#

Susan Marsden, A short history of Kangaroo Island

1802-1835 !lti"a #hule It is however, a curse entailed upon the wicked, to be contented in no situation; and these rovers having again set sail, usually follow the coast ... until they reach Kangaroo Island, in latitude 35.5. This Island, nearly 3 the Ultima Thule." (Hobart Town Gazette and Sydney Gazette, #$%&'# Ultima Thule lay at the end of the world. In the early years of the nineteenth century, Kangaroo Island was indeed far fro! the reach of (uropean civili)ation. (ven today that re!oteness, the hint of lawlessness and so!ething of the uni*ue i!plied in the designation, Ultima Thule, colours the visitor"s i!pressions of the island and characterises !uch of its heritage. (ven the +boriginal inhabitants died out or abandoned the island !any hundreds of years before its rediscovery by (uropeans. The island"s physical li!itations, including poor soils, scarce water supplies and inter!inable scrub", li!ited (uropean settle!ent throughout the nineteenth century to little !ore than se!i,subsistence far!ing and two !odest townships. -espite its pro.i!ity to the /outh +ustralian !ainland, the island has a most
distinctive regional history and heritage. This is a reflection of both its peculiar remoteness and harsh nature as well as of its role in the earliest phase of European contact with South Australia. Between the first formal sighting in 180 and official settlement in 18!"# $angaroo %sland was better &nown and more fre'uently visited than the mainland. (artly because it was occupied during those intervening years by a few )*obinson +rusoes, the island figured prominently in plans made for the formal British colonisation of South Australia. -ere# the first colonists landed and the first of the (rovince,s towns was created.

!iles in circu!ference, is

The island !ay be considered the !ost significant region in the /tate for the period of

% early (uropean contact. 0owever, soon after for!al settle!ent, the li!itations of the island for large scale co!!ercial and industrial develop!ent were !ade !anifest and !ost of the population and almost all interest shifted to the mainland. 1or this very reason much of the island,s natural and cultural heritage
has survived. Apart from the magnificent natural heritage# the most significant heritage dates from the period of early European contact from discovery to the disbanding of the town of $ingscote and the whaling stations.

In /tate ter!s the other !a2or heritage relates to the island,s position in the
heavily.traffic&ed seaways of an established colony/ the lighthouses# shipwrec&s# landing places and graveyards# representing the dangers and refuges of its wild seas and comple0 coastline. %ndeed# for many years# outsiders saw this as $angaroo %sland,s main function. As 1rancis 2utton observed in 183"#

Kangaroo Island, a large and generally speaking, barren island, serving as an ad!irable barrier to break the force of the /outhern 3cean, and containing several safe and co!!odious harbours, into which vessels can at all ti!es run for shelter, if necessary.% The first recorded sighting was !ade by 4aptain 5atthew 1linders in the Investigator in #$ %, on his voyage of discovery which had started fro! (ngland in #$ #. 4ircu!navigating +ustralia, travelling fro! the west, 1linders carefully charted the southern +ustralian coastline. 0e stayed several days on the -udley peninsula part of the island and !any of the place na!es are those he gave, including Kanguroo Island itself, na!ed in gratitude for the fresh !eat provided by kangaroos killed at Kanguroo 0ead. 6The spelling was later changed to Kangaroo'. 1ro! the island, 1linders also na!ed Investigator /trait, 7ackstairs 8assage, and 5ount 9ofty, which was clearly visible on the !ainland. 3n the island a!ongst other features na!ed were 4hrist!as 4ove, 8rospect 0ill 6with its fine view', 8oint 5arsden, 4ape :illoughby and ;epean 7ay. + cairn was erected in #< &, to !ark the supposed position of 1linders" landing at Kangaroo 0ead. 1linders was closely followed by 4aptain ;icolas 7audin, who was engaged on a si!ilar

