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Coordinates: 9°54′00″S 143°23′41″E / 9.8999°S 143.3947°E / -9.8999; 143.3947
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The '''Bourke Isles''' are a group of [[island]]s in the [[Torres Strait Islands]] [[archipelago]], located west of the Cumberland Passage in the [[Torres Strait]] in [[Queensland]], [[Australia]].<ref name="pnd" /> The isles are situated approximately {{convert|130|km}} northeast of [[Thursday Island, Queensland|Thursday Island]] and {{convert|54|km}} southwest of [[Darnley Island (Queensland)|Darnley Island]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Map of Bourke Isles, QLD|work=Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia|url=http://www.bonzle.com/c/a?a=p&p=11307&cmd=sp|access-date=26 April 2015}}</ref> The Bourke Isles are located within the [[Torres Strait Island Region]] [[Local government in Queensland|local government area]].
The '''Bourke Isles''' are a group of [[island]]s in the [[archipelago]] known as the [[Torres Strait Islands]], located west of the Cumberland Passage in the [[Torres Strait]], and are part of the state of [[Queensland]], Australia.<ref name="pnd" /> The isles are situated approximately {{convert|130|km}} northeast of [[Thursday Island, Queensland|Thursday Island]] and {{convert|54|km}} southwest of [[Darnley Island (Queensland)|Darnley Island]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Map of Bourke Isles, QLD|work=Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia|url=http://www.bonzle.com/c/a?a=p&p=11307&cmd=sp|access-date=26 April 2015}}</ref> The Bourke Isles are located within the [[Torres Strait Island Region]], a [[Local government in Queensland|Queensland local government area]].


The islands were named in 1836 by Charles Lewis, the Commander of [[Colony of New South Wales|colonial]] [[schooner]] ''Isabella'', in honour of [[Richard Bourke]], at the time, the [[Governor of New South Wales]].<ref name="pnd">{{cite QPN|4080|Bourke Isles|accessdate=30 August 2015}}</ref>
The islands were named in mid-1836 by Charles Lewis, the Commander of the [[schooner]] ''Isabella'' from the [[Colony of New South Wales]], in honour of [[Richard Bourke]], at the time, the [[Governor of New South Wales]].<ref name="pnd">{{cite QPN|4080|Bourke Isles|access-date=30 August 2015}}</ref>


The Bourke Isles includes:
The Bourke Isles includes:
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*Roberts Islet
*Roberts Islet
*[[Yam Island (Queensland)|Yam Island]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tsirc.qld.gov.au/Iama|title=Iama (Yam Island)|publisher=[[Torres Strait Island Region]]|date=2015|access-date=26 April 2015}}</ref>
*[[Yam Island (Queensland)|Yam Island]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tsirc.qld.gov.au/Iama|title=Iama (Yam Island)|publisher=[[Torres Strait Island Region]]|date=2015|access-date=26 April 2015}}</ref>

==Aureed==
{{further|Charles Eaton (1833 ship)}}
In June 1836, the colonial schooner ''Isabella'' was despatched from Sydney under Captain Lewis<ref name=vp3>{{cite web |title= Part Three: their fate is so horrible| website=Charles Eaton: wake for the melancholy shipwreck |first= Veronica| last=Peek | date=16 June 2012 | url=https://veronicapeek.com/2012/06/15/part-three-voyage-of-the-barque-charles-eaton/ | access-date=5 August 2021}}</ref> to search for survivors of the barque ''[[Charles Eaton (1833 ship)|Charles Eaton]]'',<ref name="pnd"/> which had been wrecked on the Great Detached Reef, part of the [[Great Barrier Reef]] near the [[Sir Charles Hardy Islands]] on 15 August 1834. It turned out that most of the crew and passengers who had survived the wreck and sailed on rafts to the Torres Strait, had been killed by [[Torres Strait Islander]]s from [[Mer Island|Mer]], but a [[cabin boy]] and infant boy had been spared and lived with the Mer people for two years.<ref name=vp2>{{cite web | title=Charles Eaton: Wake for the melancholy shipwreck | website=Charles Eaton Shipwreck | date=17 June 2012 | url=https://veronicapeek.com/category/charles-eaton-shipwreck-2/ | access-date=5 August 2021}}</ref><ref name=mcinnes1981>{{cite journal| title=The wreck of the "Charles Eaton"| journal= Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland |volume= 11 |issue= 4|pp= 21-50| last=McInnes| first= Allan, 1927- |publisher=[[Royal Historical Society of Queensland]]| date=1981| url=https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:241150| quote=Read to a Meeting of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland on 24 February 1983.|via= [[University of Queensland]]| access-date=5 August 2021}} (Also [https://www.textqueensland.com.au/item/article/9ef90538f7333c5e08b89061453c9a5d here].)</ref> The two survivors were rescued by Captain Lewis, after which Captain Lewis and his crew took masks from Mer while interacting with the local people. After being told by a group of locals on the island of Massid ([[Yorke Island (Queensland)|Yorke Island]], or Masig) that men from Aureed had taken skulls back to that island, Lewis went to explore the group of small islands that he called the "Six Sisters", one of which was Aureed. Anchoring there, armed men went on to the island and found it deserted, the village abandoned. After burning the village to the ground, the men found a dilapidated shed, and in it a huge mask made of a single decorated turtle shell surrounded by human skulls of Europeans. This was later identified as a "skull house" used by the Kulka fraternity of a local cult. Lewis and his men took the skulls and mask, and set fire to everything on the island, including plantations of [[tobacco]]. Lewis dubbed the island "Skull Island", although this name was not taken up.<ref>{{cite web | title=Part Four: a tale of two boys|first= Veronica| last=Peek | website=Charles Eaton: wake for the melancholy shipwreck| date=16 June 2012 | url=https://veronicapeek.com/2012/06/12/part-four-voyage-of-the-barque-charles-eaton/| access-date=5 August 2021}}</ref>


