default default

The History

From the First Fleet to today

First settled in 1834, Lord Howe Island is still largely untouched forest, mainly due to the rugged terrain and the Island's isolation. The first recorded sighting of Lord Howe Island was made by Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball on 17 February 1788 aboard the HMS Supply as she sailed between Sydney Cove and Norfolk Island.

On the return journey Ball landed on the Island and claimed it as a British possession. He gave it the name of the First Lord of the Admiralty, Lord Howe. He named Mt Lidgbird and Balls Pyramid after himself.

Many other place names on the Island date from the time of its discovery. In May of that year, four of the ships of the First Fleet - Supply, Charlotte, Lady Penrhyn and Scarborough - called at Lord Howe Island. Many notes on the Island's plants and birds were recorded in the diaries of those on board these ships, and although the names were not always accurate they provide an interesting account of wildlife on the island at that time. Great culinary interest was shown in the birds in particular, which were quite tame and easy to catch. Some watercolours of the birds done by these crewmen provide the only records of some species.

For many years the Island was visited regularly but briefly by government ships sailing from Sydney to Norfolk Island, and by whalers operating in the Middle grounds as the waters between Australia and New Zealand were called. Whalers came in search of fresh water and food, trapping numerous tame land birds who had, until this time, lived without fear of man. Most of the endemic land birds are now extinct; at least three species were lost in the slaughter for food. Pigs and goats were let free on the island to add to the food supply, and they too have taken their toll on the environment.

In 1834 the first settlers arrived - three men with their Maori wives, and two lads. They lived by trading fresh vegetables, meat and fish with the passing ships. Not surprisingly, many of the following settlers were seafaring men. One of the first reports on the Island, made by Dr John Foulis in 1851, describes a community of about 16 persons residing on the Island, some of them having a wife and family.

The earliest houses were built of split palm battens laced with palm leaves and roofed with palm thatch. The first substantial house was that of Nathan Thompson, built in the 1860s from Australian cedar washed up on the beach some twenty years earlier. The house still stands today.

With the demise of the whaling industry in the 1870s, the collection and sale of palm seeds for the European indoor potted plant market became the mainstay of the Island's economy. So important did the seed industry become that a Board of Control was set up to regulate it after a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Island Affairs in 1911. The Board was, and still is, the body responsible for local government on the Island.

In 1893 the Burns Philp company commenced a regular shipping service and small numbers of tourists began to visit the Island. In 1932 the SS Morinda began a regular tourist run. Tourism gradually became a major industry although the sale of palm seeds remained important and still today provides a sizeable income for the community.

Three important events have shaped the Island's history in the post-war period: a greater interest in the Island by the government of NSW, the growth of tourism and the issue of conservation. The interest by the state government resulted in the Lord Howe Island Act in 1953 which gave the Islanders security of tenure (perpetual leasehold) over the land they had previously held only as permissive occupants. However, it was not until the passing of the Lord Howe Island Amendment Act of 1981 that Islanders were allowed a greater say in the administrative affairs of the Island. The 1981 Act gave them a majority representation of three members on a five-man board.

The post-war period saw the growth and prosperity of the tourist industry due mainly to the improvement in transport. Passengers no longer traveled in Burns Philp ships, instead they came in thousands every year on flying boats operating out of Rose Bay in Sydney. First Catalinas, then the large and majestic Sandringham flying boats, brought unprecedented prosperity to the Island people. When these much-loved aircraft finally became unserviceable in 1974 they were replaced by small twin-engine aircraft using the newly constructed airstrip. The Island is now linked to Sydney, Brisbane, Port Macquarie and Norfolk Island by commuter airlines.

Perhaps the most significant development of the post-war period has been the struggle to define the Island's conservation status. Obviously the Island was a priceless asset in terms of its dramatic and unspoiled scenery and its many unique plant and bird species. The government was nevertheless faced with many dilemmas over the conservation or exploitation of these resources.

The pressure of goat browsing on the rich endemic flora of the southern mountain area prompted P.S. Green of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in London to urge the New South Wales government to undertake an environmental survey of the Island. The government agreed and the survey, coordinated by Dr H. Recher of the Australian Museum, Sydney, commenced in 1970. This survey defined the status of plants and certain groups of animals on the Island so that changes in the environment, and their effect on wildlife, could be monitored. The survey made recommendations on management to the natural environment. Scientists from the Australian Museum, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney and the CSIRO Department of Wildlife Research contributed to the studies which resulted in The Environmental Survey of Lord Howe Island.

The impetus given to conservation by the Environmental Survey was reinforced by the lobbying of leading conservationists Jim Brown, Vincent Serventy and Milo Dunphy. After many years of debate the Lord Howe Island Act of 1981 established a Permanent Park Preserve over nearly 70 per cent of the Island and provided for a Plan of Management for the orderly development of future settlement. It also placed the Island within the jurisdiction of the NSW Planning and Environment Act.

In 1981 the Australian Government nominated Lord Howe Island for inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List. This list consists of properties of 'outstanding universal value' for world culture and heritage. Lord Howe Island's nominations stated that 'The islands have exceptional natural beauty. The diversity of the landscapes and biota and the high proportion of rare and endemic animals, plants and invertebrates make them an outstanding example of independent evolutionary processes from the point of view of science and conservation."

Other points stressed in the nomination include:

  • the large colonies of nesting seabirds
  • the most southerly coral reef in the world
  • the remarkable volcanic exposure with its great variety of upper mantle and oceanic basalts
  • and the populations of endangered endemic species, particularly the woodhen.

At a session of UNESCO World Heritage committee in Paris on 14 December 1982, the Lord Howe Island nomination was accepted and the Island was officially inscribed on the World Heritage List.

In July 1985 the Regional Environmental Study for Lord Howe Island was published by the NSW government. Its purpose was to promote public discussion on the issues of management of the Island and its resources. This study produced a background of the Island's resources and history of their use. It concluded with directions that management policy should take regarding development of the settled part of the Island. The issues discussed included World Heritage status, introduced plants & animals, Island economy, tourism, palm seed industry, government services, agriculture. land management, water and electricity supplies, effluent and garbage disposal. It is hoped that any management policies may be made with full regard to maintaining the unique natural beauty and assets of the island.