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Port Essington is an inlet and historic site located on the Cobourg Peninsula in the Garig Gunak Barlu National Park in Australia's Northern Territory. It was the site of an early attempt at British settlement, but now exists only as a remote series of ruins.
In August 1618 Lenaert Jacobszoon, the captain of the Dutch East India Company vessel Mauritius , marked the point on the entrance to what was later called Port Essington, on the Dutch charts as Kape Schildpad (Cape Turtle).
In the early 19th century, the British government became interested in establishing a settlement on Australia's northern coastline in order to facilitate trade with Asia.
Port Essington was named on 23 April 1818 by Phillip Parker King in HMS Mermaid 'as a tribute of my respect for the memory of my lamented friend, Vice-Admiral Sir William Essington', [1] who was in command of Triumph at the battle of Camperdown in October 1797. Sir J.G.Bremer took possession of the mainland on 20 September 1824 and founded the short-lived colony. [2] A local Aboriginal leader Medlone, also known as Jack Davis, acted as a messenger and manager for relations with the local Aboriginal people.
In 1824 Port Essington was proposed as the first such settlement, [3] but was later passed over in favour of Fort Dundas on Melville Island and Fort Wellington at Raffles Bay. In 1831, a small station was constructed in the area, on Wurango clan land, in the hope of using it as a stopping point for ships, but it was rarely used. When both Fort Dundas and Fort Wellington failed within several years, the Port Essington site was revisited. As a result, a settlement, officially named Victoria Settlement after the young Queen Victoria, but popularly known as Port Essington, was established by Sir J. Gordon Bremer in 1838 [4] and surveyed by Charles Tyers in 1839. It consisted of 24 houses and a hospital. A description of the harbour and settlement was communicated to the Royal Geographical Society, London, in 1839. [5]
On 24 August 1839 the only play ever staged in Port Essington was performed, the 1797 comedy in five acts Cheap Living by Frederick Reynolds. [6] The set and costume design was by Owen Stanley (1811–1850). [7] The play was performed again in 2010 with a grant from the Government of the Northern Territory, [8] with Tom Pauling, Administrator of the Northern Territory, acting as narrator in the play. [6]
While the British government intended to establish Port Essington as a major trading port, along the lines of Singapore, the new settlement suffered from the same adverse conditions that had previously plagued Fort Dundas and Fort Wellington. The settlement lacked resources and supplies and skilled labour. While some prefabricated buildings were brought from Sydney, many had to be built with what materials could be found in the area, and due to the unskilled nature of the builders, many of these were of poor quality. Disease was also rampant among the small population, and living conditions were poor. Consequently, it struggled to attract settlers, and the post was much-disliked by the troops stationed there.
Port Essington suffered a further setback when the settlement was demolished by a cyclone on 25 November 1839. The cyclone killed twelve people, drove the ship HMS Pelorus aground, and caused a 3.2 metre storm surge. The settlement was rebuilt afterwards, with some stone and brick buildings, due to the assistance of a brick maker who had been shipwrecked during the storm. [9]
Despite these setbacks, there was still widespread hope that Port Essington might be able to break the curse, as evidenced by Ludwig Leichhardt's 1844/1845 expedition. The New South Wales government had hoped to establish a direct line of communication with Asia, India and the Pacific, and supported Leichhardt's journey, which successfully charted an overland route between Moreton Bay (now Brisbane) and Port Essington. [10] [11]
A detailed map of Ludwig Leichhardt's route in Australia from Moreton Bay to Port Essington (1844 & 1845), from his Original Map, adjusted and drawn... by John Arrowsmith [12] [13] was ranked #8 in the ‘Top 150: Documenting Queensland’ exhibition when it toured to venues around Queensland from February 2009 to April 2010. [14] The exhibition was part of Queensland State Archives’ events and exhibition program which contributed to the state’s Q150 celebrations, marking the 150th anniversary of the separation of Queensland from New South Wales. [15]
In 1844, a group of convicts, which included trained masons and quarry men among them, was stationed at Port Essington. They were able to build a hospital of some quality at a beacon. This was followed by the 1846 decision of Father Angelo Confalonieri to found a Catholic mission nearby, in an attempt to convert the local population. He had some success, converting around 400 people, but he died of fever in 1848, and the mission died with him. Port Essington was still failing to attract settlers, and it was becoming increasingly clear both that the 1844 works had come too late, and that the settlement was unsustainable. Visiting the settlement in December 1848, soon before its closure, British scientist Thomas Huxley wrote that Port Essington was "most wretched, the climate the most unhealthy, the human beings the most uncomfortable and houses in a condition most decayed and rotten".