==See also==
==See also==

Revision as of 08:41, 5 August 2021

Bourke Isles
A Landsat image of Yam Island, one of the Bourke Isles
A map of the Torres Strait Islands showing Yam Island as Iama in central waters of the Torres Strait
EtymologyRichard Bourke[1]
Geography
LocationCumberland Passage, Northern Australia
Coordinates9°54′00″S 143°23′41″E / 9.8999°S 143.3947°E / -9.8999; 143.3947
ArchipelagoTorres Strait Islands
Adjacent toTorres Strait
Total islands7
Major islandsYam Island
Administration
StateQueensland
Local government areaTorres Strait Island Region
Demographics
Ethnic groupsTorres Strait Islanders

The Bourke Isles are a group of islands in the archipelago known as the Torres Strait Islands, located west of the Cumberland Passage in the Torres Strait, and are part of the state of Queensland, Australia.[1] The isles are situated approximately 130 kilometres (81 mi) northeast of Thursday Island and 54 kilometres (34 mi) southwest of Darnley Island.[2] The Bourke Isles are located within the Torres Strait Island Region, a Queensland local government area.

The islands were named in mid-1836 by Charles Lewis, the Commander of the schooner Isabella from the Colony of New South Wales, in honour of Richard Bourke, at the time, the Governor of New South Wales.[1]

The Bourke Isles includes:

  • Aukane Islet
  • Aureed Island
  • Kabbikane Islet
  • Layoak Islet
  • Mimi Islet
  • Roberts Islet
  • Yam Island[3]

Aureed

Further information: Charles Eaton (1833 ship)

In June 1836, the colonial schooner Isabella was despatched from Sydney under Captain Lewis[4] to search for survivors of the barque Charles Eaton,[1] which had been wrecked on the Great Detached Reef, part of the Great Barrier Reef near the Sir Charles Hardy Islands on 15 August 1834. It turned out that most of the crew and passengers who had survived the wreck and sailed on rafts to the Torres Strait, had been killed by Torres Strait Islanders from Mer, but a cabin boy and infant boy had been spared and lived with the Mer people for two years.[5][6] The two survivors were rescued by Captain Lewis, after which Captain Lewis and his crew took masks from Mer while interacting with the local people. After being told by a group of locals on the island of Massid (Yorke Island, or Masig) that men from Aureed had taken skulls back to that island, Lewis went to explore the group of small islands that he called the "Six Sisters", one of which was Aureed. Anchoring there, armed men went on to the island and found it deserted, the village abandoned. After burning the village to the ground, the men found a dilapidated shed, and in it a huge mask made of a single decorated turtle shell surrounded by human skulls of Europeans. This was later identified as a "skull house" used by the Kulka fraternity of a local cult. Lewis and his men took the skulls and mask, and set fire to everything on the island, including plantations of tobacco. Lewis dubbed the island "Skull Island", although this name was not taken up.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Bourke Isles (entry 4080)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  2. ^ "Map of Bourke Isles, QLD". Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  3. ^ "Iama (Yam Island)". Torres Strait Island Region. 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  4. ^ Peek, Veronica (16 June 2012). "Part Three: their fate is so horrible". Charles Eaton: wake for the melancholy shipwreck. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  5. ^ "Charles Eaton: Wake for the melancholy shipwreck". Charles Eaton Shipwreck. 17 June 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  6. ^ McInnes, Allan, 1927- (1981). "The wreck of the "Charles Eaton"". Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland. 11 (4). Royal Historical Society of Queensland: 21–50. Retrieved 5 August 2021 – via University of Queensland. Read to a Meeting of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland on 24 February 1983.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) (Also here.)
  7. ^ Peek, Veronica (16 June 2012). "Part Four: a tale of two boys". Charles Eaton: wake for the melancholy shipwreck. Retrieved 5 August 2021.


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