3 scientific and e.ploratory voyage for 1rance. In #$ %, soon after encountering 1linders, Le Geographe travelled along the northern coast of the island as far as 5urat 7ay, before having to abandon the e.pedition and return to 8ort =ackson. -uring that voyage a crew !e!ber engraved on a rock at a soak near the present town of 8enneshaw, (>8(-ITI3; -( -(43?@(AT( 8+A 9( 4355(;-+;T 7+?-I; /?A 9( B(3BA+80( #$ %". The original 1rench!an"s rock was eventually re!oved to the ;ational Ballery in +delaide but a replica C enclosed by a do!e constructed in #< & , still !arks the site beside the soak at 0og 7ay. There is evidence of a si!ilar inscription in a cave at 7audin"s Aavine des 4asoars at the western end of the island, but this was obliterated only in recent years.3
%n 180!# after re.e'uipping his e0pedition and obtaining a second ship# Baudin returned and sailed completely about the island. 4ost of the features he surveyed have retained their 1rench names# including +apes de +ouedic# Borda# +assini and 5antheaume and 6ivonne and 2,Estrees Bay. The 1rench also renamed the island itself# but the original name of $angaroo %sland survived.

7audin continued, sailing into :estern +ustralia. There, he encountered

some American sealers in the Union who# when told about $angaroo %sland# hastened eastwards. -alf the crew was set down beside the estuary to (elican 7agoon# which has ever since been called American *iver. There in 180!.1803 they built a schooner# Independence# using local timber# at a site which has been identified. The remainder of the crew cruised about the island# sealing# &illing 1 #000 seals as they roosted along the shores and on nearby islets.

1ro! then the slaughter was on as regular visits were !ade by 7ritish and +!erican crews in search of seals, kangaroo and salt for curing the s&ins. 1ine salt
scraped from dry lagoons led sealers to use $angaroo %sland as a base camp. Salt gathering was# of course# the first mineral mining underta&en in South Australia# the earliest recorded site being at 8hite 7agoon in 1813.

?sually operating fro! /ydney sealers were te!porarily stationed on the island for the killing season, with bare provisionsD 0arvey,s *eturn on the north coast# was
named after one such sealer# associated with 9oseph 4urrell of Sydney.

E In #$ E, unnerved by the possibility of 1rench anne0ation after Baudin,s visit#

the British 5overnment sent a surveyor to $angaroo %sland as a possible site for colonisation. The 5rimes *eport was so unfavourable :in fact it seems doubtful he even visited the island;# condemning its poor timber and soils and the lac& of fresh water# that colonisation of this entire southern Australian country was set bac& another thirty two years. %ronically# another report by a +aptain Sutherland# who claimed to have visited $angaroo %sland in 181<# was so optimistic :and inaccurate; that it led to the first formal colonisation of the island# with the establishment of the South Australian +ompany=s settlement of $ingscote in 18!".

In the !eanti!e fro! about #$ & Kangaroo Island,s very remoteness attracted
settlers of a different &ind# semi.lawless men who were escaped convicts# ships, deserters and sealers. They brought with them Tasmanian Aboriginal women and abducted other women from the 4urray 4outh. Encounter Bay tribes. Some of the men were notorious for their crimes and cruelties and one visitor described $angaroo %sland at that time as the most vicious place in the British Empire. %f so# it was but a foretaste of the carelessness# cruelties and conflicts which attended contact between other British ruffians and Aboriginals at the frontiers of settlement throughout Australia. The Aboriginal women and children on $angaroo %sland besides providing companionship# went trapping and gathering and &ept the men both comfortably fed and able to trade s&ins and salt for rum and tobacco with the occasional ship.

In #$%F a ship was sent fro! /ydney to round up the worst offenders and the re!ainder settled !ore 'uietly under the self.styled )governorship, of *obert 8allen
at Three 8ells :+ygnet; *iver :mis.named -enry 8allen at the $ingscote cemetery;.

5ost of the !en and wo!en were transients, but fro! about the early #$% s several settled per!anently on the island, ulti!ately achieving a rough respectability in the !ore decorous society which succeeded formal colonisation. >at Thomas# who lies
buried at Antechamber Bay# was typical.

