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Hamilton Island
HISTORY
Hamilton Island
Commander G. S. Nares, RN, in HMS Salamander carried
out extensive surveys of the Whitsunday Passage in 1866 prior to which Admiralty
charts showed Dent Island and Hamilton Island as one island, crudely
outlined, under the name 'Passage Island'.
Nares charted the channel between the two islands, defined the outline of Dent Island and gave it its name. He also defined the western coast of the today's Hamilton Island and named Passage Peak thereon, following on from Passage Island. Nares survey chart gave no name to today's Hamilton Island though sailing directions handed to the Port Denison Times by Salamander's sailing master, Thomas Hayman, ( Port Denison Times 13 October 1866) referred to it as 'Passage Island'.
The survey did not cover the eastern side of the island and when BA347 was
amended in 1866 to include the survey, it gave Nares' refined outline to the
western shore and showed the name 'Passage Peak' for the first time but retained
for the eastern side the same crude outline which had appeared previously for
Passage Island. No name was shown for the island on that chart.
In 1868 Commander H. M. Bingham, RN, in HMS Virago carried out a
more detailed survey of the eastern side of the island, giving it its modern
shape and putting adjacent Perseverance and Young Islands on the
map. His survey chart shows the name 'Hamilton Island' for the first time.
As to the origin of the name 'Hamilton', the Port Denison Times of 30 March 1867 reports a cricket match between the crew of Salamander and a Bowen side on 27 March 1867. The surnames of the two sides are given and include a 'Hamilton' on Salamander' s team (he scored a total of 3 runs during the match which was won by the ship's team, 69 to 62).
This may have been Sub-Lieutenant Sydney A. R. Hamilton whose name appears in navy lists of 1866- 67 for HMS Curacoa which was on the Australia station at the time. There was some interchange of crew between the two ships as witness Duke D. Yonge of Curacoa who temporarily commanded Salamander before Nares' arrival. Hamilton's name does not appear on navy lists for Salamander but temporary inter-changes often were not recorded in the lists. This was the case with Yonge whose time on Salamander was revealed by sources other than the lists.
It is a feature of Nares' survey that the names given originally on his chart
and in sailing directions were not all adopted and obviously there were some
changes of mind between first and final namings. Thus it is possible the naming
of Hamilton Island, though appearing first on Virago' s survey chart may
have in fact originated from Salamander. It is significant also that
Nares gave names of his crew to many islands in the area and as there obviously
was a 'Hamilton' among his crew it is a not unreasonable assumption that is
where the name originated.
Settlement
Hugh Percival (Percy) Kean 1897- 1898
Percy Kean wrote to the Lands Department on 7 February 1896 requesting
the island be opened for occupation (Queensland State Archives LAN/ S151), at
which time his address was 'Long Island' over which he held an occupation
licence. His application was given a provisional number of OL10 and the island
gazetted open on 18 April 1896 with OL93 granted to him on 19 July 1897. Kean
also owned occupation licences over the Molle Group as well as Hamilton
Island and Long Island.
His personal details are given under Long Island. While it is not clear, it seems certain Kean placed sheep on Hamilton Island but it is unlikely he lived there in any permanent sense.
James Augustus Gorringe 1898- 1913
OL93 was transferred to James Augustus Gorringe on 28 December 1898 (Queensland State Archives LAN/ S13, Folio 99) and letters to the Lands Department from him during that year request permission to erect improvements.
Gorringe came from Charters Towers, Post Office directories of the mid 1890s showing his occupation as 'share broker and surveyor'. In 1893 he was a partner in the share-broking firm of Gorringe and Thorp in Charters Towers while the Register of Mining History shows him as director of several gold mining companies from 1887 through to 1897. There were a number of Gorringe brothers in Queensland and Frank A. Gorringe, surveyor, also lived at Charters Towers.
While the lease over Hamilton Island was in J. A. Gorringe's name, his brother Thomas Edward Gorringe also lived there as indicated by Post Office directories of the time which also show them as 'Gorringe Brothers'.
