Montague Island Light

About

The Montague Island Light is a heritage-listed active lighthouse located on Barunguba / Montague Island, an island in the Tasman Sea, 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) offshore from Narooma on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia. The lighthouse is located at the highest point of the island. It was designed by James Barnet and NSW Colonial Architect and built from 1878 to 1881 by J. Musson and completed By W. H. Jennings. It is also known as the Montague Island Lightstation and its setting. The property is owned by the Office of Environment and Heritage, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999, and the Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004.

The island has been associated with the Yuin Nation with the two groups the Walbunja and Djiringanji claiming title to the whole of the island. The island relates to a creation story mythology. Gulaga (Mount Dromedary) had two sons who travelled to the coast. The youngest, Najanuga was called back from the sea and became Najanuka (Little Dromedary) while the older of the two sons, Barunguba, went on into the sea and became the island. Barunguba, as the island was known, was a fertile hunting ground and has been associated with seasonal hunting for various birds, eggs, penguins and seals. The various peoples would go to the Island in their bark canoes. Legend has it that an estimated 150 Aboriginal people drowned in the early 1800s returning from one of these hunting expeditions. Two campsites or middens have been recorded on the Island and local information suggests that there may be other areas including a ceremonial ground. Most recently local groups have used the island for "men's business" and ceremonial purposes.

In 1770 Captain James Cook sailed along the NSW coast. In his journal, he described a camel-shaped mountain which he called Mt Dromedary. Cook failed to recognise the island due to the distance from the coast, believing it to be a headland connected to Mt. Dromedary. In 1790 the convict ship Surprise established that Montague was an island during an inshore trip along the coast. It is possible that the island was named after George Montague Dunk, Earl of Halifax, during this voyage.

The island was visited several times by ship-wrecked sailors. During the mid-19th century gold rush at Nerrigundah, sea bird eggs were collected from Montague Island to sell to the miners at the Gulf Mine on Mt. Dromedary. As the foreign and coastal shipping trade to NSW developed in the mid-1800s, pressure increased for the installation of a navigation aid on Montague Island.

The building of a "First Order Fixed and Flashing Light" was first decided in 1873, with finance approved in 1877 and tenders called in October 1878. In the Lighthouse Visitors book, James Barnet wrote that the initiation of the lighthouse dates from 1873 when a recommendation was made for the construction of a lighthouse on Montague (formerly Montagu) Island by a "Conference of the Principal Officers of the Marine Departments of the Australian Colonies" chaired by Captain Hixson. It was not until 1877 however that the NSW Government finally provided the necessary funds. Barnet writes that after a visit to the island to ascertain the best location for the light, plans were prepared and tenders invited in October 1878. The initial contractor, J. Musson, defaulted on the contract and in 1880 a second contractor, W. H. Jennings, took over the project and completed it ahead of schedule. Musson did not complete the construction due to financial problems. Problems started with an unauthorised blasting by the contractor that damaged the granite boulder selected as the base. As a result, the tower was repositioned several feet. After more difficulties and delay the contractor gave up the contract. In 1880 a temporary light was set up, and a new tender was given, with construction completing a year later in October 1881, 4 months early. The official lighting was on 1 November 1881. The light characteristic was a steady flare for 30s, then an eclipse for 13s, then a flash for 4s, then another eclipse of 13s, a total cycle of one minute. The power source was oil, though some reports say kerosene, and the light intensity was 45,000 cd. Its erection coming a little late for the collier, the Lady Darling which was wrecked on a reef just south of the Island in 1880. The light originally had a fixed and flashing mechanism which was upgraded in 1910, 1931 and in 1969 when the light was converted from oil to electricity.

The original lens and pedestal were removed and are now located in Narooma. The light is now solar powered. The residences consisting of Head Keeper's cottage and a duplex for two assistants and their families were constructed of rendered brick. Barnet describes them as "commodious and comfortably furnished" with "lofty" eleven-foot ceilings.

The irregularity of the weather hampered the supply of provisions and mail from the outset of the station. Keepers and their families had to rely on their own resources and this led to the early establishment of the gardens and fowl runs, milking cows, goats and rabbits as well as sea bird eggs. They depended on boats and rudimentary signalling systems for contact with the mainland. The isolation of the lightstation is emphasised by the graves of Charles Townsend and the two Burgess children. These deaths might possibly have been avoided if better communications had existed. It seems that steamers often did not see distress signals, and no a cable or signal station was supplied. In the mid-1890s it is recorded that a telephone link with Narooma was required.

The light was upgraded once in 1910 to an intensity of 250,000 cd, with the installation of a Douglas incandescent kerosene burner, and a second time in 1923 to an intensity of 357,000 cd. A Mercury bearings were installed in 1926 and the characteristic changed to a flash every 7.5 sec.