3ne of the earliest settlers on Kangaroo Island he left /ydney in #$%E as a crew !e!ber of a sealing ship bound for 7ass /trait, but by #$%F had left the ship and with two Tas!anian aboriginal wo!en had co!e to Kangaroo Island and settled at +ntecha!ber

5 7ay. There with a group of other sealers he lived a rough, but to he and his co!panions, an idyllic life feeding on wallabies and ho!e grown vegetables. They kept two # ton whale boats in 4hap!an"s 4reek in which they sealed or visited the !ainland to replenish their supply of aboriginal wo!en. 0e was a ruthless !an. :hen a young aboriginal boy ran away fro! hi!, he cut off the ladGs ear so close to the head that part of his cheek was re!oved and he later died. In /epte!ber #$3& dressed in wallaby and kangaroo skin clothing, ;at Tho!as and so!e !ates !et the e!igrants fro! the =ohn 8rice who had 2ust landed near Kingscote and badly frightened the!. 7y the #$5 s Tho!as was styled far!er and gra)ier, taking up one of the first pastoral leases issued in the 0undred of -udley, his part,Tas!anian +boriginal daughters !arrying the !ore respectable settlers who had arrived after colonisation.E There are !any stories of the other !en and wo!en. The wo!en were known si!ply as /al, 7ess, (!!a, 8uss and 8olecat. The wild !en" included =acob /ea!an, Beorge 7ates, +byssinia" and Bovernor" 8allen# whose productive farm at +ygnet
*iver was sited on the best soil on the island which is still the main source of local vegetables. Though the tales may be part legend and part truth# the lives of these islanders also left tangible relics/ in the 1< 0s anthropologist >orman Tindale and his colleagues unearthed traditional Tasmanian artefacts? and the women themselves are buried at near.secret locations about the island. Some of the men have more formal burial sites/ 5eorge Bates= tombstone inscription at the (enneshaw cemetery ma&es interesting reading. Bates, house itself# in (enneshaw# has been claimed to be the oldest stone house in South Australia. The e0isting cottage was# however# rebuilt using some of the same stone and possibly the same foundations at the e0act site at the turn of the century.

1reshfields, at Antechamber Bay was the home of >at Thomas and his
wife# Sophia :also called Sal;# who was a Tasmanian Aboriginal. The original four roomed cottage dates from about 18 @. Although it was later e0tended and completely encircled by additions# the dwelling is an e0tremely rare# intact relic of that period of pre.colonial European contact. Thomas died in 18@< and with Sophia lies buried by the river below )1reshfields,.

& The ruins of =acob /ea!an"s hut are at 8oint 5orrison and vestiges of :allen"s far! lie at 4ygnet Aiver. :ells, such as those at 4ape *ouge and beside other
beaches provided a small but sufficient water supply. *eports by +aptain Sutherland and by other whalers and resident sealers aroused interest in Britain in the possibilities of establishing a colony in South Australia.

In #$3E the /outh +ustralian +ct, founding the colony, was passed by the British
(arliament. The South Australian +ompany was formed in 18!A with 5eorge 1ife Angas as founder and +hairman which helped set the colony on its feet financially# and continued its role in the new country in a typical nineteenth century blend of altruism and mercantilism. 1or there was money to be made in Australia in land speculation# financing# whaling and pastoralism. The >ew South 8ales e0perience was proving that# and the new +ompany tried it all. At that stage whaling appeared to be most lucrative having been to that time the maBor industry in >ew South 8ales. So# its land purchases aside# the South Australian +ompany concentrated first on whaling. %ts first goal was $angaroo %sland.

183$-18%& out'ost of e"'ire 5ore efficient than the 4olonisation 4o!!issioners who were to establish the 8rovince, the /outh +ustralian 4o!pany !ore rapidly organised ships, wor&ers and supplies.
These left in 1ebruary 18!"# bound for $angaroo %sland. There# the +ompany proposed to form a permanent settlement and begin whaling. Cther ships set sail about the same time. The Rapid carried the Surveyor.5eneral# +olonel 8illiam 7ight# and his wor&ers# who were to survey the new colonial lands and to ma&e the crucial decision on the site of the capital city? and later# the Buffalo with its complement of worthy colonists and officials# presided over by +aptain 9ohn -indmarsh# the new 5overnor.

