"Green Island, Moreton Bay - The New Pleasure Resort which has been
made Available to the People of Brisbane by the industry of Boating Men."
(Published in The Northern Herald, 17th January 1918)
Eight weeks ago, whilst casually scrolling through the events list on facebook, a specific entry in between boutique brewery tours & face painting tutorials caught my eye - Green Island Clean Up (Moreton Bay) 2019, being hosted by Ocean Crusaders. Presenting an opportunity to help clean water-borne rubbish from the shores of one of Moreton Bay's smaller islands, the event was particularly attractive, especially given the chance to travel out to Green Island via the Cat'O Nine Tails (a vessel on which I'd traveled to St. Helena Island many years ago) for only $10! However, the draw of a trip to Green Island was two-fold - what better way to spend a Sunday volunteering time to aid in cleaning up Moreton Bay, whilst also utilising the traverse across the Island to further investigate a long-forgotten dark secret hidden between the mangrove stands?
For those who follow The Haunts of Brisbane, you're likely aware a huge project is currently underway, a preliminary result of which has led to the identification of six previously lost & forgotten burials on St. Helena Island (PART I here, & PART II here). However, given how wide the proverbial net was cast in pursuit of the project's main goal (yet to be published), further lost & forgotten Moreton Bay burials have been identified in the interim - one of which has remained in the murky shadows of Green Island for the past 140 years. So, once again via The Haunts of Brisbane, let's provide voice to the voiceless & identify another lost soul who's passing & interment virtually went without notice or record.
Let's traverse back in time 140 years, to the crossover of 1878 into 1879...
The proceeding weeks would see a number of vessels arrive in Moreton Bay, carrying immigrants from a range of different ports & European centres. On the 30th of December 1878, as the calendar was about to tip over into the new year, the Clara arrived off Cape Moreton from Greenock, Scotland, with almost 320 souls on board. On waiting under anchor at the Bar for days, a visit from the Government Heath Officer on the 4th of January 1879 would see the vessel immediately placed under quarantine & towed across to Peel Island by the Boko, due to the presence of typhoid fever amongst the passengers - she would remain in detention at Peel Island through until the 30th of January, much to the chagrin of Captain A. S. Cutler, the ship's Master. The protracted quarantine order would result in the publication of a strongly worded letter from the Captain, via The Brisbane Courier on the 31st of January - quite ironically a day after the Health Officer, Dr. Challinor, had recommended the ship for release!
However, the Clara would not be long alone in her quarantine at Peel Island. On the 17th of January, the Fritz Reuter from Hamburg, Germany, arrived off Cape Moreton, with over 480 immigrants on board. On moving across to the Bar, the ship was inspected by Dr. Challinor, with the discovery that 30 passengers had perished during the trip, many due to typhoid fever - the last death from typhoid having occurred on the 16th of January, as the ship made it's final approach to Cape Moreton. As had been the case with the Clara, the Fritz Reuter was immediately placed under quarantine, & was similarly towed across to Peel Island on the 19th of January by the Boko, for a period of detention that would extend through until the 8th of February.
By now, serious strains were being placed on the Island's resources, with two large immigrant vessels in quarantine simultaneously - however, the situation was about to deteriorate further...
As per the Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay
and Burnett Advertiser, 6th of February, 1879.
On the 26th of January, the R.M.S.S. Somerset entered Moreton Bay, having wended her way down the coast from Hong Kong, via Singapore, Thursday Island, Cooktown, Townsville, Bowen & Rockhampton. During her stop at Cooktown, a smallpox outbreak was identified amongst the passengers, with the Health Officer in that port immediately refusing pratique & advising the vessel to promptly offload the mail & continue moving on towards Brisbane - subsequent ports advised similarly, offloading the mail bags for fumigation whilst palming off the vessel's contagions for the next port down the line. By the time the Somerset reached Moreton Bay, the Brisbane authorities were already well aware of the smallpox outbreak on board, & it was an inevitability the ship would be placed into immediate quarantine. However, with both the Clara & Fritz Reuter anchored off Peel Island, & the majority of their passengers in quarantine on the island, the quarantine station was literally at breaking point.
