Is it just a piece of driftwood or a relic

 The following article was published in the Bribie Times on 21 November 1986 and refers to a piece of driftwood that was found by Bribie Times staff member and photographer Terry Scarborough. The question posed - is it just a piece of driftwood or a relic from an old ship?

When is a lump of wood, not a lump of wood?

by Wes Thomas B.Sc.

Bribie Times, 21 Nov 1986 p. 6

When is a lump of wood, not a lump of wood! When it is a relic - that's when - and, possibly local photographer Terry Scarborough, has found just that. And not just any old relic either. It is in the right place to be a part of Flinder's boat, the "Norfolk" and it is certainly very old.

Now, before we get too involved in this, let us get a few things straight and, with that idea in mind, we turned to Stan Tutt. Stan is a noted writer and an authority on matters such as this (by the way, Stan has a book coming out in a few weeks time and it will be worth having at hand).

Stan Tutt told us that the relic was in the correct place to make it possible to be associated with Flinder's journies in Moreton Bay. Apparently, early in 1799, Flinders set out in "The Norfolk" to explore the northern coastline but ran into storms which created a serious leak in the ship, Stan outlined the story and referred us to the chronicles of Thomas Welsby.

Thomas Welsby's lifespan straddled the last half of the nineteenth century and the first third of this century [20th]. His talents inclined him to the recording of early history and, in particular, the explorations of Matthew Flinders. His records were gathered together by Thomson in the 1960s and published under the title "The Collected Works of Thomas Welsby" (Jacaranda Press, 1967, Edited by A.K. Thomson). In these volumes we discovered the facts.

Imagine the relief of the crew of the "Norfolk"when they discovered the sheltered waters of Moreton Bay after the battering that they had taken along the southeastern coast. On the afternoon of 16th July 1799, they passed into the Bay and anchored off the southwestern point of what is now Bribie Island. In the morning, Flinders and an aboriginal interpreter named Bongaree (from Sydney) and a few others went ashore. There was a party of natives on the Point and communication was at first friendly but, after receiving presents, they made an attack and one of them was wounded by gunfire.

We may be proud to have an important commercial centre on our Island known as Bongaree. Because of the representations by this remarkable man, the relations between these two isolated groups of people became friendly and Flinders stayed over a fortnight. Of course, they were all anxious to repair the leak, so the vessel was brought more around the point to a place where there was a "small beach close to which the depth was seven fathoms".

This, and other references quoted by Thomas Welsby make it clear that the site of these repairs was a locality we now know as ... [see Editor's Note] ...

That is where this ancient timbering in the form of a ship's plank has been found.

The relic discovred by Bribie Times photographer
& Advertising Manager, Terry Scarborough, November 1986.

A sentence from the writings of Thomas Welsby leaps out - "I wonder if any relics of Flinder's visit will ever turn up on the island frontage where thesloop was repaired". I wonder indeed.

Stay with us to learn about the steps that are being taken to investigate the possibility. Stay with us also to find out if we have got our history straight. For example, is the present day nomenclature with respect to Skirmish Point correct? And what happened to the key man in this situation - the man called Bongaree?

One thing I feel certain about - those men of the "Norfolk" enjoyed their stay while the vessel was being repaired. More about that too - Bribie Island's first tourists --- 187 years and 5 months ago.

Editor's Note: Upon the request of the Queensland Museum, we have withheld naming the vicinity of the relic to protect it against vandalism and sourvenir-hunters. Please, if you have sufficient knowledge of Bribie's history to work out its general location, we implore you not to interfere with it until the Museum can get to it once their work on the "Pandora" is finished in North Queensland. Also be advised that the relic has been officially reported to the Museum and now comes under the ownership and protection of that august body. Any interference with the relic will result in severe penalties to any offenders! 

REFERENCE

Lifeboat Bribie [backgrounder series of articles] by Wes Thomas B.Sc.
Bribie Times, Friday November 21, 1986 page 6.

