Historical Australian Towns: King Island, TAS: On The Western Side of Bass Strait

King Island is located in the centre of the Bass Strait, 80 kilometres off the north-western tip of Tasmania. The island is 64 kilometres long and 27 kilometres wide.

Currie, the largest town and administrative centre, is on the west coast of the island. The township of Grassy, is on the island's east coast. And, The village of Naracoopa is situated on the east coast.

About 12000 Years Ago

King Island was originally part of a land bridge linking Tasmania to mainland Australia that was submerged around 12,000 years ago by rising sea levels.

The island was not occupied by Aboriginal people at the time of the arrival of Europeans. However, in September 1989, during archaeological excavations in caves on King Island, a human skeleton was discovered of an Aboriginal person dated to approximately 14,000 years ago. At this time, King Island was linked to both Tasmania and mainland Australia.

Aboriginal canoes were made of three to five large rolls of bark or reed, shaped and tied together with fibre cord, and were probably not robust enough to make it as far as King Island through the dangerous Bass Strait waters.

The shoreline of Tasmania and Victoria about 14,000 years ago as sea levels were rising, showing some of the human archaeological sites. www.takver.com

1780s

Bass Strait was charted by George Bass and Matthew Flinders in 1798.

1, Matthew Flinders was an English navigator who charted much of the Australian coast. 2. George Bass was a British naval surgeon and explorer of AustraliaIn 1798. Finders and Bass sailed around Van Diemen‘s Land and proved that it was an island.

1790s

Captain William Campbell of the Deptford sighted King Island in 1797.

King Island was sighted in 1798 by Captain Reed while hunting seals in the schooner Martha.

1800s

Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954)

The Margaret sailed through Bass Strait, commanded by Captain Buyers from England, arriving in Sydney on February 7th, 1801.

Governor King sent Lieutenant Grant of the Lady Nelson to investigate places reported by the Harbinger and the Margaret in March 1801. Grant noticed many "sea elephants" (Macrorhinus proboscideus) on King Island.

The Lady Nelson, Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954)

in September 1801 sealers onboard the Harrington set off for King Island.

Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954)

In December 1802, French ships sent by Napoléon Bonaparte under Commander Nicholas Baudin arrived on King Island. This expedition included scientists, artists, mineralogists and two geographers.

The zoologist on the ship, Francois Peron, later claimed the role f the expedition was to spy on this British outpost and report the likelihood of inspiring its Irish population and Aboriginal peoples to revolt and aid in a French takeover. Read more

Le Geographc and Le Naturaliste. The Baudin expedition of 1800 to 1803 was a French expedition to map the coast of New Holland (now Australia)

Governor King was so alarmed by the French naval expeditions, the intentions of Napoleon, and Peron's talk about establishing a settlement on King Island, that he ordered Van Dieman’s Land be secured for Britain.

The British flag was quickly raised on King Island as Lieutenant Charles Robbins took possession of King Island in the name of King George.

Baudin took a male and female dwarf emu from King Island back to Paris, where they were to become the last of the species, surviving until 1822.

By 1813 Seals and Sea Elephants were completely wiped out.

1820s

From 1825 Tasmania was governed independently and King Island became a dependency of Tasmania.

Hobart Town Gazette (Tas. : 1825 - 1833), Saturday 1 July 1826

1830s

From the 1800s to the early 1930s, a shipwreck occurred about every second year, but many ships' captains still decided to risk the dangerous waters of Bass Strait to shorten the trip to Sydney.

King Island is also directly in the path of the "Roaring Forties", which are extremely powerful westerly winds that blow in the Southern Hemisphere between latitudes 40° and 50°.

About 5 a.m. on 13 May 1835, a three-masted barque, Neva, transporting convicts to Australia, hit a reef northwest of King Island and broke up. Twenty-two survivors on rafts drifted ashore onto the northern end of King Island, but seven then died of exposure "aided if not abetted by the inordinate use of rum".