Finally, in 1849, Port Essington was, like the two previous attempts, abandoned. The demise of the settlement saw the end of British attempts at occupying the north coast. There would be one further unsuccessful attempt, by the Government of South Australia and Frederick Henry Litchfield in 1864, at Escape Cliffs (also known as Palmerston) near the mouth of the Adelaide River, before the first permanent settlement was established at Darwin (also initially known as Palmerston), in 1869.
The ruins of Port Essington still exist today, and while access is difficult, it is possible to do so by several means. It is possible to fly in through tours that can be arranged in Darwin, or to travel to the area alone by four-wheel drive or boat – although, as the ruins lie on Aboriginal land, a permit must be obtained first. Cabins and some camping sites are available at Black Point Ranger Station.
The Australian industrialist Essington Lewis was named after Port Essington.
Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt, known as Ludwig Leichhardt, was a German explorer and naturalist, most famous for his exploration of northern and central Australia.
The Cobourg Peninsula is located 350 kilometres (217 mi) east of Darwin in the Northern Territory, Australia. It is deeply indented with coves and bays, covers a land area of about 2,100 square kilometres (811 sq mi), and is virtually uninhabited with a population ranging from about 20 to 30 in five family outstations, but without any notable settlement or village. It is separated from Croker Island in the east by Bowen Strait, which is 2.5 kilometres wide in the south and up to 7 kilometres in the north, and 8.5 kilometres long. In the west, it is separated from Melville Island by Dundas Strait. From Cape Don, the western point of the peninsula, to Soldier Point in the east of Melville Island, the distance is 28 kilometres (17 mi). In the north is the Arafura Sea, and in the south the Van Diemen Gulf. The highest elevation is Mount Roe in the south with an altitude of 160 metres (525 ft).
Sir James John Gordon Bremer was a British Royal Navy officer. He served in the Napoleonic Wars against France, the First Anglo-Burmese War in Burma, and the First Opium War in China.
The history of the Northern Territory began over 60,000 years ago when Indigenous Australians settled the region. Makassan traders began trading with the indigenous people of the Northern Territory for trepang from at least the 18th century onwards.
Roper Bar is a location in Australia's Northern Territory. It lies on the traditional land of the Ngalakgan people, who refer to it as Yurlhbunji. This part of Australia is extremely remote for travellers, although there are a number of Aboriginal communities in the region including Ngukurr, Urapunga and Minyerri. A four-wheel drive trek through these parts can be an extension of the Gulf Track on a journey further up north to Darwin or Arnhem Land.
The Leichhardt Falls is a plunge waterfall on the Leichhardt River in the Gulf Country region of North West Queensland, Australia.
The following lists events that happened during 1824 in Australia.
Fort Dundas was a short-lived British settlement on Melville Island between 1824 and 1828 in what is now the Northern Territory of Australia. It was the first of four British settlement attempts in northern Australia before Goyder's survey and establishment of Palmerston, now known as Darwin. The three later attempts were at Fort Wellington, Port Essington and Escape Cliffs.
The Roper River is a large perennial river located in the Katherine region of the Northern Territory of Australia.
The Suttor River is a river in Central Queensland, Australia. The Belyando River is its main tributary. The river has its origins in the Leichhardt Range, north west of Glenden. It flows into Lake Dalrymple, becoming a tributary of the Burdekin River.
Fort Wellington was the name of a short-lived British settlement established in 1827 at Raffles Bay, on the northern side of the Cobourg Peninsula of what is now the Northern Territory of Australia, which was abandoned in 1829. It was the second of a series of four such abortive settlement attempts in Australia's Top End, the first being Fort Dundas (1824–1828) on Melville Island, the third Fort Victoria or Victoria Settlement, at Port Essington (1838–1849) on the Cobourg Peninsula, and the fourth at Escape Cliffs (1864–1867) near the mouth of the Adelaide River.
James Snowden Calvert, was an explorer and botanist, active in colonial Australia.
Valley Of Lagoons is a rural locality in the Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census Valley Of Lagoons had a population of 48 people.
Dogwood Creek is a creek in the Maranoa Region, Queensland, Australia.
The Nicholson River is a river located in the Northern Territory and the state of Queensland, Australia.
The Lynd River is a river located on the Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, Australia.
Leichhardt Tree is a heritage-listed blazed tree at Yaldwyn Street, Taroom, Shire of Banana, Queensland, Australia. The blaze was made in 1844 by Ludwig Leichhardt. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
Albinia is a locality in the Central Highlands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Albinia had a population of 112 people.
Suttor is a locality in the Isaac Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Suttor had a population of 0 people.