Story 10 Describing Bribie Island

The following story is one of 27 stories presented in Describing Bribie Island 1865-1965: historical first-hand accounts of visiting Bribie Island produced by the Bribie Island Historical Society in 2017.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: William Main (1860-1946) was born in Glasgow, Scotland and arrived in Queensland in 1887.  In 1911, William was appointed by the Queensland Government to be an Immigration Agent and obtained agricultural emigrants for Queensland. During the 1920s William was associated with the Commercial Travelers’ Club in Elizabeth Street, Brisbane city, and from about this time he contributed verse and other literary articles to The Queenslander, Sydney Mail and other Australian and overseas periodicals.  William spent his retirement years on Bribie Island and according to the Visitors’ Book for Shirley’s Guest House at Ocean Beach, stayed there on 8 December 1939.  Another guest that day was Thomas Welsby.

William Main’s article The Unnamed Lakes was published in The Queenslander, 9 February 1928, page 8 and his photos of The Nameless Lagoons of Bribie on page 31.

---ooo---

The Unnamed Lakes of Bribie by William Main, 1928 (with illustrations)

Unnamed lakes and streams, in these days [1928], belong to the "Never Never"; but they are still to be found on the main beach of Bribie Island, 35 miles from the city of Brisbane.

Historically, Bribie is the most important island in the Bay.  On July 16, 1799, Captain Matthew Flinders landed at Skirmish Point, the first white man to land on Moreton Bay, and this point of Bribie was named by him because of a short and almost harmless engagement he and his boat’s crew had with the natives after landing.  In his sloop Norfolk Flinders made a wonderfully accurate chart of the Bay and islands, but he missed the Brisbane River, which, after an interval of 24 years, was discovered by Oxley.

Map of Bribie Island showing
William Main’s “Unnamed Lakes”.
Source: The Unnamed Lakes of Bribie. The Queenslander, 9 February 1928, p. 8.

   The island was not named.  It simply got to be known as Bribie’s Island, the name of a convict settler who made his home on it for years.

   During recent times the steamers of the Brisbane Tug and Steamship Company have made the island accessible four days a week, and a township has been formed at the jetty, in the passage between the island and the mainland.  This township has been named Bongaree, although the name is unknown to most of the visitors.  The passage itself is a famous fishing ground, and was supposed by the explorers to be the mouth of a river, and consequently was named the Pumicestone River, but is now more commonly known to its frequenters as Bribie Passage.  The scenery and sunsets are beautiful, with fine views of the Glass House Mountains in the background.

   The Tug Company of late years has opened a road across the island to the main beach, and established a motor service.  This is the only road on the island, and as the time between arrival and departure is so short it permits little more than a dip in the surf and lunch at the kiosk before returning to the Passage to join the steamer.

   The main beach, stretching over 20 miles north to Caloundra, is practically undiscovered country.  As far as the eye can reach the beach shows an unbroken fringe of casuarinas.  Behind the casuarinas is thick scrub and timber, which, in the south of the island, stretches from the main beach to the Passage.  The road is through timber all the way.  About three miles north of the road the thick scrub forms but a narrow belt, and beyond, for miles and miles, the island is open country, like a Scottish moor, covered with heath, with occasional clumps of banksia and ti-tree.  Instead of grouse, one starts an odd kangaroo or wallaby, and sometimes an emu.  Dingoes are common, as their tracks prove, right down to the shore; but they are seldom seen in daylight.  In the topmost branches of a dead cypress pine, not far from the open country, is an eagle’s nest of many years’ standing.  There are two young eagles in it as I write, and they are bred by larger eagles than can be found in any other part of the world.

How No. 1 lagoon meets the sea in a wet season.
Photo and caption: W. Main
Source: The Nameless Lagoons of Bribie. The Queenslander, 9 February 1928, p. 31.

The Lagoons

   Three miles along the beach, north from the road, there is a break in the casuarina fringe, and No. 1 lagoon opens out.  It is the smallest of the saltwater lakes, but a fine sheet of water at times.  It has but one arm running into it, from the south.  This arm is over two miles long, and joins up with fresh water lagoons and swamps in the wet season, when it becomes a rushing river, breaking through the sand barrier to the sea.  This lagoon broke through in April last year, after being closed for three years, and the photographs were taken at that time.  There is also a photograph showing it closed up again.

