Location:

Lady Elliot Island Lighthouse is located on Lady Elliot Island, the southernmost coral cay of the Great barrier Reef, 46 nautical miles (85 km) north-east of Bundaberg on the Queensland coast.

GPS: Lat: 24° 07’ S : Long: 152° 43’ E

The Original Lighthouse:

First Lit: 1866 (replaced 1873, automated 1982, deactivated and replaced 1995)

Tower height: 18 m

Focal height: 20 m

Original Lens: 4th Order Chance Bros. Dioptric

Range: 17nml (31km)

Characteristic: One white flashes every five seconds: [Fl W 5s with ared sector]

Current Tower:

The current active light is a square steel skeletal tower. It is topped by a white fiberglass hut with a gallery.^[3] The fully automated light consists of six beams and is solar powered. The light characteristic shown is a white flash every 7.5 seconds (Fl.W. 7.5s), visible for 20 nautical miles (37 km). A racon showing “B” is mounted at focal height of 5.2 m.

Tower height: 32m

Focal height 38m

History:

The first navigation light to actually be installed on Lady Elliot Island was installed in 1866, in connection with the guano mining company operating on the island which started in 1863. It was a temporary light installed on a tall mast, which survived until 1871 when it was destroyed by a gale and rebuilt.

In 1872 plans were drawn for a new lighthouse, and tenders were called. The winning tender, for £749, was by the brothers John and Jacob Rooney of Maryborough, who also constructed Sandy Cape, Cowan Point, Cape Capricorn, Cape Bowling Green and Booby Island lighthouses. The lighthouse was established in 1873, the third to be erected in Queensland since its formation in 1859, following Bustard Head in 1869 and Sandy Cape in 1870. 

The lighthouse construction was the first of its kind in Australia. Unlike previous lighthouse using bolted segments of cast iron, the first of which were Troubridge Island Lighthouse constructed in 1856 in South Australia and the original Breaksea Island Light constructed in 1858 in Western Australia, as well as Sandy Cape Light and Bustard Head Light in Queensland, the tower used wrought iron plates mounted on a timber frame which supplied the structural strength, where the iron plates act as cladding. This was a cheaper method of construction, and following lighthouses in Queensland used this method predominantly. The iron cladding was prefabricated in England and shipped to the island in pieces, together with the imported lens, lantern and operating apparatus. The timber framing was prefabricated in Brisbane and shipped to the site. The light was originally a flashing 4,000 cd light.

The lighthouse was tended by a single lighthouse keeper, assisted by a member of the guano mining company when required, and only one cottage was constructed.

Structure:

The lighthouse is largely in its original form. It is round in form and conical in shape. The base of the tower is a massive concrete floor cast within a low stone wall, with a segmented cast iron ring bolted to it. The tower is made of a timber frame clad with galvanised wrought iron plates, about 2.5 millimetres thick. The plates are riveted at the joints and screwed to the timber frame and the base ring. The tower is painted white. It is topped by a gallery and a lantern, both painted white, with the lantern dome painted red. One addition to the original plan was the addition of a skillion roofed  entrance porch to the base of the tower.

The inside of the lighthouse is divided into four storeys with timber floors. A central weight tube provides support to a winding timber stair that goes up to the third level. Access to the fourth level, the gallery and the lantern is via a fixed ladder.

Myths, Mysteries & Tragedies:

The hardships of living on a lighthouse on such a remote island, and at sea, are brought to us by the two headstones enclosed by a low white picket fence.

One is of the 30-year-old daughter of the first Lady Elliot lightkeeper. This young woman was born on the island and lived most of her lonely life there. She contracted pneumonia and despite desperate efforts by her parents, (stores ships at that time only called once every four months) died in 1896.

The other is that of a turn-of-the-century wife of a ship’s captain who died at sea, but had earlier made her husband promise to bury her on terra firma (Lady Elliot Island being the nearest landfall).

Many wrecks surround the island and over the years, the keepers have assisted in many sea rescues.

Current Status:

The current lighthouse is operated by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) and the site is managed by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) as part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The island can be reached only by air.