can Bay and headed for Poona but the tide was too low for them to land there.


The Ide at Leftwich's Oyster Lease - 3rd May 1902. He was one of the first to take up the Government's option of buying oyster leases.	Leftwich & Sons oyster lease area outside Tuan Creek. Nothing left of the oyster operation now.


Some fishing for the crew of the Ide at South White Cliff at 8am Sunday morning on the 5th May 1902.	South White Cliff is just to the left of centre, now overgrown. The Ide was dropped off from the Flinders here on 25th April 1902.


Lightkeeper's Cottage with fernhouse on left. About 1926.	Lightkeeper's Cottage - 1926.


The Ide moored in Yankee Jack Creek on 3rd April 1902. The creek was named after Jack Piggott who harvested timber for the Pettigrew's Dundathu Mill near Maryborough in 1863.	John and Alan - up Yankee Jack Creek. "Yankee Jack" Piggott was speared and killed by an aborigine at Rooney's Point in 1864 where it was suspected that he had gone to engage in blackbirding (the kanaka trade).


The entrance to Yankee Jack Creek was hard to see.	A small hut on Moonboom Island.


The Ide's crew - fishing at Tin Can Bay - 3rd May 1902.	Fishing boats today at Tin Can Bay - 2009.


The Ide's crew having a rest at Garry's Anchorage - 30 April 1902.	We stopped at Garry's Anchorage for morning tea.


The Ide off Poona - Thursday 1st May 1902. They couldn't land because it was low tide.	Looking over to Fraser Island from Poona at high tide - 2009. Photo Lee Marrs.


Poona at high tide looking south east to Inskip Point. Photo Lee Marrs.	You can launch a dinghy from Poona when the tide's in. The Marrs' bungalow in the background. Photo: Lee Marrs.


Big Woody Lighthouse. The Ide reached there in the afternoon of the 26th April 1902 and did some rabbit shooting the next morning. There were two principal lights on Big Woody Island.	We didn't make it to Big Woody Light as the strong NE wind was making life difficult. Marius Coomans let me have this colourful photo from his visit.


Supplies being taken to Hook Point light and signal station from Inskip Point. The Ide again dropped in on the Reilly and Gorman families on the 2nd May. The Ide's logbook said "Inskip Point – Commodore departs for Brisbane on passing ship. Quiet rest at Inskip for rest of day".	Two ferries takes cars and supplies over to Fraser Island from Inskip Point.


Heather Zalet (later Walding) beside Norm Laidlaw's boat in 1942. This was one of the Maheno's lifeboats wrecked during a SE gale on Fraser Island in 1935.	Hundreds of Japanese tuna fishing floats washed up on the beach at Inskip. They were very popular with visitors to the station.	Cpl Robert Walding's meat Ration Card 1948.


"Back Beach" at Inskip Point - 20 September 1993 - about 250 m from the tip. This is a good anchorage for launches of shallow draught of about 3 feet.	Looking SE along "Back Beach" in October 2009. Not much has changed as it is not subject to any slip. This is the beginning of the Pelican Bank Spit which continues on the right back towards the Point.


Running Repairs at Inskip Back Beach. This 10 foot dinghy was originally owned by J. W. Clark, the "Pearl King" of Thursday Island. He discarded it at Double Island Point in 1937 and it was recovered half-submerged, with planks missing, by local fishermen who towed it to Inskip Point where it was given to Oscar Walding. Oscar and his son Robert replanked it all over "with much swearing and arguments" and turned it into a useful boat. It finally fell apart in Manly Boat Harbour in 1970.	Lightkeeper's wife Mrs Ada Walding and her son Robert on Inskip outer beach pre-war collecting surf worms. The station dogs were Toby (being carried because of old age, and Mike).	Inskip Point - back yard of the Light and Signal Station in 1937. Ada Walding's fish-cleaning bench is beside the tree; the kerosene shed is on the left, and signal flag shed on the right.


Haul of good-sized sea mullet on foreshore of Inskip Point - 1948. Lightkeeper's wife Mrs Ada May Walding (née Reilly) is on far right.	Mrs Ada May Walding drawing garden water from the well and pumping it into tank. There were three 1000 gallon fresh-water tanks at the house but in the dry season professional fishermen would call and fill several 4-gallon tins of water at a time. Mt family was able to pump up enough for their own use as it was drinkable (just). It was about 9 ft deep with about 2 ft of permanent water.


The Flagstaff 1939. The signal flags were used to advise cargo ships proceeding south of the state of seas on the Wide Bay Bar. A No. 3 flag being "not so good" and a No. 4 was a "definite no-go south".	Signals Chart - drawn by Robert Walding - 9 November 1939