The /outh +ustralian 4o!pany ships, Lady Mary Pelham and u!e o" #or! !ade landfall at Kangaroo Island in =uly #$3& and later the $ohn Pri%e, heralding the beginning of for!al settle!ent. The 4o!pany"s town C Kingscote, na!ed after one of the directors C was established at Aeeves 8oint, a site chosen because of its location in ;epean 7ay and because it was near the entrance to the Bulf, with access to the !ainland. Kingscote

F was essentially a base for the 4o!pany"s whaling activities, but it was sited in the hope that it !ight also develop if not as the capital city, at least as a port centrally located by the seaways to the !ainland. 7ut soon after, 4olonel 9ight landed at ;epean 7ay. 0is verdict echoed that of
the earlier official visitors/ >epean Bay was an impressive harbour but he reBected the site because of the poor soil and lac& of water. 1rom here 7ight e0plored the east coast of 5ulf St. 6incent where# after reBecting three other suggested sites along the mainland coast# he decided to place the capital city# Adelaide# on the ban&s of the *iver Torrens.

9ight"s decision i!!ediately relegated Kingscote"s status, at best, to that of an outlying provincial post, but even that role was bedevilled by the i!poverished resourcesD even the water had to be at first carried by boat fro! water,holes at 8oint 5arsden, across the bay. :ithout ceremony the +ompany appropriated )5overnor, 8allen=s farm# but
there was little other productive land# nor was the whaling successful# although the +ompany persisted in setting up whaling stations both on the island and on the mainland.

(ven so, the 4olony"s first settlement might have survived had it been a
government rather than a +ompany town. %ts difficulties were reinforced by dispute between the high.handed +ompany managers and their employees. %nitially# every emigrant ship called there and usually at least a few colonists stayed behind when the rest shifted to -oldfast Bay. The +olony,s first school was held under a bush at *eeves (oint and its first burials were made in the cemetery which remains near the site of the original town. Stone for the first road construction# from Adelaide to (ort Adelaide# was shipped from 'uarries at the same place by +ompany ships and salt was mined and also shipped to Adelaide.

7y #$3$ Kingscote had a population of appro.i!ately E , who lived in brush or ti!ber huts and tents fringing the shore and brick and stone cottages, the !ore pro!inent 4o!pany residences on the slopes of the hill behind Aeeves 8oint. There was a store, a boarding house, workshops and a post office. 0owever, later in that year the 4o!pany cut its losses, !oving its head*uarters to +delaide and with the! went the !a2ority of the

$ inhabitants. Kingscote effectively ceased to e.ist and the progress of colonisation of the island virtually ca!e to a halt. Its population was only #F by #$& , less than half that of Kingscote before closure. 7y #< # the population had risen to only F .

Kingscote"s early de!ise and the siting of the !odern town so!e distance away has ensured the survival of a fascinating historical and archaeological area. It is without doubt one of the !ost significant sites in /outh +ustralia. + pioneers" !e!orial, co!plete with large bron)e kangaroos, was unveiled nearby during the /tate"s centenary in #<3& as a re!inder that the original official settlers landed here, fro! the u!e o" #or!, a fact which has been often overlooked in /outh +ustralian history. The /outh +ustralian 4o!pany continued with its whaling operations for a short
while after abandoning $ingscote. Two bay whaling stations operated on the island in the early 1830s. Some relics of one whaling station remain at (oint Tinline# 2,Estrees Bay# which was a small and short.lived affair# established in 1831. The (oint was the loo&out. Shreds of whalebones indicate the site of the station in the bay itself# while a nearby cave was possibly used as shelter. Twenty five years later a family named Bates used the same cave as residence when their house and all possessions were destroyed by fire. The abandoned whalebone was used as seating for the children.5