The ship Neva, Capricornian (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1875 - 1929),

The remaining fifteen survivors stayed with a local sealer John Scott and his Aboriginal wives and children, until the schooner Sarah Ann rescued them transporting them to Launceston. Overall, 224 people died.

1840s

1843: Shipwreck. Rebecca barque, grounded on King Island, 5 lives lost. Salvaged & wrecked again in 1853.

The Cataraqui, transporting British emigrants, smashed on rocks close to King Island's shore in 1845, killing 400 people. Only nine people made it ashore.

1850s

1854: Shipwreck. Brahmin, full-rigged ship, off King Island, 16 lives lost.

1855: Shipwreck. Whistler, American full-rigged ship, on the northern end of King Island, two lives lost.

1855: Shipwreck. Maypo, brig, on the northern end of King Island, four lives lost.

From 1859 land on King Island was leased by several Victorian syndicates for grazing purposes.

In 1859, a submarine telegraph cable was laid under Bass Strait from Cape Otway to King Island, revolutionising communication.

H.M.S. Victoria engaged in laying the first cable to Tasmania. Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954)

1860s

Tasmania had the first five lighthouses to be built in Australia.

The Cape Wickham Lighthouse, built 1859-1861, part of Bass Strait's mid-nineteenth century network of lighthouses, stood at 158 feet (48 metres) with 11 flights of wooden stairs, each of 20 steps. However, there were still wrecks as some ships mistook the light for Cape Otway.

The lighthouse was named for John Clements Wickham (1798 – 1864), a Scottish explorer, naval officer, magistrate and administrator. He was first lieutenant on HMS Beagle during its second survey mission, 1831–1836, under captain Robert FitzRoy. The young naturalist and geologist Charles Darwin was a supernumerary on the ship, and his journal was published as The Voyage of the Beagle.

The Cape Wickham Lighthouse, built 1859-1861, was named for John Clements Wickham, part of Bass Strait's mid-nineteenth century network of lighthouses. Sunday Times (Sydney, NSW : 1895 - 1930)

In 1860 John Duigan was appointed as the first lighthouse keeper and superintendent of the Cape Wickham Lighthouse.

Mail was sent by signalling passing ships to pick it up.

The Netherby was wrecked near the current Currie Lighthouse in 1866 without loss of life.

Archibald Currie was involved in salvage of the Netherby in 1866, wrote to James Munro, the Warden
of King Island, 45 years later, describing the salvage work on reaching King Island. He wrote, "... no
anchorage or shelter being known to us on the West Coast ... the only inlet which I could discover was the inlet between the rocks, and what was named Currie Harbour by my men ...."

On her maiden voyage from Liverpool, the iron clipper ship struck a reef off the coast at 2.30 am, and sunk in less than half an hour. Of 88 passengers and crew, only nine survived. William Hickmott, Assistant lighthouse keeper at Cape Wickham is quoted as saying, "We buried them as tenderly as we could ...". Read more

1870s

In October 1871, Loch Leven was sailing through heavy fog and strong currents north of King Island when she drifted onto a reef lying about 50 yards offshore, south-east of Cape Wickham, at about 2.30 am on the 24th. Read more

LOSS OF THE SHIP LOCH LEVEN, Illustrated Adelaide Post (SA : 1867 - 1874), Friday 1 December 1871

1875, Blencathra, Shipwreck. iron barque, 933 tons, no lives lost.

1880s

Cape Wickham Lighthouse on King Island (1887), constructed - 1861, automated - 1918photo Archibald J Campbell, Museum Victoria. (Near the lighthouse are the unmarked graves of many of the Neva’s victims and the marked graves of some later mariners, including the master of the clipper Loch Leven)

In 1888, King Island was officially opened up for settlement and selection.

Elizabeth Bowling, and three of her sons were the first people to take up land on King Island for farming and settlement in 1889. They lived near Simpson's Bay.

