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Northumberland Islands

Island chain off the coast of Queensland, Australia

Summary

Island chain off the coast of Queensland, Australia

Field	Value
name	Northumberland Islands
native_name	Nu Tannik Ckelo
map	Australia
archipelago	Northumberland Isles
location	Coral Sea
coordinates
country	Australia
country_admin_divisions_title	State
country_admin_divisions	Queensland
population	150 (Tourism)

The Northumberland Islands are a scattered island chain off the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia.

Geography and history

The Northumberland Islands are to the south-east of the city of Mackay roughly between the latitudes 21°S and 22°S. All islands are of the continental type. The island group was named by James Cook during his historic voyage along Australia's eastern seaboard in 1770, after the First Duke of Northumberland, Hugh Percy. Both Cook and Matthew Flinders make note of the island group in their journals, Cook describing them as such:

In 1855, a botany expedition led by naturalist Frederick Strange visited the islands on his ship Vision. Four of the expedition were killed by Aboriginal people at Middle Percy Island. Those killed were Frederick Strange and his assistant Richard Spinks, William Spurling (ship's mate) and Andrew Gittings (ship's cook and steward). Captain Chimmo of the Royal Navy vessel , sailed to the island and conducted an investigation. He decided to take ten of the islanders prisoner. These prisoners, including three women and three children, were sent to Sydney for trial. One child died in custody and the rest were eventually shipped back to Gladstone.

The island group is remote, and apart from charter flights to Marble Island they are accessible only by private yacht.

The Northumberland Islands are further subdivided into smaller groups: the Bedwell Group, Beverley Group, Broad Sound Islands, Duke Islands, Flat Isles, Guardfish Cluster and Percy Isles (within the locality The Percy Group). The islands are listed below, with the geographical coordinates of the largest islands given. Only the major islands of each group are listed.

Bedwell Group

Name origin: Staff Commander E. P. Bedwell, surveyor

Calliope Island
Connor Islet
Innes Island
George Island
Poynter Island

Beverley Group

Name origin: Unknown

Beverlac Island
Digby Island
Double Island
Henderson Island
Hull Island
Keelan Island
Knight Island
Minster Island
Noel Island
Prudhoe Island

Broad Sound Islands

Name origin: Situated at the mouth of Broad Sound, a vast inlet named by Cook in 1770

Long Island
Quail Island
Tern Island
Wild Duck Island

Duke Islands

Name origin: Unknown

Alnwick Island
Bamborough Island
Cheviot Island
Hexham Island
High Peak Island
Hunter Island
Iron Islet
Marble Island
Otterbourne Island
Shields Island
Steep Island
Tweed Island
Tynemouth Island

Flat Isles

Name origin: Named by Flinders in 1802 due to their height - Avoid Island is the highest at 33 metres above sea level

Aquila Island
Avoid Island
Flock Pigeon Island
Red Clay Island

Guardfish Cluster

Name origin: Unknown

Bluff Island
Curlew Island
Tinonee Peak Island

Percy Isles

Name origin: Named by Flinders in 1802 after the Duke of Northumberland's family name

Hotspur Island
Shrewsbury Rock
Middle Percy Island
North East Island
Pine Islet
Pine Peak Island
South Percy Island
Sphinx Island
Walter Island

References

{{Cite QPN. 24762. Northumberland Islands. island group in Isaac Region
{{cite QPN. 24762. Northumberland Islands
"Captain Cook's Journal during his first voyage round the world, by James Cook (Chapter8)".
Rowland, Michael J.. (2020). ""By savage hands his steps were stayed! Life and death on the Percy Isles, 1854"". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland.
"Letters to the Colonial Secretary relating to Moreton Bay and Queensland".
{{cite QPN. 2038. Bedwell Group
{{cite QPN. 2430. Beverley Group
{{cite QPN. 4593. Broad Sound
{{cite QPN. 10764. Duke Islands
{{cite QPN. 12726. Flat Isles
{{cite QPN. 14927. Guardfish Cluster
{{cite QPN. 26441. Percy Isles

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

islands-of-queensland north-queensland

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