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Grassy Island
HISTORY
Grassy Island
Grassy Island was named in 1866 by Commander G. S. Nares, RN, in HMS Salamander
though apparently not without some to-ing and fro-ing. The sailing
master on Salamander, Thomas Hayman, provided a draft set of sailing
directions for the Whitsunday area to the Port Denison Times at Bowen
during a visit there by the vessel and these were published on 13 October 1866.
Therein this island was referred to as 'Ackhurst Island' and today's Arkhurst
Island near Hayman Island as 'Ackhurst Rock' (Ackhurst was one of the crew; see
Akhurst Island). The same directions described Grassy Island as covered in
grass with a few trees at its summit.
Nares' final survey charts showed the island with its present name which no
doubt was changed to avoid confusion between the two suggested Ackhurst namings.
The naming no doubt was influenced by the description given above.
The various 'grassy' islands in the area are a natural occurrence and are not the result of clearing by white settlers as is sometimes thought. For example HMS Alert's 1881 charts of Port Molle describe both North and South Molle Islands as 'grassland'. The reason why these grasslands should exist in an otherwise heavily wooded area is not clear. It does however seem certain that the Aboriginal practice of firing the islands to flush out or kill game may have maintained or encouraged grassy areas by killing off trees which otherwise may have flourished.
It does seem that if left undisturbed the forests will over-grow these grasslands. In 1819 when Lieutenant P. P. King, RN, in HMS Mermaid climbed to the summit of Pine Head on Pine Island he did so through long grass which reached up to his middle but little grass exists today on the island which now is heavily wooded. Because of the grass, those islands which carry it have been leased over the years as grazing properties carrying everything from chinchilla rabbits through pigs, goats, horses, sheep and cattle.
Settlement
Maurice Abell 1917- 1919
Maurice Abell was a son of T. R. Abell who settled Jubilee Pocket in
1904. With his brother Stuart, Maurice bought sheep from a former occupier
of the Molle Group, Bill Cooke, and took up occupation licence 420 over Grassy
Island from 7 September 1917 but the 1918 cyclone upset their plans and the
licence was forfeited and the island re-opened for occupation on 14 February
1919 as OL459.
Cyril George Iago 1922- 1924
Iago, of Gunnewin near Injune in Queensland (name sometimes shown as 'Jago')
had OL459 from 10 August 1922 but the island was open again for re-occupation on
1 March 1924. Nothing more is known of Iago.
Arthur Bull 1924- 1926
Arthur (' Sailor') Bull of Mackay and later Bowen held occupation licence
OL480 from 16 October 1924. He also had a lease of Armit Island.
Alfred Frederick Emanuel (Boyd) Lee 1929- 1939
Lee held the island from 3 April 1929 under occupation licence 518. Born at
Ravenswood on 3 May 1884, he came with his parents to the Preston area in the
early 1900s and while in those early days he tried his hand at a farming life
his first love was the sea. He and his three brothers, Alfred (Jum), Len and
Herb became well known as fishermen and dugong and crocodile catchers
(Proserpine Guardian 15 May 1926, 26 June 1926), Boyd becoming known as
'Alligator' Lee. Eventually he elected to take up a fishing career and in March
1924 bought the 10.5 metre launch Reliance from a syndicate of owners in
Bowen (Bowen
Independent 15 March 1924) and in her fished Whitsunday waters
extensively.
In 1927 he married Mary Ann Davidson in Townsville and their son
Reliance was born there, he being named after Boyd's boat. At about the same
time he decided to give up his seaborne fishing life and sold his licence to the
Volskow brothers (Bowen Independent 9 September 1930). Thereafter he
moved to Grassy Island with his wife, Reliance and three of Mrs Lee's children
from a former marriage, Joan, Phillip and Gladys. Their first house was a grass
hut of substantial size behind the beach on the southern side of the island but
later a moreconventional house was built a little to the east of the grass hut.