St. Helena Island, which had been used in the past as a quarantine ground, was completely out of the question, due to the 12 year old Penal Establishment that now graced it's shores. Dunwich on Stradbroke Island, another prior quarantine ground in years past, was now home to the Benevolent Asylum. So, with extremely limited options for quarantining the Somerset's passengers out in the bay, the decision was made to relocate the ship to the "Four-fathom Hole" off Green Island on the 28th of January - an anchorage located approximately a third of a mile (just over 500 metres) to the west of the island's shoreline. A second vessel, the Chance, was co-located in close proximity to the Somerset, with a specific goal of providing support to the quarantined vessel in absence of a land-based station.
The "Four-fathom Hole" encircled in red, a noticeable depression
just over 500 metres off the westernmost point of Green Island.
(Extracted from Admiralty Chart 1670b - 1st December 1869)
By the 6th of February, the Somerset having sat at anchor alongside Green Island for over a week, rumours began to circulate that a fresh case of smallpox had presented in one of the ship's passengers. The Queenslander on Saturday the 8th of February reported that, "A fresh case of small-pox among the R.M.S. Somerset's passengers was reported last Thursday [6th February], the patient being a European, & a supposed stowaway." On the same day, Rockhampton's Morning Bulletin reported that, "A fresh case of small-pox is reported amongst the quarantined passengers on board the Somerset." By the morning of Thursday the 13th of February, The Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald & General Advertiser would report that, "Virulent small-pox has broken out among the passengers in the R.M.S. Somerset, now in quarantine at Green Island, in Moreton Bay. There are two cases on board, one of which is expected to terminate fatally."
The Brisbane Courier would clarify the issue on the same morning (Thursday the 13th of February), "The smallpox cases on Green Island, near which the mail steamer Somerset is quarantined, assumed a serious phase on Sunday morning last [9th of February]. Two South Sea Islanders who came down with the steamer showed symptoms of the disease after the patients previously attacked were in a fair way for recovery. One of the islanders is very ill, the disease in his case being of a malignant type, the other being of the milder form hitherto seen amongst the Somerset people. The quarantine seems to be maintained very stringently. The mail vessel lies at anchor about a mile from the shore, and the schooner Chance lies to windward for the purposes of communication. A medical man is stationed on the latter vessel. On shore the people are living in tents, and communication is made with them by placing the articles they require upon the beach near the sea. There is no water on the island, unfortunately, and this, as well as stores and other articles, have to be brought to the quarantined people. The water police, under Mr. Wassell, have the arrangements in hand, and are vigilant in their duty. They speak well of the spirit and assistance of the officers of the Somerset in their trying position."
The above article provides confirmation that Somerset passengers were no longer restricted to shipboard quarantine, & had now been relocated to tents on Green Island - given the locality of the vessel at anchor in the "Four-fathom Hole" 500 metres off the westernmost point of the island, we'd have to assume that the quarantine ground would have been situated accordingly, in sight of the vessel with access to a beach on which provisions could be dropped:
(Courtesy Bing Maps, 2019)
On Wednesday the 19th of February 1879, a Seventeen word report appeared in The Brisbane Courier:
The Brisbane Courier, 19th of February 1879.