No. 1 lagoon closed from the sea.
Photo and caption: W. Main
Source: The Nameless Lagoons of Bribie. The Queenslander, 9 February 1928, p. 31.

No. 2 lagoon.  Photo and caption: W. Main
Source: The Nameless Lagoons of Bribie. The Queenslander, 9 February 1928, p. 31.

   Two miles north of No. 1 lagoon there is a second gap in the coastline, and one comes on a beautiful sheet of water, which is No. 2 lagoon, the largest of the four lagoons along the main beach.  This lagoon has two large feeders, one stretching south until it almost joins the waters of No. 1 lagoon, and in wet weather, draining swamps and numerous fresh water lagoons that join up to make a river, carrying the accumulated rubbish of the island to the sea.  At such times the ocean changes colour, and becomes a sea of mud and debris along the coastline.

  Sometimes, while the break remains open to the sea, fish rush in, and, when closed, the lagoons are full of bream, whiting, and mullet.  They have always eels.  At the last break the fish were not available, and there are few in any of the lagoons this year.  One whiting, caught in No. 2 last year, measured 18in., and scaled 1 lb. 11 oz.  The flavour of the lagoon fish is inferior to the fish caught in the sea.

No. 2 lagoon looking north.
Photo and caption: W. Main.
Source: The Nameless Lagoons of Bribie. The Queenslander, 9 February 1928, p. 31.

The north branch of No. 3 lagoon.
Photo and caption: W. Main
Source: The Nameless Lagoons of Bribie. The Queenslander, 9 February 1928, p. 31.

   Then, two good miles north of No. 2 lagoon, one reaches the gem of the main beach, No. 3 lagoon.  The permanent water in No. 1 and No. 2 lagoons is dark, like strong billy tea; but the water of No. 3 lagoon is clear as crystal, and makes the finest swimming pool imaginable.  It is not more than 10ft. deep in any part, and there is a beautiful island that one can reach by the aid of a friendly sandbank.  The banks are covered with scrub and beautiful trees, with here and there a group of dark cypress pines, stretching above the surrounding bush and forming a delightful contrast to the lighter shades of green.  

The waters of No. 3 lagoon come mostly from the heathland, and at times there are whiting to be caught, if they are in a biting mood.

No. 4 lagoon.
Photo and caption: W. Main
Source: The Nameless Lagoons of Bribie. The Queenslander, 9 February 1928, p. 31.

  The No. 3 lagoon, the beauty of the bunch, entails a 10-mile walk along the beach; but, when the tide is suitable, the sands are firm, and with a day before one there is no need to hurry.

   

No. 4 lagoon is much the same as No. 2 lagoon.  It has two feeding areas, and is in the neighbourhood where the wild “Christmas bells” bloom in their season.  Unfortunately, “there ain’t no ‘buses running” and it is a long way to carry Christmas bells seven miles, mostly against a south-easter.

   The main beach itself is a mighty attraction, and a plunge in the surf is available at any stage of the journey.  Sometimes there are rare shells to be found; but often the beach is bare.  And what a beach it is – the finest surfing beach in Queensland!  

REFERENCE:
An Unknown Island. The Unnamed Lakes of Bribie published in The Queenslander, Thursday 9 February 1928, page 8 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22943972  and the photos The Nameless Lagoons of Bribie appear on page 31 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22943811 of the same issue.

Q150 2009 Welsby Parade

Q150 Heritage Plaque - 11 of 16 - Welsby Parade

The Bribie Island Heritage Plaques Waterfront Walk Bongaree consists of 16 bronze plaques located on the "Heritage Walk" along the walking path beside the Bongaree beach from the southern point of South Esplanade and finishes just north of Kangaroo Avenue.
These 16 bronze plaques set on a white concrete square record various aspects of the history of Bribie Island: Record Rainfall, South Esplanade, Campbell's Store, Camping Grounds, Bribie Island heritage quote from A. Meston, Ian Fairweather, First Shop, Bribie Island Heritage quote from Stan Tutt, First Avenue, Fishing Records, Welsby Parade, Bribie Island Wartime, First Car, Shirley Creek, Castaway Convicts and Fish Cannery.
The following excerpt is from the 2009 booklet produced prior to the plaques placement. The Heritage Plaques Waterfront Walk Bongaree project was a Q150 Community Funded Program, initiated by the Rotary Club of Bribie Island and supported by Moreton Bay Regional Council in conjunction with Bribie Island U3A and Bribie Island Historical Society.

