Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2023L01286:front:0:p12
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2023L01286
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 30472–33200

the Island, about three-quarters of a mile from its southern point, upon a sand-hill 157ft 6in. above the sea. The centre of the Light is 21 ft 6in. above the sand…
    The Light is a fixed White Light of the First Class, consisting of 24 Catoptric Lamps in 2 ranges, illuminating the whole horizon. The Light is eclipsed by a small range of sand-hills from S. 15° E. to S. 4° W. (in all 19 degrees), to a distance averaging about 2 miles out to sea.
    It is estimated that the Light can be seen 20 miles distance in clear weather.[17]
The lighthouse was christened 'Flinders Light', after navigator and cartographer Matthew Flinders, and remained lit for nine years before a permanent light was eventually built.
  3.5 The second Gabo Island Lighthouse (1862-present)
By 1859, Flinders Light had fallen into disrepair and calls for the construction of a permanent tower to replace the 1853 timber frame were brought to the forefront. Like the existing light, the cost of the new tower was to be split between the New South Wales and Victorian colonies.
Design
The new lighthouse was designed as a "tapering column of smooth red granite topped with a new pattern Chance Brothers lantern containing a fixed light".[18] This design was chosen due to the high amount of durable, red granite quarried from the island. By October 1859, the Chance Bros. lantern had been ordered. It was decided the lighthouse should be built on the south-eastern shore of the Island instead of replacing the timber structure in the centre.
Records differ in crediting the design of the new Gabo Island Lighthouse. Some attribute the design to William Wilkinson Wardell who was charged with public works in Victoria at the time, while others determine the design was created by Charles Maplestone who was Clerk of Works in Melbourne.[19] A majority agree that while Wardell did visit Gabo Island in 1860, Charles Maplestone was responsible for the design, with Maplestone writing in a letter:
    I shall soon be putting in hand a lighthouse of Red Granite 150 feet high – I have got drawings in hand, and have sent home for the lantern and apparatus.[20]

Figure 13. New lighthouse: Gabo Island, 1860. NAA: A9568, 6/4/12 (© Commonwealth of Australia, National Archives of Australia)
Figure 14.Lighthouse station – Gabo Island – Boundary Walls, Gates etc, 1884. NAA: A9568, 6/4/14 (© Commonwealth of Australia, National Archives of Australia)
Construction
Tenders were called in July 1860 and awarded to Melbourne contractor Robert Huckson for £14,950. Construction started shortly after, however issues arose within months of commencement with masons complaining of poor provisions and threatening to leave the island. It was found that Huckson had