‘Mary Wilson’, 1852, and ‘Monumental City’, 1853

The wreck of the ‘Mary Wilson’ on Gabo Island and, very soon afterwards and just a few miles further south, the wreck of the ‘Monumental City’, prompted James Johnson, the owner of the ‘Mary Wilson’, to erect and pay for a lighthouse on Gabo Island. He submitted plans to the Colonial Secretary and then arranged with the Colonial Architect that he (Johnson) and the government should equally share the expense of necessary transportation between Eden and Gabo Island whilst the lighthouse was being built. Johnson then asked Stewart Mowle, the Sub-Collector of Customs and Water Police Magistrate at Twofold Bay, to help him recruit Aboriginal labourers to work on Gabo Island:

‘…if any of your Aboriginals be tempted by the offer of £1 and food for the journey to and fro (between Eden and Gabo Island). I beg to suggest that if opportunity offers the Cape Howe tribe be at Gabo, so that the useful men of the party could assist us if required, for which they will be fed ad libitum, and be paid in blankets or money. I am taking a strong party with me, but half-a-dozen more strong blackfellows will be of service in helping to convey the materials up to the top of the sandhill. The lighthouse has all been fitted out here; we have only to get it up the hill as best we may and erect it.’

This is an example of how many of the early South Coast settlers positively engaged with local Aboriginals, many of whom were very willing to work with/for the European settlers. (More recently, those historic positive relationships have – unfortunately – been grossly misrepresented by individuals/groups pushing their own barrows – a classic example being by those who recently championed the change of name of Ben Boyd National Park near Eden to Beowa National Park.)

Johnson’s lighthouse on Gabo Island operated for nine years until it was replaced by a taller lighthouse built of granite quarried on the island.

The ‘Mary Wilson’ was a wooden brigantine that had been built in Canada in 1849. She left Oporto, Portugal, on 17th April 1852 bound for Sydney with a full cargo of wine (as had the ill-fated ‘Jupiter’ in 1850). The vessel anchored in Gabo Harbour on 31st August to wait out a strong NNE wind and to take on water. The wind, however, swung around to the west and the captain was unable to take the vessel out of the bay. At 4pm on 1st September the anchor dragged and the vessel struck stern first on the rocks. An anchor was dropped but the hawser parted and the vessel was driven ashore. The owner, James Johnson, the captains wife, the chief officer and most of the crew proceeded to Twofold Bay in the vessel’s quarter boat. On 4th September, the captain and one remaining crewman were rescued by the ‘Waratah’ and were taken to Sydney. The cutter ‘Swan’ made two voyages to Gabo Island to recover cargo from the ‘Mary Wilson’, and the schooner ‘Queen of the South’ also recovered some of the cargo. The wreck was stripped of everything except the anchors and chain. The vessel then broke up.

The 52-metre, 1,000-ton American wooden screw steamer ‘Monumental City’ was only the second steamer to cross the Pacific. It had been brought to Australia because of the Victorian gold rush. On its first Australian coastal voyage it transported 166 passengers to Melbourne who were headed to the Victorian goldfields. On its return voyage to Sydney, it ran aground on Tullaberga Island (off Mallacoota) on 15th May 1853, apparently as a result of a navigation error. Its engines were reportedly too weak to reverse out of its predicament. The ‘Monumental City’ was carrying a crew of 45 and 46 passengers at the time. A storm came up and three of its boats were smashed against the rocks when they were lowered. 35 passengers (including its owner) and two of the ship’s crew lost their lives.

In 1896 a survivor of the wreck, a Mr Roberts, claimed that when the’ Monumental City’ was wrecked, it was carrying two safes filled with gold. In 1919 this claim was revived by the son of another survivor, who said that the treasure had supposedly been salvaged by crewmembers but, unable to carry it, they had hidden it until they could return. But, it was never recovered. These stories led to a number of treasure-hunting missions being undertaken over the years, apparently without result.