A copy of the map for the Bongaree Waterfront Walk can be found at 

http://bribieislandhistory.blogspot.com.au/2016/01/bribie-heritage-plaques-walk.html

WELSBY PARADE This road named for Thomas Welsby, Brisbane businessman, Historian, Sportsman and Author, who in 1937 at the age of 80, wrote the book “Bribie the Basket Maker” and thus created a legend about the Island and its name.

Thomas Welsby 

> Born on 29th November 1858, Ipswich, Queensland, fourth child of William Welsby.  Died on 3rd February 1941, New Farm, Brisbane, Queensland.

> Educated at John Scott’s School, North Ipswich State School and Ipswich Boys’ Grammar Schools. 

> Joined the Bank of New South Wales in Brisbane in 1874, resigned as ledger keeper in 1879 to join the Australian Joint Stock Bank in Brisbane and in 1884 left there to practice as a public accountant, trustee and auditor and became a member of the Brisbane Stock Exchange. 

> Chairman of Directors of Queensland Brewery Ltd, 1907—1919. Stood for Parliament unsuccessfully in 1899, 1902 and 1909, but was successful in North Brisbane in 1911 and was Member for Merthyr from 1912 to 1915.

Thomas Welsby's motor launch "Amity"

Welsby — Historian, Writer 

* Published Works: He wrote seven books about the history of the Moreton Bay region:- Schnappering (1905), Early Moreton Bay (1907), The Discoverers of the Brisbane River (1913), The History of the Royal Queensland Yacht Club (1918), Memories of Amity (1922), Sport and Pastimes in Moreton Bay (1931).

* His last book written at the age of 80 was titled “Bribie the Basket Maker”. Welsby had a home on Bribie Island and in 1937, following the Great Depression, he wrote a romantic legend about a convict who fell in love with a native Princess on the island. This helped to regenerate interest and promote tourism prior to World War 2.

* Thomas Welsby loved history and was Foundation Honorary Treasurer of the Historical Society of Queensland: in 1913, he served as Vice– President for 23 years from 1917 until his death in 1941, and had a year as President in 1936-37.

Welsby—Sporting Activities

. Welsby was a keen sportsman and was manager and half-back for Queensland’s first intercolonial Rugby Union team which played in Sydney in 1882. He helped to revive the code in 1928, was a life member of the Queensland Rugby Union, President 1929-1939 and donated the Welsby Cup. 

. Welsby was Foundation Secretary of the Brisbane Gymnasium in 1882, sponsored boxing matches and formed the Queensland Amateur Boxing and Wrestling Union in 1909. 

. Welsby was a Founding Vice-President of the Amateur Fishermen’s Association from 1904, which established a base on Bribie Island. He was Founding Member of the Royal Queensland Yacht Club in 1885 and Commodore in 1903-1919. 

Personal Tragedy 

     Thomas Welsby had much sadness in his life. His father and two brothers had died by 1879.  

His wife Margaret Gilchrist, nee Kingston, whom he married on 21st February 1893 at East Brisbane, died ten years later.  

His only son died in childhood. Survived by two daughters, he died on 3rd February 1941 at New farm, Brisbane. 

Welsby built a home which he called “Amity” in 1892, near the River at New Farm. He moved into the house in December 1892 and in February 1893 endured the disastrous floods, which came within inches of the verandah. 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Information from: Ruth S. Kerr, “Welsby, Thomas (1858-1941)”, “Australian Dictionary of Biography”, Volume 12, Melbourne University Press, 1990, p.441. 

[Viewed at http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/welsby-thomas-9044]