Seventeen short words was all the local print media could muster to cover the loss of a human life. From The Brisbane Courier's Shipping Arrivals column of the 27th of January 1879, we can deduce that the Somerset was carrying 11 South Sea Islander passengers - 5 bound for Brisbane, & an additional 6 bound for Sydney:
Unfortunately, on consulting the 762-page tome that is the "Ships passenger lists - Brisbane - inwards - 4 January 1875 to 10 November 1880," held by the National Archives, we come across a wonderful typeset disclaimer on page 3:
Unfortunately, on consulting the 762-page tome that is the "Ships passenger lists - Brisbane - inwards - 4 January 1875 to 10 November 1880," held by the National Archives, we come across a wonderful typeset disclaimer on page 3:
And with that, the ability to narrow down & provide an identity to the male South Sea Islander in question, is made markedly more difficult. What we do know, however, is the Somerset was finally released from quarantine at the end of February. She sailed from the Brisbane Bar for Sydney on the 1st of March, according to both The Brisbane Courier & The Sydney Morning Herald. Three days later, according to the Evening News & The Sydney Morning Herald, the Somerset arrived in Sydney on the 4th of March, where she was again placed in quarantine due to her history of illness - here she'd sit, until the 10th of March, before finally gaining clearance to dock at the Company's Wharf. And - it's here - that we finally narrow down the identity of the burial on Green Island. The man in question was likely one of the 5 South Sea Islander passengers bound specifically for Brisbane, & not within the group of 6 destined for Sydney - the "Passengers Arriving 1855 - 1922" list, held by the State Records Authority of New South Wales, lists 6 passengers (identified as "From Thursday Island") disembarking in Sydney from the Somerset on the 12th of March, 1879.
For now, however, whilst the identity of the deceased Somerset passenger ultimately alludes us, the search continues to put a definitive name to a tragic statistic all but lost to history. Five years later, with the memory of the Somerset's detention still present in the minds of the authorities, the Cabinet Council would re-visit Green Island to gauge its viability as a quarantine station in 1884 - the debate would be short-lived, the Island being found ultimately unsuitable. Over the decades that followed, the Somerset's fateful 1879 arrival in Moreton Bay was all but forgotten, & Green Island became known as a destination for fishermen, canoeists, yachts & botanists. By January 1911, the Island was declared a recreation reserve, with control of the 9,160 acres handed over to Wynnum Shire Council as Trustees. By 1915, works commenced on a permanent resort, boasting an impressive jetty (pictured, top of article), gardens, bathing boxes & shelter sheds...however, the ravages of time & the ever-present spectre of vandalism have long since erased any sign of habitation.
So...for those who are already booked to visit Green Island this coming Sunday (or those who are lucky enough to snap up the remaining few tickets after reading this article), please keep your eyes peeled when traversing the island's mangrove stands - whilst I'm sure there'll be copious flotsam & jetsam for collection having washed its way across Moreton Bay, be mindful that scant material heritage may still exist on the Island dating back to the Somerset's detention, & at any point in time you may well be walking over a long-forgotten grave of a poor soul yet to be named...
For now, however, whilst the identity of the deceased Somerset passenger ultimately alludes us, the search continues to put a definitive name to a tragic statistic all but lost to history. Five years later, with the memory of the Somerset's detention still present in the minds of the authorities, the Cabinet Council would re-visit Green Island to gauge its viability as a quarantine station in 1884 - the debate would be short-lived, the Island being found ultimately unsuitable. Over the decades that followed, the Somerset's fateful 1879 arrival in Moreton Bay was all but forgotten, & Green Island became known as a destination for fishermen, canoeists, yachts & botanists. By January 1911, the Island was declared a recreation reserve, with control of the 9,160 acres handed over to Wynnum Shire Council as Trustees. By 1915, works commenced on a permanent resort, boasting an impressive jetty (pictured, top of article), gardens, bathing boxes & shelter sheds...however, the ravages of time & the ever-present spectre of vandalism have long since erased any sign of habitation.
So...for those who are already booked to visit Green Island this coming Sunday (or those who are lucky enough to snap up the remaining few tickets after reading this article), please keep your eyes peeled when traversing the island's mangrove stands - whilst I'm sure there'll be copious flotsam & jetsam for collection having washed its way across Moreton Bay, be mindful that scant material heritage may still exist on the Island dating back to the Somerset's detention, & at any point in time you may well be walking over a long-forgotten grave of a poor soul yet to be named...
