Beside the Crowdy Head Lighthouse are the remains of the lightkeeper’s cottage.1 William John Smith, a Taree contractor, began building the lighthouse and dwelling in 1878.2 After laying a foundation of concrete for the lighthouse and rubble for the cottage, both structures were constructed of brick transported to Crowdy Bay by a purpose-built punt.3
The first lightkeeper was George Whitnall, a seaman and sail maker from Kent, England. He worked on the HMS Herald while it surveyed the Australian coast and Fijian Islands in the 1850s.4 After settling in Sydney, he moved to Harrington to work as a boatman for the pilot station before becoming lightkeeper.5 George and his family lived in the cottage where he and his daughter planted an orchard and banana plantation.6 On New Year’s morning in 1898, George suffered a life-threatening illness and was forced to retire; he died eight months later.7
Three more lightkeepers lived in the quarters: John Adam (1898-1904),8 Thomas Thornley (1904-1920)9 and Charles Knott (acting for six months in 1913).10
In 1920 the lighthouse was automated and the last lightkeeper, Thomas Thornley, transferred to the Seal Rocks Lighthouse.11 Jim Burnes lived in the cottage during the 1920s and when it was auctioned in 1928 Jim was the successful tenderer. He was required to remove all roofing and woodwork which he used to build a hut nearby. The underground tank was filled in with bricks and rubble.12
Today the ruins of the lightkeeper’s quarters adds to the romantic atmosphere of this little lighthouse.
Author: Janine Roberts
Click here to read more about the lighthouse and first lightkeeper George Whitnall.
References:
1 New South Wales Government Gazette, 5 April 1878[Issue No. 103], 1433.
2 Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 27 June 1878, 2.
3 Maitland Mercury, 9 January 1879, 7.
4 National Archives, UK, Royal Naval Seamen Index 1853-1872.
5 Ancestry.com, NSW Government Gazette, Jan-Mar 1885.
6 Daily Telegraph, 11 October 1889, 5.
7 Manning River Times, 5 January 1898, 2; NSW Government Gazette, 25 Mar 1898[Issue No. 265 (supplement)], 2497.
8 Manning River Times, 16 January 1904, 4.
9 Government Gazette of the State of NSW, 31 Mar 1904[Issue No. Index 19040101-19040331, xxvii.
10 Daily Telegraph, 2 June 1913, 14.
11 Manning River Times, 19 January 1921, 2.
12 Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, 2 Feb 1928[Issue No.9], 127; Oral history from the Burnes family; Rebecca Linton, “Crowdy Head”, 1998, 26.