+fter the #$E s a trickle of new settlers established s!all far!s on the island, !ostly at the eastern end near Kingscote, at +!erican Aiver and on the -udley 8eninsula, and in rich but isolated bays, along the northern coast. /!all areas of land around Kingscote, along the 4ygnet Aiver and on -udley 8eninsula near the site of the present town of 8enneshaw were surveyed and beca!e freehold before #$& . It was not until the late #$F s that any large areas of land were occupied on a per!anent tenure. +fter the /outh +ustralian 4o!pany !uscled in at Kingscote and 4ygnet *iver#
many of the island,s old timers# including -enry 8allen# went to live on 2udley (eninsula as it was further from the +ompany=s Burisdiction. %ronically# for most of the ensuing years of the century# 2udley (eninsula was the most prosperous part of the island and the scene of its first significant agricultural and pastoral development. 1or e0ample# from the late 18A0s the 7ashmar family held the Antechamber Bay *un of !1 s'uare miles. At that time runs were unfenced and

<
shepherds were employed/ a shepherd,s grave on the property dating from the 18"0s is suggestive of what must have been the loneliest of deaths.

The lives of the early pastoralists were no less arduous, and their early living
conditions were nearly as primitive as those of the early farmers. 2uring this period a series of sea.accessible pastoral stations were established along the north coast at Sto&es Bay# Snug +ove# 8estern *iver# 4iddle *iver and +ape +assini. -enry Snelling landed at Snellings Beach :later# 4iddle *iver; in 1830. The earliest relics

of

his fa!ily"s occupation are four graves near the ho!estead, which like the others was rebuilt or replaced in succeeding years. The owners of those runs co!bined a variety of pursuits D farming# graEing# timber.
getting# trapping# shipping D with the same need for survival although perhaps greater financial reward as the other islanders. 9ohn -irst# the )5overnor of Snug +ove, established himself on the island in 18@ and &ept a Bournal which records in terse language the struggle by the pastoralist# in a wild and isolated country# and the gradual e0pansion of his activities. -e graEed sheep and provided meat to +ape Borda lighthouse# went sealing# grew some crops# cut and milled timber for the 4oonta.8allaroo mines and had a silver mine. There was some possum.trapping and wallaby.snaring with the s&ins being shipped to Adelaide.&

The one e.ception to 0irst"s brief descriptions is his account of events

following the shipwrec& of the bar'ue Mars in 9une 188A. The nine surviving crew spent a night at -irst,s house? )The poor fellows loo&ed very haggard and wretched having been wandering around the island almost a wee& without food., -irst then set off to 8est

7ay, to see the shipwreck

for hi!self. 0is ride was a terrible battle" through dense scrub and rocky country, and when he found the wreck it was a woful sight". ... there it was ... beach and rocks strewn with the debris in all directions, a co!plete s!ash. 9arge spars, !ast, ti!bers etcetera, broken up into fire, wood. In the evening the scene was weird and !elancholy enough lit up by a bright !oon as well as the phosphorescent glea! of the breakers as they rolled on the

# beach and rocks like battalions of sea,horses co!ing grandly on to be hurled back again ... hunting about to the north of the vessel I ca!e on the re!ains of a poor fellow in a deep crevasse which appeared as if it had 2ust been washed up ... we could do nothing for hi! The islanders, lives# if rigorous and healthy# were essentially dull and
it is not difficult to imagine the shoc& and e0citement when ships were wrec&ed along the coast. After colonisation# nearly A0 vessels were wrec&ed in the haEardous waters around the island? the earliest recorded is the William# wrec&ed in 183@. :Two more recent wrec&s# that of Loch Vennachar # of 1<0A# and Montebello # of 1<0"# have been declared -istoric Shipwrec&s.;

1or good reason /outh +ustralia"s first lighthouse was built on Kangaroo Island. This was the /turt 9ight built overlooking 7ackstairs 8assage at 4ape :illoughby. It was constructed in #$5#, built of blocks of local li!estone, now white,painted. The original light housing has since been reconstructed beside the ;ational Trust 4useum at
$ingscote. The s'uare.shaped 1linders 7ight at +ape Borda on the north.western point of the island was built in 18A8. Fntil the 1< 0s supplies for the lighthouse &eepers were landed by sea at a small steep.sided bay &nown as -arveys *eturn# where relics of the iron trac& and the horse. powered capstan remain. Above the bay a small cemetery gives evidence of the dangers of the landings at -arveys *eturn and of the isolation of the &eepers and their families at the lighthouse itself. The shipping disasters continued# and +ape du +ouedic lighthouse was built at the south west point in 1<0".

