Bishop Island was an island near the mouth of the Brisbane River in Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia.
History
Creation of the Island
Bishop Island was formed by dredging at the mouth of the Brisbane River between 1909 and 1912. It was named Bishop Island in 1912 after Brisbane dredge master Allan Fitzroy Gordon Bishop, the captain of the dredge Hercules involved in creating the island.
Originally, the Harbour and Rivers Department planned to upgrade the opening of the Brisbane River so that ships can travel through the bay, rather than making a large detour due to sand and mud banks. Captain Bishop thought to reuse leftover dredging mud to create an island from an existing small sandbank.
The dredging of the island was at times difficult and time-consuming. Strong winds would damage equipment and high tides would shift pipes, furthermore, crew members would get stuck in mud It has been speculated that Captain Bishop removed approximately 2200 cubic yards of mud and sand per hour. What drove Bishop to finish the task was the prospect of the island being used as "pleasure resort". When completed, Bishop Island was approximately 32 acres and between 6 and 10 feet above sea level.
At the time of its creation, Bishop Island was one of the biggest man-made islands in the world, and the only man-made island in Australia. Bishop Island was commonly referred at the time as "Hercules Bank" or "Hercules", due to the ship used to create the island. However, "Hercules Bank" was used to also refer to the bank of Bishop Island.
The Hercules was decommissioned in 1952 and placed upon a shore 800 metres from Dunwich, Queensland to be used for oyster farming. The ship was previously trialled to dredge the Suez Canal of limestone and granite in 1900; later also dredging coral from Mud Island for use in cement products after forming Bishop's Island.
Ship abandonment and hulks
Many ships were dumped on the island, mainly upon the beaches. The Australian United Steam Navigation Company's SS Bingera was dumped in 1926; it was built to provide the mail service between Brisbane, Gladstone and Townsville and became redundant when the railway line to Townsville was completed. The SS Bingera was scraped of all parts that were sellable and dumped on the beach of Bishop Island, near the Luggage Point outfall.
In 1930, two retired hopper barges were positioned at the northern end of the Island to prevent erosion.
The Queensland Government's steam yacht Lucinda was dumped on 28 January 1937. Other ships that were left abandoned on the island around this time include the Roderick Dhu, a ship primarily used for to bring slaves from Polynesia for use on North Queensland sugar plantations and The Maida. It is also speculated that ship wrecks of old pilot boat The Captain Cook, The Quetta, The Yongala, trader ship The Civility, timber trade ship The Adonis, and The Yosemite, a Chilean barque used for shipping coal, were buried on the beaches of the island. The latter ship was burned on the banks of the island, causing much anxiety for locals who were inundated with black smoke and were not made aware that the ship was to be destroyed in such a way in close proximity to them. Ships were often taken to the beaches of Bishop Island to be burnt in order to salvage the steel from them, another ship that was burnt on the island is the Wandana.
As of 1950, there were at least twelve shipwrecks on the beaches of Bishop Island. These included: The Rhoderic Dhu, Groper, Excelsior, Yosemite, Maida, Schnapper, SS Bingera, Moreton (previously the Lady Lamington), The Queensland, The Lucinda and Old Punt. Six years later in 1956, there were 15 wrecks on the island. The Miner, a Queensland defence force minelayer was dumped on the island in 1953.
Due to the abundance of ship wrecks on Bishop Island, it gained the nickname "Wreck Island".
Recreational Use
During the early 1900s, the island was sprawling with vegetation, equipped with a jetty, basketball and tennis court, shelter sheds, cricket pitch and a dance hall. In 1932, two Orders in Council were issued proclaiming Bishop Island to be used for the purposes of the Queensland Native Plants Protection Act 1930 and that all native plants that grow on the island are protected by the same legislation. This legalisation made it illegal to remove or destroy any native plants that grew on Bishop Island. James Crouch, who leased Bishop Island, was made an honorary ranger under the Queensland Native Plants Protection Act 1930 to ensure that the public was abiding by the legislation. Crouch was also made honorary ranger under the Animals and Birds Act 1933 of Bishop Island in 1933.