The evidence is that the Gorringe brothers did reside on Hamilton Island but for how long is not known. In the Government publication The Cruise of the Gulnare which took place in September 1912 it is stated there was no one on the island 'which had been occupied until recently for sheep-raising ... the buildings were intact and there were fruit trees'. Clearly the Gorringes lived in a permanent sense on the island. The lease rental was paid until 1913 indicating an interest in the island until that time.
Some old-timers say Daniel Sydney Boughton owned the island in the early 1900s and indeed in his purchase of an occupation licence over Cid Island in August 1910 his address is shown as 'Hamilton Island'. However no record can be found of a formal tenure by Boughton so perhaps he acted as caretaker on the island for the Gorringes or perhaps there was some loose sale arrangement between them. Boughton was from the Hughenden district and possibly knew the Gorringes before his time in the Whitsundays (see Cid Island).
With the end of the Gorringe's tenure, the island was gazetted open to occupation again on 23 May 1914.
Thomas Andrew Walmsley 1915- 1916.
Walmsley, who was the father of Frances Walmsley, the first wife of Wally
Bauer of South Molle Island, was granted occupation licence 385 on 9 February
1915. However he did not pay the rent for 1917 and the island was re-opened to
occupation. It is not known whether he lived on the island.
Walmsley was a farmer who came to the area in about 1915 after arriving from England in about 1912. In later years he was a weighbridge clerk at the Proserpine sugar mill and later still was a clerk to the Cane Prices Board. He died in October 1964 (Proserpine Guardian 9 October 1964).
Henry Crawshay Sterry 1917- 1919
On 17 April 1917 OL416 was transferred to Henry Crawshay Sterry who also
owned the lease over the Molle Islands at that time. There is the story that
Sterry and Walmsley were partners of some kind in this and the South Molle
venture but there seems no evidence to support it nor is it clear what either of
them did with the island which was re-opened foroccupation on 6 February 1920 as
OL445.
Frank Wylde Ball 1920- 1928
F. W. Ball (sometimes referred to as Dr. Ball) took up OL445 on 17 May 1920.
Post Office directories for the years prior to 1920 show him as a consulting
engineer in Brisbane so it is possible he may not have been a medical doctor.
With his wife and daughter he moved to the island, the Bowen Independent of
8 November 1924 saying he had resided there for 'over a year' thus indicating
they took up residence in 1923. Ball built a house in the saddle behind what
today is Hamilton Harbour. By all accounts the house was a large and attractive
one for the time, as confirmed in photographs, but was destroyed in cyclone Ada
in 1970.
Ball, who seemed to have been something of a radical, intended to grow papaws and make a cancer cure from the milky sap in the stems and the Bowen Independent of 8 November 1924 says he was engaged in cancer research on the island. It is also said he had a relationship in this project with Billy Nicklin of Lindeman Island.
The family were still on the island in October 1925 when Ball had to be taken to Bowen in John Feeney's launch Soviet, suffering from appendicitis. His wife and daughter remained on the island on that occasion (Bowen Independent 31 October 1925).
Ball also had an occupation licence over Henning Island from 1923 to
1925.
Stanley Eric Polglass and John Macdonald OBE 1928- 1950
OL445 passed to Polglass and Macdonald on 20 September 1928 but immediately
was transferred on to Macdonald. The reason for this is unknown but both men
were tenants in common of Haslewood and Lupton Islands from 1926
to 1928 and there obviously was some financial association. Polglass later was
to become a manager for Macdonald on Hamilton Island.
Macdonald was born in Scotland in 1882 and gained his medical degree at the University of Edinburgh. He came to Australia before World War 1, during which he enlisted in the Australian Army Medical Corps, serving at Gallipoli. After the war he remained in England working at hospitals there and was awarded the OBE in 1919 for his services to medicine. In 1920 he returned to Australia and took up medical practice at Ayr, with a keen interest in tropical medicine. In Ayr he became owner of the private hospital 'Rosslyn'.