Trips to the island by locals and tourists for picnicking, fishing and shooting were popular from the earliest European settlement on the adjacent coast until 1953. During the 1890s several large public excursions were undertaken with up to 200 people at a time taken for picnics on the island.

After some debate and lapse of time, a radio transceiver with pedal-generator was supplied in January 1939. This system also had its problems and telephones finally arrived with electrification in 1950 however it is not known if this was linked to the mainland or was only within the complex. In 1933 "big game" fishing began in Australia when a black marlin was caught off Montague Island. Several fishing shacks dating from the 1930s are believed to have existed on the western shore of the Island, however, no evidence remains of these structures.

During World War II the Royal Australian Navy operated a defence facility on the island. The footings of the two timber and fibro huts are located to the north of the lightstation and may be associated with submarine detection.

The lightstation buildings were re-roofed during the 1950s. The asbestos roof was installed, replacing the original heavy duty corrugated iron and later unglazed terra cotta tiles. It appears that the overall roof profile was simplified with the main roof taken directly over the verandahs, however, it is not known if the old verandah roof framing was left under the new profile. In 1953 the island became a wildlife sanctuary under the control of the National Trust of Australia (NSW) making Montague the first official National Trust "property" in Australia. Members of the National Trust were regular visitors to the Island from the 1950s onwards, as were scientists from the CSIRO from the 1960s. In 1969 the light was electrified, with a diesel generator supplying the power, and the light intensity was raised to 1,000,000 cd. Four panels from Green Cape Lighthouse were fitted, changing the characteristic to one flash every 4.5s.

The first scientific visit to the island was by an amateur ornithologist, A. F. Basset Hull in 1907 and other visits followed, such as that of geologist Ida Browne in 1928. Throughout these visits, lighthouse operations continued. Staffing of the lighthouse continued until 1985. Montague remained staffed as it was deemed that the benefits derived from human presence were greater than the cost savings of automating the station.

In 1987, after full automation of the lighthouse, management of the Island was transferred to the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service though the light tower was retained and operated by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. In the following year, the Service conducted limited day tours to the Island in conjunction with Heritage Week. These were so popular that similar tours were conducted during the 1989/90 holiday period. The trial period proved successful and expressions of interest were sought to provide passenger service to the Island.

In 1990 the Island was dedicated as a nature reserve, apart from a small area containing the lighthouse, which remains under control of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. The other light station buildings, keepers' quarters and sheds, are part of the nature reserve. Following the Maritime Services Board's lifting of restrictions and approval to conduct night passenger services across the Narooma Bar in 1991, evening tours of the Island began. By June 1993 a major works maintenance programme was completed involving repairs to the lightstation complex and associated historic facilities.

Public access to the island is now restricted to guided tours conducted by NSW NPWS staff in association with private tour operators.

The Australian Garden History Society (ACT, Monaro & Riverina Branch) had grant funding to restore the 1880s kitchen gardens on Montague Island, as an interpretive device to aid to visitors' understanding of the light station's history. The reinstatement was undertaken in late 2014 with eight timber raised bed frames installed by NPWS. Children from St Peter's School, Broulee have planted seeds per list in report in four of these beds.

The original lens was last used on 9 November 1986. It was replaced with an array of lightweight solar powered 12 V quartz halogen lamps radiating two beams of 120,000 cd, and a total power consumption of 75 W.

The original Fresnel lens was packed prism by prism in individual cases surrounded by expanding foam and sent to Sydney for storage. After public volunteering and fund collection for constructing a proper display, the lens was officially transferred back on 10 August 1990 to be displayed in the Lighthouse Museum at Narooma ( 36°12′59″S 150°07′39″E  /  36.2165°S 150.1275°E  / -36.2165; 150.1275 ), where the lens and mechanism are currently displayed in a 5 metres (16 ft) tower. Visitors can coin-operate the display.

The island has been associated with the Yuin Nation with the two groups the Walbunja and Djiringanji claiming title to the whole of the island. The island relates to a creation story mythology. Gulaga (Mount Dromedary) had two sons who travelled to the coast. The youngest, Najanuga was called back from the sea and became Najanuka (Little Dromedary) while the older of the two sons, Barunguba, went on into the sea and became the island. Barunguba, as the island was known, was a fertile hunting ground and has been associated with seasonal hunting for various birds, eggs, penguins and seals. The various peoples would go to the Island in their bark canoes. Legend has it that an estimated 150 Aboriginal people drowned in the early 1800s returning from one of these hunting expeditions. Two campsites or middens have been recorded on the Island and local information suggests that there may be other areas including a ceremonial ground. Most recently local groups have used the island for "men's business" and ceremonial purposes.