18%5-1(1( this stu))orn foe It was not a !atter of chopping it down once, nor yet a second or third ti!e, that did away with this stubborn foe, which, however had eventually to succu!b to the attacks of !ore stubborn !en ... in su!!er they fired the grass, finding this the best and cheapest way of killing the foe out ... +fter killing the scrub they initiated a set progra!!e of grubbing portions of the land every year until eventually they had a cleared paddock to go into. 6&angaroo Island 'ourier, #<# 'F

## Kangaroo Island was ga)etted 4ounty 4arnarvon in #$FE. In #$F5 in response to a de!and for land fro! wheat far!ers, sheep runs were resu!ed and the hundreds of 5en)ies, 0aines and -udley were laid out and land was !ade freehold along the coast near 8enneshaw. /everal new towns were surveyed and proclai!ed by the Bovern!ent, including 8enneshaw 6originally 0og 7ay' in #$$#, 7rownlow and (!u Bay# and most
importantly# Gueenscliffe. Gueenscliffe# established in 188!# south of the original site of $ingscote# could not escape its historical associations and was renamed $ingscote at about the turn of the century. Some of the older businesses retain the former name# such as the Gueenscliffe -otel. The island=s two district councils# 2udley and $ingscote# were both formed in 1888# based at the two main towns# (enneshaw and $ingscote.

7y no !eans was there a great influ. of far!ing fa!ilies to Kangaroo Island, and their lives differed little fro! that of earlier residents. The bush was at once foe and
friend/ at the same time as farmers battled to clear land they gained a livelihood which was partly derived from the bush# notably from collecting and selling possum and wallaby s&ins# yacca gum and eucalyptus oil. These last two distinctive local industries flourished in the early twentieth century# and continue in a small way still. Hacca gum# cut from the yacca or grass tree# usually as land was being cleared# was e0ported and used in the manufacture of e0plosives and varnishes. Eucalyptus oil was distilled by farmers using stills of their own ma&ing and great 'uantities of leaves from the indigenous Eucalyptus cneorifolia.

+s 5r. =i! Tigge!ann recalled, thousands of tons" of yacca gu! was collected. That was all that kept the working !an going, that and the eucalyptus and the snaring ... if he never had that he couldnGt e.ist. ;ow better ti!es are here and you donGt have to do it so !uch."$ 1or a few years following #< 5 the introduction of superphosphate and the e0pansion
of wheat farming generally# with 5overnment support# caused a moderate land boom on the island# but# in Bauer=s words# )this sudden burst of activity ran its course and left the community with

but a slightly increased

#% population and so!ewhat better shipping facilities."< /hipping was, of course, essential to the island"s econo!y C the earliest 2etty was built at Kingscote. 5ost stations and far!s si!ply !oved their produce fro! shore to offshore ketch by way of lighters 6shallow,draughted boats'. +s agricultural develop!ent picked up, new 2etties were built after #< 5 at +!erican Aiver, (!u 7ay, @ivonne 7ay and 8enneshaw. The pri!acy of sea over road transport at that ti!e is reflected in the seawards orientation of !any of the ho!esteads, far! houses, tracks and other relics, such as threshing floors. +fter harvest bags in which barley and wheat were transported were too heavy to cart across land to the regular ports, so threshing floors were constructed on various far!s near the coast and several of these re!ain at the eastern end of the island. 7arley and wheat was harvested, threshed practically on site, and dragged down to the sea. 1or e.a!ple, 0enry 1. 7ates established a far! east of 0og 7ay in #$F$ and built a far!house, threshing floor and a stone retaining e!bank!ent for a track across the cliffs to 8enneshaw. 7oats and boating also contributed towards a rise in touris!, particularly fro! the #$< s onwards at +!erican Aiver. ;ils Ayberg opened the first guest house there in 18<A
:it was largely rebuilt and enlarged in 1< 8;. American *iver and the adBoining district boomed temporarily as several other more short.lived industries were established between 18<0 and 1<10# including fish canning# crag fishing and salt harvesting at 4uston. The island,s sole railway line was built to serve that industry# being completed to 4uston in 1<10.

