Bathurst Island, Northern Territory
Encyclopedia
Bathurst Island is one of the Tiwi Islands
in the Northern Territory
off the northern coast of Australia
along with Melville Island
.
The largest settlement on Bathurst is Wurrumiyanga
(known as Nguiu until 2010), in the south-east, with a population of around 1450. Located on the south east corner of Bathurst Island, Wurrumiyanga is approximately 70 km (43.5 mi) north of Darwin. The second largest settlement is Wurakuwu, pop. 50, 60 km (37.3 mi) northwest of Wurrumiyanga. The third settlement on the island is a small family outstation
called 4 Mile Camp, about 6 km (4 mi) west of Wurrumiyanga.
, who, like Viscount Melville, is also commemorated by a Canadian island
). From 1910 to 1938 the island was the site of the Roman Catholic mission of Francis Xavier Gsell
, known as the "Bishop with 150 wives" for his practice of "buying" girls betrothed to older men, thus making it possible for them to marry men of their own age.
During the Bombing of Darwin the first wave of 188 Japanese planes was spotted by Father John McGrath, a Catholic priest conducting missionary work on Bathurst Island. Father McGrath sent a message on the radio saying "An unusually large air formation bearing down on us from the northwest". Nearly everyone ignored this, though it was on the most popular radio station. About an hour later there were roughly 100 people dead, but the people who followed his instruction were all okay. Darwin received both this and another warning at least twice by radio, no later than 9:37 a.m. However, 11 US P-40E Kittyhawk fighters and an LB-30 Liberator had just departed Darwin and the Australian duty officer assumed this was the same formation. The warnings were not acted upon so, as at Pearl Harbor two months earlier, Darwin's final chance to make last-minute preparations for the impending raid slipped away.
Bathurst Island was depicted as Mission Island in the 2008 Baz Luhrmann
film Australia
. In the film, the mixed-race boy Nullah is kept at the mission on the island for the two months preceding the Bombing of Darwin. The mission is bombed in the raid, and the children hide from Japanese troops until their rescue. The presence of Japanese troops on the island is entirely fictional, as no such landing by the Japanese was made during World War II.
The owner is the James Brennan Trust whose Trustee and Beneficiary is Martin Breyer, the 11th Earl of Ormonde, aka Ciaran Brennan, the son of James Brennan.
Tiwi Islands
The Tiwi Islands are part of Australia's Northern Territory, north of Darwin where the Arafura Sea joins the Timor Sea. They comprise Melville Island and Bathurst Island, with a combined area of ....
in the Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
off the northern coast of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
along with Melville Island
Melville Island, Northern Territory
Melville Island or Yermalner Island lies in the eastern Timor Sea, off the coast of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is west of the Cobourg Peninsula in Arnhem Land and north of Darwin....
.
Description
Wurrumiyanga, Northern Territory
Wurrumiyanga , formerly Nguiu , is a community on the southern coast of Bathurst Island, Northern Territory, Australia.In 2010 Nguiu was renamed Wurrumiyanga, meaning the place where the cycads grow, by the Tiwi Land Council....
(known as Nguiu until 2010), in the south-east, with a population of around 1450. Located on the south east corner of Bathurst Island, Wurrumiyanga is approximately 70 km (43.5 mi) north of Darwin. The second largest settlement is Wurakuwu, pop. 50, 60 km (37.3 mi) northwest of Wurrumiyanga. The third settlement on the island is a small family outstation
Outstation
Historically, an outstation was a subsidiary homestead or other dwelling, on Australian sheep or cattle stations which were large enough to have more than a day's travel between different parts of the property....
called 4 Mile Camp, about 6 km (4 mi) west of Wurrumiyanga.
History
The island was named after Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl BathurstHenry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst
Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst KG PC was a British politician.-Background and education:Lord Bathurst was the elder son of Henry Bathurst, 2nd Earl Bathurst, by his wife Tryphena, daughter of Thomas Scawen...
, who, like Viscount Melville, is also commemorated by a Canadian island
Bathurst Island
A member of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, Bathurst Island is one of the Queen Elizabeth Islands in Nunavut Territory, Canada. The area of the island is estimated at , making it the 54th largest island in the world and Canada's 13th largest island. It is uninhabited.The island is low-lying with...
). From 1910 to 1938 the island was the site of the Roman Catholic mission of Francis Xavier Gsell
Francis Xavier Gsell
Francis Xavier Gsell OBE was an Australian Roman Catholic bishop and missionary, known as the "Bishop with 150 wives". He was born at Benfeld, Alsace in 1872...
, known as the "Bishop with 150 wives" for his practice of "buying" girls betrothed to older men, thus making it possible for them to marry men of their own age.
During the Bombing of Darwin the first wave of 188 Japanese planes was spotted by Father John McGrath, a Catholic priest conducting missionary work on Bathurst Island. Father McGrath sent a message on the radio saying "An unusually large air formation bearing down on us from the northwest". Nearly everyone ignored this, though it was on the most popular radio station. About an hour later there were roughly 100 people dead, but the people who followed his instruction were all okay. Darwin received both this and another warning at least twice by radio, no later than 9:37 a.m. However, 11 US P-40E Kittyhawk fighters and an LB-30 Liberator had just departed Darwin and the Australian duty officer assumed this was the same formation. The warnings were not acted upon so, as at Pearl Harbor two months earlier, Darwin's final chance to make last-minute preparations for the impending raid slipped away.
Bathurst Island was depicted as Mission Island in the 2008 Baz Luhrmann
Baz Luhrmann
Mark Anthony "Baz" Luhrmann is an Australian film director, screenwriter, and producer best known for The Red Curtain Trilogy, which includes his films Strictly Ballroom, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge!...
film Australia
Australia (2008 film)
Australia is a 2008 epic historical romance film directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. It is the second-highest grossing Australian film of all time, behind Crocodile Dundee. The screenplay was written by Luhrmann and screenwriter Stuart Beattie, with Ronald Harwood...
. In the film, the mixed-race boy Nullah is kept at the mission on the island for the two months preceding the Bombing of Darwin. The mission is bombed in the raid, and the children hide from Japanese troops until their rescue. The presence of Japanese troops on the island is entirely fictional, as no such landing by the Japanese was made during World War II.
The owner is the James Brennan Trust whose Trustee and Beneficiary is Martin Breyer, the 11th Earl of Ormonde, aka Ciaran Brennan, the son of James Brennan.