1890s

In November 1890 Messrs Fred. J. and G. E. Robinson arrived, and settled near Porky Creek, about the centre of the Island.

The Bowling family won the first King Island Cup in 1892. The racetrack was out on the sandy soil not far from Currie.

The Chief Inspector of Roads visited the Island in December 1898, resulting in the Government clearing a track from north to south.

A hall was built by public subscriptions in November, 1898 and was used as a school, church, and courthouse, and for meetings, concerts, and dances.(1.)

1900s

A large scheelite (calcium tungstate) deposit was found by Thomas Farrell in 1904, on King Island.

Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954), Monday 8 October 1900

Daily Telegraph (Launceston, Tas. : 1883 - 1928), Monday 4 June 1906

C U R R I E HARBOUR, KING'S .ISLAND, TAS. Leader (Melbourne, Vic. : 1862 - 1918, 1935), Saturday 28 November 1908

Orion, wrecked on The Hummocks, situated about fifty miles south-east of King Island, TAS-shortlyafter midnight on Thursday, Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954), Saturday 16 May 1908

KING ISLAND WRECK. TIIE CARNARVON BAY ASHORE. ALL HANDS SAVED. Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), Saturday 24 September 1910

Views around King Island, TAS, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Saturday 24 September 1910

By 1910 King Island's population was 778.

Views around King Island, TAS, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Saturday 24 September 1910

King Island's main township, Currie, TAS, Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), Saturday 26 February 1910

Currie Harbour is a small fishing port situated on the West coast of King Island, TAS, Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), Saturday 26 February 1910

King Island Butter Factory, TAS, Table Talk (Melbourne, Vic. : 1885 - 1939), Thursday 29 September 1910

Views of King Island, TAS, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Saturday 24 September 1910

General view of Wickham Lighthouse and staff quarters. King Island, TAS, Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), Saturday 26 February 1910

View of Main Street, Currie, King Island - showing Post Office, General Store and King Island Hotel, 1910, Tasmanian Archives

Parer's Hotel, Currie, King Island, TAS, built 1903. Burnt down

DEATH OF CAPTAIN CURRIE. MAN OF MANY ACTIVITIES. Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), Friday 4 September 1914. (Currie invested in salvage and personally supervised the removal of cargo from several wrecks. Through his efforts a lighthouse was erected at Currie Point, King Island)

In 1914, King Island's population was around 1000.

WWI

List of those from King Island who were involved in WWI here

Portrait of 304 Lance Corporal Arthur Norman Tetley Of King Island, Tas, 8 Light Horse Regiment. He was in the first line in the charge at the Nek on 7 August 1915. He died of wounds aboard a hospital ship on 8 August 1915. AWM

Frederick "Fred" George Huxley was born at Currie on King Island in Bass Strait on 29 August 1891 to George Patrick Huxley and Elizabeth Franklin. Working as a storekeeper, following the outbreak of World War 1, he enlisted in the AIF. Fred served on Gallipoli from September 1915 until November 1915 when he was evacuated with jaundice to Mudros and then Cairo. Following recovery, he was transferred to 52nd Battalion in April 1916, and after spending time in the Arabian desert, he went to France in May 1916. He was promoted to Lance Corporal in September 1916. After serving seven months in the trenches in the Somme, Fred was chosen as one of five from 15,000 to go to England to undergo six weeks theoretical training for the Flying Corps. In December 1916, he was accepted for pilot training at the Royal Flying Corps School at Reading and then Netheravon, graduating in May 1917. Medals. Military Cross". "For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Australian Flying Corps. Re-enlisted World War II as Flying Instructor.

King Island, Tasmania. A WWI War Memorial in front of a building at Currie on the Island. First World War, 1914-1918, AWM

Cape Wickham Lighthouse was automated in 1918.

1920s

First flight from Victoria to King Island by Lieut. Ray Parer in F.E.2B biplane, 1921.