(lsewhere there were other short,lived ventures including gold,!ining at the Koohinor 5ines and brick!aking. +s the nu!bers of islanders slowly increased, so did the various public facilities re*uired. Throughout the islandGs history a total of %3 schools have been established, with only 3 presently in operation. 5ost of the schools were set up between #$&< and #< 3 and then between #<## and #<#<, coinciding with the increase in cereal growing. +lthough the
earliest schools were at (enneshaw and $ingscote# the e0isting small stone schools were not erected for the Education 2epartment until

#3
18<@ and 1<10 respectively. The earlier schools were conducted at a variety of places usually provided by the parents# who also built many of the more isolated bush schools on the island. >ineteen of the ! schools were one teacher bush schools. 8isanger School was typical/ built by local farmers as the 8isanger 1armers Assembly *oom in 1883# and leased to the Education 2epartment# this simple small building served as a focus of the district,s social life until the 1<@0s and gave the longest continuous service of any of the schools# until 1<3A.

-uring this period, as the far!ing population slowly increased at the eastern end of Kangaroo Island, an abortive atte!pt was !ade to e.pand pastoral settle!ent westwards. In #$F< Aobert /tockdale and the Taylor brothers brought 3 , sheep to stock their south coast properties but !any hundreds died of coast disease". This soil deficiency enfeebled stock and bedevilled pastoralists in all coastal areas until the cause was determined by the +.S.%.*.C. in the 1<!0s.
The *oc&y *iver homestead was closely associated with this false land boom and represents the most westerly advance of pastoral development. -owever the present homestead was built by +harlie 4ay when he too& over the lease for that area in 18<!.

The so!eti!es cruel isolation of the south west was underlined by the wreck of the Lo%h Sloy in #$<<. 3ne of the crew !e!bers who survived staggered to the Aocky Aiver ho!esteadD search parties set out and found two other survivors but the fourth, -avid Kilpatrick, had died and he was buried by 4harles 5ay and a crew!an. The grave with its original stone arrange!ent is significant as a !e!orial to the !any who lost their lives
in shipwrec& and on the tre& to rescue through uninhabited bush. The sheer rugged wildness of the western end of the island prompted several South Australians to suggest a wildlife sanctuary in the area. The huge national par&# 1linders +hase# was finally proclaimed in 1<1<# with +harles 4ay becoming the first ranger# based at the *oc&y *iver homestead which was later included in the par&.

1(20-1(&5 stagnation Thereafter the Island settled slowly into stagnation ..."#

#E 7etween the end of the !inor land boo! early in the twentieth century and the beginning of the large land settle!ent sche!e after the /econd :orld :ar, the island"s economy#
occupations and population remained essentially unchanged. The last two -undreds were declared? farming was boosted by the defeat of )coastal disease,# following the discovery of its causes by +.S.%.*.C. in the 1<!0s? better shipping facilities and other improved communications fostered further development and some modest growth in the towns and other settlements. But this was restricted to the old established areas and there were only sporadic efforts to develop the densely vegetated ironstone plateau of the island=s interior. %ndeed# the traditional bush.based industries of trapping# yacca gum collecting and eucalyptus oil distilling flourished during the period.

The last surviving still which continues to be operated near 4ygnet *iver dates from
that era.