Macdonald did not live on the island for most of the years he owned it, though he and his wife Isabel and their family often spent holiday periods there and in 1947 he and his wife retired there.
Over those years he employed a number of managers; Stanley Polglass, Dick Kent, Jum (Alf ) Lee, Albert William Soden, J. A. Cock, Dan Paterson who died at the house, Ray and Beryl Buschel, R. C. M. W. Traill who, at age 80, was killed in a shooting accident on the island on 23 February 1950. During the Macdonald era a shearing shed was built, also in the saddle but north of the house.
On 19 October 1929 OL445 was surrendered and replaced by special lease 6118 for 14 years from 7 January 1930 (Queensland State Archives LAN/ U17).
In 1931 the island carried about 700 sheep and had an extensive agricultural
area carrying bananas, papaws, citrus etc. The then manager, Albert Soden had
plans to raise pigs and to increase banana production particularly as there were
plans for a banana-flour mill in Mackay at the time (' The Cruise of the
Symbol', Proserpine Guardian 13 June 1931). On 22 May 1937 the Proserpine
Guardian reported Macdonald was intending to stock the island with cattle.
When SL6118 expired in January 1944 Macdonald was granted an occupation licence
(OL597) on a year by year basis (Proserpine Shire Council Rate Book Alterations,
1914Ð 1943).
In September 1947 Dr. Macdonald retired from his medical practice in Ayr and he and his wife moved to the island to reside there permanently (Proserpine Guardian 1 September 1947) but by early 1950 Macdonald was in bad health and returned to Ayr where he died on 23 April 1950 (Ian Macdonald).
Before Macdonald's death Skip Moody, who earlier had owned the lease on Daydream
Island, had been interested in Hamilton Island but was deterred by the fact
that the island was held under occupation licence only which gave no security of
tenure over the improvements existing there. Both Macdonald and Moody sought a
more secure lease from the Lands Department and this being arranged, Moody
bought the lease and Mrs Macdonald returned to Ayr and later went to Brisbane
(Proserpine Guardian 8 September 1950).
Macdonald also had leases over Haslewood and Henning Islands, from about the
same date as he acquired Hamilton Island.
Percy Harry (Skip) Moody 1951
Skip Moody owned Daydream Island from 1941 to 1947 before selling out to
Barrier Reef Islands Pty Ltd (Ansett) after which he returned to Brisbane.
However in July 1950 he returned and bought Hamilton Island from the
estate of the late Dr. Macdonald (Proserpine Guardian 28 July 1950),
taking up residence in September 1950 (Proserpine Guardian 8 September
1950) although the actual sale was not finalised until 28 February 1951
(Proserpine Shire Council Alterations to Rate Book 1949Ð 1952).
The sale was of OL597 over the whole island (1920 acres Ð 777 ha) but in response to representations made by Moody (and Macdonald before his death) Moody was granted a new special lease 17797 for 20 years from 1 June 1951 over 44 acres where the house and improvements stood and OL597 was reduced to 1335 acres from 1 June 1951. The new area of the licence arose from a recalculation of the area of the island from 1920 acres to 1550 acres and the exclusion of the special lease area of 44 acres and the declaration of 171 acres of esplanade around the foreshores.
Moody's idea was to take up some grazing as Macdonald had done and to build
some cottages to create a tourist resort like Daydream but while he built
several cottages, costs soon defeated him and in December 1951 he sold the lease
to A. B. Littler and returned to Surfers Paradise where he built a motel,
'Compass Rose' and a block of flats, 'Red Sails'. He died at the age of 85 in
1978 (see also Daydream Island).
Alexander Bruce Littler 1951- 1961
On 13 November 1951 Littler bought SL17797 and OL597 and moved there with
his wife Kay and two children from a sheep property at Wagga Wagga (Proserpine Guardian
7 December 1951). He was in semi-retirement and chose only to run about 100
cattle on the island. Kay Littler however did not like life on the island and
returned to Brisbane where she took up interior decorating and eventually
puppetry with considerable success eventually moving to the Gold Coast and the
Isle of Capri. Bruce Littler left the island in 1959 and departed to live at
Magnetic Island.
