Point King Lighthouse was a lighthouse located on the northern entrance to
Princess Royal Harbour
Princess Royal Harbour is a part of King George Sound on the South coast of Western Australia, and harbour to Albany. On its northern shore is the Port of Albany. The name ''Princess Royal'' also appears in Albany in Princess Royal Fortress an ...
in
Albany in the
Great Southern region of
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
.
The lighthouse was the first navigational light for the
Port of Albany
The Port of Albany is located within Princess Royal Harbour in King George Sound on the south coast of Western Australia, in the Great Southern region.
Location
The port is located on the northern shore of Princess Royal Harbour, a natural ...
and the second lighthouse to be built on the West Australian coastline.
History
Following the end of the
Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...
in 1856, a return of the profitable
mail boat
Mail boats or postal boats are a boat or ship used for the delivery of mail and sometimes transportation of goods, people and vehicles in communities where bodies of water commonly separate or separated settlements, towns or cities often where b ...
service from England, via Albany, to the eastern states was anticipated and the need for a lighthouse into the harbour was foreseen.
The British Government proposed to construct two lighthouses in the area in 1857, one on
Breaksea Island and the other at Point King, on the understanding that the local government met the running costs. Construction commenced shortly afterward and the prefabricated lights arrived in June; the project was completed later in the year and the lighthouse commenced operating on New Years Day in 1858 with William Hill employed as the light keeper.
The original lighthouse consisted of the keeper's house situated above the high water mark on the granite point. The building had a high square wooden tower equipped with an oil-fired light visible from away. The light was operated manually and the keeper lived in the dwelling where the tower was housed.
[
The lighthouse was made redundant in June 1911.][ The building remained unused for many years with the roof and tower lost many years ago. In 1995 a conservation plan was prepared but by 1999 no work had been carried out.][
In 2011 the Albany City Council set aside 20,000 to stabilize the ruins.
]
Keepers
* Joseph Nelson 1857-1867
* Samuel Mitchell 1867-1903
* John Reddin 1903–1911Point King Lighthouse
''Albany Gateway''
See also
* List of lighthouses in Australia
This is a list of lighthouses and lightvessels in Australia.
Australia has a coastline of , with over 350 lighthouses and navigational aids around the Australian coastline, and a single inland lighthouse, the Point Malcolm lighthouse.
The firs ...
*
Gallery
Pointkingalbany.jpg, Lighthouse in 2008
References
External links
Picture current Point King Lighthouse
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Lighthouses completed in 1858
Lighthouses in Western Australia
1858 establishments in Australia
Heritage places in Albany, Western Australia
Disused lighthouses in Australia
State Register of Heritage Places in the City of Albany