The Northumberland Islands are a scattered island chain off the eastern coast of

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia.

Geography and history

The Northumberland Islands are to the south-east of the city of

Mackay Mackay may refer to: *Clan Mackay, the Scottish clan from which the surname "MacKay" derives Mackay may also refer to: Places Australia * Mackay Region, a local government area ** Mackay, Queensland, a city in the above region *** Mackay Airport ...

roughly between the latitudes 21°S and 22°S. All islands are of the continental type. The island group was named by

James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...

during his historic voyage along Australia's eastern seaboard in 1770, after the First

Duke of Northumberland Duke of Northumberland is a noble title that has been created three times in English and British history, twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of Great Britain. The current holder of this title is Ralph Percy, 12th Duke of N ...

, Hugh Percy. Both Cook and

Matthew Flinders Captain (Royal Navy), Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British Royal Navy officer, navigator and cartographer who led the first littoral zone, inshore circumnavigate, circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then ...

make note of the island group in their journals, Cook describing them as such: In 1855, a

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

expedition led by naturalist

Frederick Strange Frederick Strange (c. 1826 – 15 October 1854) was a collector of plant and animal specimens during the early colonisation of Australia. He collected bird specimens for John Gould. He was killed in a conflict between his group and natives on Sou ...

visited the islands on his ship ''Vision''. Four of the expedition were killed by

Aboriginal people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

at Middle Percy Island. Those killed were Frederick Strange and his assistant Richard Spinks, William Spurling (ship's mate) and Andrew Gittings (ship's cook and steward). Captain Chimmo of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

vessel , sailed to the island and conducted an investigation. He decided to take ten of the islanders prisoner. These prisoners, including three women and three children, were sent to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

for trial. One child died in custody and the rest were eventually shipped back to

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

. The island group is remote, and apart from

charter flight Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flights ...

s to Marble Island they are accessible only by private yacht. The Northumberland Islands are further subdivided into smaller groups: the Bedwell Group, Beverley Group, Broad Sound Islands, Duke Islands, Flat Isles, Guardfish Cluster and Percy Isles (within the locality The Percy Group). The islands are listed below, with the

geographical coordinates A geographic coordinate system (GCS) is a spherical or geodetic coordinate system for measuring and communicating positions directly on Earth as latitude and longitude. It is the simplest, oldest, and most widely used type of the various s ...

of the largest islands given. Only the major islands of each group are listed.

Bedwell Group

Name origin: Staff Commander E. P. Bedwell, surveyor *Calliope Island *Connor Islet *Innes Island *George Island *Poynter Island

Beverley Group

Name origin: Unknown *Beverlac Island *Digby Island *Double Island *Henderson Island *Hull Island *Keelan Island *Knight Island *Minster Island *Noel Island *Prudhoe Island

Broad Sound Islands

Name origin: Situated at the mouth of Broad Sound, a vast inlet named by Cook in 1770 *Long Island *Quail Island *Tern Island *Wild Duck Island

Duke Islands

Hunter Island looking toward Tynemouth Island

Name origin: Unknown *Alnwick Island *Bamborough Island *Cheviot Island *Hexham Island *High Peak Island *Hunter Island *Iron Islet *Marble Island *Otterbourne Island *Shields Island *Steep Island *Tweed Island *Tynemouth Island

Flat Isles

Name origin: Named by Flinders in 1802 due to their height - Avoid Island is the highest at 33 metres above sea level *Aquila Island * Avoid Island *Flock Pigeon Island *Red Clay Island

Guardfish Cluster

Name origin: Unknown *Bluff Island *Curlew Island *Tinonee Peak Island

Percy Isles

Name origin: Named by Flinders in 1802 after the

's family name *Hotspur Island * Shrewsbury Rock * Middle Percy Island *North East Island *Pine Islet *Pine Peak Island *South Percy Island *Sphinx Island *Walter Island

References

External links

Map of Mackay region, showing Northumberland Islands at bottom right
{{1stVoyageCookAus Islands of Queensland North Queensland