Ronald William Vigar and Eugenia Vigar 1961- 1975
The Vigars bought the lease and licence on 30 September 1961 and came to
live there with their three children. They were from a Broken Hill sheep
property Bijerkerno the ownership of which they retained. They had bought
the lease to Paradise Bay on Long Island in 1957 and were still the
owners when they bought the tenures to Hamilton Island. However Eugenia (Jenny)
did not like life there and left to live on the Gold Coast.
Vigar married again to his second wife, June, but did not do a great deal with the island though he also bought the lease to the O'Haras' old grazing run on Dent Island in 1968. He and his wife lived on Hamilton Island but frequently went back to their Broken Hill property, particularly at shearing time. On 1 June 1969 Vigar was granted a new special lease 33094 in his own name for 30 years covering the area of OL597 and SL17797 (543.35 ha), both of which were surrendered.
During cyclone Ada on the night of 17 January 1970 the homestead was totally destroyed. The Vigars were south at the time and on their return occupied one of the tourist cottages built by Skip Moody.
Vigar sold the property in 1973 to Sebastian Properties Pty Ltd and returned to his Broken Hill property.
Sebastian Properties Pty Ltd 1973
Sebastian Properties bought the lease on 2 August 1973 and at the same
time purchased Vigar's pastoral holding on Dent Island. However they did nothing
with Hamilton Island and in 1973 placed it back on the market and Ron Vigar
re-purchased it in about October 1973.
R. W. Vigar 1973
As before, the Vigars came to live on the island for part of the year,
residing in a caravan on the foreshore where Hamilton Harbour now lies. In the
meantime Vigar had bought Paringa a station adjoining Bijerkerno.
In October 1975 Vigar sold the lease to Keith Williams and Bryan Byrt and
having sold both Bijerkerno and Paringa moved to the Sunshine
Coast, firstly to Old Woman Island where their residence was destroyed by a
cyclone in 1976 and later to a property inland from Nambour. In 1978 they moved
to the Atherton Tableland and in 1991 were living on a property near Malanda
(Ron Vigar).
Hamilton Island Enterprises Pty Ltd 1975
In 1975 the grazing lease to the island was bought by Keith Williams and
Bryan Byrt via a shelf company, Star Kingdom No. 112 Pty Ltd. The name has no
relevance to the owners and several years later it was changed to Hamilton
Island Enterprises Pty Ltd. Williams then was the owner of the Gold Coast
tourist attraction, Sea World, the Adelaide Raceway, Marineland at Tweed Heads
and the Surfers Paradise Raceway. Bryan Byrt owned the biggest Ford dealership
in Queensland.
Williams and Byrt at first had displayed an interest in the resorts at Daydream Island and South Molle Island but finally decided to start from scratch on an undeveloped island, hence their purchase of the lease on Hamilton Island. An initial idea was to raise deer on the island and a number were placed there but in 1978 Byrt died of cancer and Williams assumed sole ownership by buying out Byrt's interest.
Williams then went ahead with a plan to start a major tourist resort on the
island and after gaining Government approval was given a perpetual country lease
NCL2803 from 1 April 1981 over 660.268 ha (Lots 8,9,12) being the whole of the
island and a special lease 43971 for 75 years from the same date over 36.7 ha
(Lot 11) being the seabed area in the bay on the western side of the island
where today's Hamilton Harbour was to be constructed. These leases replaced the
previous SL33094 and were in the name of Hamilton Island Enterprises Pty Ltd.
Development started immediately on construction of the harbour by dredging the
reef flat in the seabed lease area and as it developed and transport of building
materials to the island was facilitated, construction on the island itself
proceeded apace. The first phase was opened by the Premier of Queensland, Sir
Joh Bjelke Petersen on 18 December 1982 and the first guests arrived in January
1983. Succeeding phases of development continued with a second opening ceremony
on 8 December 1984 by the Premier.
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!