To King Island by aeroplane, TAS, (Captain Huxley, Gordon Fysh and R S Rolph), Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954), Saturday 14 May 1921

King Island Saleyards, TAS, Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), Saturday 6 January 1923

King Island, TAS. Mr. Stronach is a returned soldier settler and was one of the first residents of Tasmania to enlist for the Great War. Since this photo, was taken he lias built a cosy cottage ot, his holding, which consists of 200 acres, mostly grazing land. He is a contented settler and Is well satisfied with the pros-pect of settlement on this part of the island, Countryman (Melbourne, Vic. : 1924 - 1929), Friday 22 August 1924

King Island, TAS, Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), Saturday 24 November 1928

1930s

The aerodrome opened in the 1930s.

King Island, TAS, Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954), Saturday 12 March 1932

Currie, King Island, TAS, 1930s

King Island News (Currie, King Island : 1912 - 1986, Wednesday 18 July 1934

King Island Telephone Directory 1934 here
The first aircraft to cross Bass Strait three times in one day, stopping at both Flinders and King Islands, was in November 1935.

Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), Friday 15 November 1935

Tin mining on King Island, TAS, Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954), Thursday 15 December 1938

In 1936, an undersea cable was installed to provide telephone service between Tasmania and mainland Australia, and the world.

Advocate (Burnie, Tas. : 1890 - 1954), Wednesday 13 November 1935

The telecommunications cable was damaged somewhere between King Island and Victoria, across the strategically important Bass Strait, and was checked for damage by John Johnstone, deep-sea diver from the United Kingdom, who according to ABC, "walked, hopped and skied along the bottom of the Strait", and "often sat on a large hook that was towed by the ship". Read here

Diver J E Johnstone, Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957),

Currie Harbour, King Island, TAS, King Island News (Currie, King Island : 1912 - 1986, Wednesday 18 May 1938

The Australian National Airways Office (right) and the "Loila", King Island, TAS, King Island News (Currie, King Island : 1912 - 1986, Wednesday 18 May 1938

Wickham Cheese Factory, TAS, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Saturday 21 May 1938

King Island Cottage Hospital, TAS, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Saturday 21 May 1938

Town Hall at Currie, King Island, TAS, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Saturday 21 May 1938

Unloading cream cans at the Wickham Cheese Factory, King Island, TAS, King Island News (Currie, King Island : 1912 - 1986, Wednesday 18 May 1938

Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954), Saturday 4 February 1939

1940s and WWII

King Island, TAS, Walkabout. Vol. 12 No. (1December 1945)

The motor-ship "Loatta" loading at Currie wharf, King Island, TAS. Walkabout. Vol. 12 No. (1December 1945)

An old ships' bell on a hill above Currie, King Island, TAS, used as a signal for sighting ships , Walkabout. Vol. 12 No. (1December 1945)

Currie, King Island, TAS, Walkabout. Vol. 12 No. (1December 1945)

Scheelite mine at King Island, TAS Walkabout. Vol. 12 No. (1December 1945)

Many of the early developments of the beef and dairy industries occurred through soldier settler schemes following both World Wars, at King Island.

Single mens quarters and the old campsite of the scheelite mine, King Island, TAS, Walkabout.Vol. 13 No. 1 (1 November 1946)

Kalgoorlie Miner (WA : 1895 - 1954), Monday 23 December 1946

The cheese industry has made rapid advances on King Island, TAS, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Wednesday 1 January 1947

"Granny" Burke, 89, arrived on King Island, TAS, at 3 days old and her father took control of Wickham Lighthouse. Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Wednesday 1 January 1947

Mr Jimmy Wicks, 82, who has spent 40 years on King Island, last visited Melbourne on the day Ned Kelly was hanged. Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Wednesday 1 January 1947

BATTEN, Leonard Eric (World War 2), belonged to the 2/2 Aust.Pioneer Battalion. King Island, TAS,King Island News (Currie, King Island : 1912 - 1986, Tuesday 9 September 1947

Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), Saturday 17 January 1948

1950s

Currie Hospital Staff, King Island, TAS, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Wednesday 15 February 1950

Soldier settlers of King Island, TAS, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Wednesday 15 February 1950

Boys on King Island receive instruction in useful trades at the Currie Area School, King Island, TAS, in addition to the usual education. Here, a group is keenly learning the workings of a crawler tractor. Land (Sydney, NSW : 1911 - 1954), Friday 21 December 1951

OLD AND NEW: Old settlor and new discuss prospects over a beer In a King Island hote, TAS, Under the stimulus of the War Service Land Settlement Scheme, the population has grown to 2.000. Land (Sydney, NSW : 1911 - 1954), Friday 21 December 1951

CIVIC CENTRE.—View of CurriE, civic centre of King Island, TAS, where the Island's Municipal Council meets monthly. Land (Sydney, NSW : 1911 - 1954), Friday 21 December 1951

A typical war settler's home at Lymwood, King Island, TAS. Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Wednesday 4 March 1953

Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954), Friday 6 November 1953

King Island, TAS, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Wednesday 4 March 1953

1. TOWNSHIP.—Currie township, the civic centre of King Island. Shops, churchcs, a school end a hospital are established here, where most of the island's business is carried on. 2. FARM.-—-An established form, as provided fay f-he Agricultural Bank of Tasmania. The stcudord buildings
supplied—house, Dutch born and dairy—are shown. Land (Sydney, NSW : 1911 - 1954), Friday 19 March 1954

Pte. Les. ("Snowey") Tronerud, of Currie, King Island, likes army life in Korea. Born on King Island 23 years ago, he is one of a family of 13 childrenMercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), Wednesday 24 March 1954

Mining at King Island, TAS, Advocate (Burnie, Tas. : 1890 - 1954), Thursday 2 December 1954

Twin King Islanders James and Penelope Waiker, born late in January, had admiring attendants in (I. to r.): Nurse V. Broxam, Sister M.'Fairbanks, Matron G. Oliver, and, with the twins, Sister M. Gorey; The island's hospital has 14 beds for maternity and general cases. TAS, Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), Thursday 25 March 1954

King Island, TAS, Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954), Saturday 13 February 1954,

King Island ambulance, TAS, Advocate (Burnie, Tas. : 1890 - 1954), Wednesday 10 February 1954

The harbour at Currie, King Island, TAS, Walkabout. Vol. 21 No. 4 (1 April 1955)

Currie, King Island, TAS, Walkabout. Vol. 21 No. 4 (1 April 1955)

Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), Friday 19 December 1958

Main Street, Currie, King Island, TAS

1970s

Kelp has been collected from King Island’s coastline and exported since the 1970s.

1980s

The King island Museum was established in a former lighthouse keeper’s cottage in 1980.

1990s

King Island's tungsten mine employed over 500 people before it closed in the 1990s.

2000s

2012: University of Adelaide research into the 1800-1804 Nicolas Baudin expedition was transcribed and translated, and a document from the French proposed the invasion of the British colony in Sydney Cove and establishing an outpost on King Island.

2015: An elephant seal pup born on Tasmania's King Island is believed to be the first born since sealers came to the island in the 1800s.

2019: King Island generates 50 per cent of its energy from wind and solar power.

2020: King Island Olympic runner Stewart McSweyn competed in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

It is 175 years since the Cataraqui shipwreck off the Island killing 399 people —mostly children and infants.

2021: A book based on diaries and letters the life of Leslie Stansfield a jackaroo and King Island soldier settler was published.

2022: King Island's sheelite mine will be reopened 32 years after it closed. Electric cars, solar panels, large batteries and wind turbines require "critical minerals", many of which are controlled by China.

Around King Island

Wickham Lighouse, King Island, TAS, Near the lighthouse are the unmarked graves of many of the Neva’s victims and the marked graves of some later mariners, including the master of the clipper Loch Leven