While still fishing to supply their needs the Lee's introduced goats to the
island and the Bowen Independent of 9 September 1930 talks of their
having four acres under mixed fruits. From 31 December 1930 he obtained a
special lease 6651 for 14 years, though Lands Department records show this lease
extended for 1 1/ 2 years to expire on 29 June 1946.
Over the years a number of galvanised iron huts were built to the west of the
house for tourist accommodation and a 'dance-hall' also was added. This was part
of Boyd's plan for a tourist resort on the island and in his boats Reliance and
Defiance he ran tourists from Cannon Valley to his island (Proserpine Guardian
23 September 1933, 28 October 1933).
In 1933 Norman W. Caldwell moved to the island from New South Wales where he had been involved in an unsuccessful commercial shark-catching business at Port Stephens, Marine Industries Ltd. With him he brought his 5.5 metre boat Normede and for a living caught sharks for their skin and oil. Associated with Caldwell was a Mr Brockie and together they were to set up Australian Fish, Meat, Oil and Hide Company (Bowen Independent 29 June 1934, 1 October 1934, 17/ 28 December 1934) though nothing seems to have come of this venture.
In 1937 the Lees moved to Cannonvale and according to newspaper reports of the time Caldwell leased the island (Proserpine Guardian 26 June 1937, 11 September 1937, 12 March 1938, 17 March 1938) until 1938 when he moved to Hayman Island (Proserpine Guardian 2 July 1938). It seems however Caldwell only rented the island from Lee for the period rather than taking over the lease as it remained in Lee's name and he was trying to sell it in 1939.
Caldwell took to writing and told of his experiences in the Whitsundays in Fangs
of the Sea, published in 1939 which he wrote in collaboration with Norman
Ellison, and Titans of the Barrier Reef.
In November 1938 it was reported by national park rangers that the house was
open and empty of furniture and many goats roamed the island but a year later,
in November 1939, the house was burnt down (Proserpine Guardian 18
November 1939). At the time Mrs Lee and Reliance were there but neither was
injured. The site of the house is clearly indicated in 1994 about half-way along
the south-facing beach. Many relics of the occupation can be found; four
date-palm trees remain of eight which sat in front of the house; old fence and
building posts still stand and the well from which they drew their water is
still in evidence.
During the 1930s the State Government was resuming many leased islands and declaring them national parks but correspondence of the time shows they were not then interested in Grassy Island and presumably Lee abandoned the lease in 1939 and the island reverted to vacant Crown land with some interest in purchasing it in 1964 byGeorge Heywood, a friend of the Lees, who sought a pastoral lease. This application obviously sparked off a public auction of the island by the Government on 3 September 1964 at the Proserpine Court House and it was sold not to Heywood but to Alexander Craigsmith.
Alexander Craigsmith 1964- 1965
On 3 September 1964 at a public auction of Grassy Island a Canberra man,
Alexander Craigsmith bid an annual rental of $600 for the lease, SL28760 over
260 acres for ten years from 3 September 1964. Craigsmith was reported to be a
real estate agent in Canberra. At the time he did not reveal what he intended to
do with the island but the terms of the lease did not permit its being developed
as a tourist resort (Proserpine Guardian 3 April 1964). However nothing
eventuated and Council records by 1965 showed rates in arrears and the lease
lapsed.
Herbert Charles Liddell 1969- 1977
On 1 July 1969 Liddell, who came from Burnett Heads, was granted a 30 year
lease (SL33164) over 1012 square metres behind the beach on the western side of
the island, it being his intention to erect there a cottage and a coral shop.
However in the event nothing was done with the area and following Liddell's
death the lease was forfeited on 17 June 1977 for non-payment of rent and
non-compliance with lease terms. In 1977 it was recommended the island be made a
national park and this was finally gazetted on 24 January 1980, the gazettal
including adjacent Little Grassy Island and Edwin Rock.
The Information on the Whitsunday Islands is reproduced by kind permission of Mr. Ray Blackwood from his book:
" The Whitsunday Islands An Historical Dictionary ".
Please visit his site here. It is well worth the time!