The first telephone link between the !ainland and the island was established by cable in #<%<. The surviving cable hut at 4uttlefish 7ay near 8enneshaw represents a develop!ent of great significance to the twentieth century history of Kangaroo Island as its historical isolation was slowly breached. -uring the /econd world war a coast watching post was !anned by @olunteer -efence 4orps !e!bers alongside the hutD the !achine gun e!place!ents re!ain here and at @ivonne 7ay as scarce relics of the war on the island. The only other !a2or physical relic of the @.-.4."s activities was a large hole which was blown by the! in the long @ivonne 7ay 2etty as practice and to prevent ene!y landingsH 0owever, the !ost far,reaching effects of the war were indirect, as a result of the
post war 8ar Service 7and Settlement Scheme.

1(&$ to the 'resent the last frontier +fter the /econd :orld :ar, 4o!!onwealth and /tate Bovern!ents e!barked upon large war service land settle!ent sche!es as a reward for +ustralian e., service!en, as a !eans of their rehabilitation to civilian life, and as a for! of /tate develop!ent. The :ar /ervice 9and /ettle!ent +gree!ent +ct was passed in #<E5 and accepted by all Bovern!ents. In #<E& a plan was proposed by the /outh

#5 +ustralians for a large soldier settle!ent sche!e in central Kangaroo Island. In #<EF the sche!e was approved, and work was started on one of the largest proBects of its
type in Australia. E0.servicemen selected as settlers camped with their families in the area and provided the labour to clear the land/ an uninterrupted e0panse of A0#000 acres of scrub.

The !en soon reali)ed that they would have to wait a long ti!e before their blocks would be ready for occupation. The enor!ity of the task ahead beca!e apparent as they went out to begin clearing land which had defied settle!ent since (uropeans first ca!e to /outh +ustralia.## 4a!p life, early far!ing life, the establish!ent of a co!!unity and of a new town, 8arndana, repeated earlier the!es of pioneering in a rugged and re!ote environ!entD the /ir 4ecil 0incks" 5e!orial Aeserve co!!e!orates these efforts, the site itself including the foundations of so!e of the original ca!p buildings. 0owever, the sheer scale of the pro2ect, enco!passing a huge area of the island#
the use of heavy machinery# State and +ommonwealth support# and an introduction of 1@3 soldier settlers and their families# made that event uni'ue in the island=s history. Fnderstandably# some of the original islanders at first resented the invasion. The population leapt from 1#11! in 1<3@ to $angaroo %sland. #1"@ in 1<A3# and further increases since have brought inevitable changes in the old ways of

# %

Iuoted in ;eville 4ordes, is%overing &angaroo Island 6Kingscote, #<&<, #<$#', p.#E. 1rancis -utton, South (ustralia and its mines, 69ondon #$E&. 1acsi!ile #<F$', p. $#. 3 /ee 0eritage Investigations, )arly )uropean %onta%t with South (ustralia* heritage repor+t 6+delaide #<$#', p.##. 5r. =ohn +nderson has subse*uently received infor!ation fro! other local landowners that the inscription had e.isted and had been obliterated. E /ee transcript of interview with 5rs. Ivy 7oettcher, Kingscote, #<$ by 0eritage Investigations 6she was a daughter of one of the 7atesG children'. The 7ates fa!ily and at least three of the children lived in the cave for two years. 5 Infor!ation and *uote fro! the display at the 8enneshaw ;ational Trust 5useu! 6noted by 0eritage Investigations, #<$ '. & =ohn 0irst"s diary 6#$&E,#<#E' is owned by 4olin 7ell, Kingscote. (.cerpts fro! the diary were recorded and transcribed by 0eritage Investigations, #<$ , including 0irst"s description of the 5ars" incident. F Aeport of a visit to =ohn and +lfred"s far!, in Turner ,amily History+ p.<. $ Interview with 5r. =i! Tigge!ann, 7rownlow, Kangaroo Island, by 0eritage Investigations, #<$ . < 1.0. 7auer, &angaroo Island+ a short guide 6+delaide #<55', p.E. # =ean ;unn, Soldier settlers 6+delaide #<$#', p.#%. ## ;unn, p.%#.