Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2023L01286:front:0:p8
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2023L01286
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 20211–23189

the following heritage registers:
Register                         ID
Commonwealth Heritage List       105379[5]
Register of the National Estate  4739[6]
Victorian Heritage Register      H1843[7]

3 History
3.1 General history of lighthouses in Australia
The first lighthouse to be constructed on Australian soil was Macquarie Lighthouse, located at the entrance to Port Jackson, NSW. First lit in 1818, the cost of the lighthouse was recovered through the introduction of a levy on shipping. This was instigated by Governor Lachlan Macquarie, who had ordered and named the light.

The following century oversaw the construction of hundreds of lighthouses around the country. Constructing and maintaining a lighthouse were costly ventures that often required the financial support of multiple colonies. However, they were deemed necessary aids in assisting the safety of mariners at sea. Lighthouses were firstly managed by the colony they lay within, with each colony developing their own style of lighthouse and operational system. Following Federation in 1901, which saw the various colonies unite under one Commonwealth government, lighthouse management was transferred from State hands to the Commonwealth Lighthouse Service.

Lamps and optics – an overview

Lighthouse technology has altered drastically over the centuries. 18th century lighthouses were lit using parabolic mirrors and oil lamps. Documentation of early examples of parabolic mirrors in the United Kingdom, circa 1760, were documented as consisting of wood and lined with pieces of looking glass or plates of tin. As described by Searle, "When light hits a shiny surface, it is reflected at an angle equal to that at which it hit. With a light source is placed in the focal point of a parabolic reflector, the light rays are reflected parallel to one another, producing a concentrated beam".[8]
In 1822, Augustin Fresnel invented the dioptric glass lens. By crafting concentric annular rings with a convex lens, Fresnel had discovered a method to reduce the amount of light absorbed by a lens. The Dioptric System was adopted quickly with Cordouran Lighthouse (France), fitted with the first dioptric lens in 1823. The majority of heritage-listed lighthouses in Australia house dioptric lenses made by others such as Chance Brothers (United Kingdom), Henry-LePaute (France), Barbier, Bernard & Turenne (BBT, France) and Svenska Aktiebolaget Gasaccumulator (AGA of Sweden). These lenses were made in a range of standard sizes, called orders—see Appendix 2. Glossary of lighthouse Terms relevant to Gabo Island Lighthouse.

Figure 9. Incandescent oil vapour lamp by Chance Brothers (Source: AMSA)
Figure 10. Dioptric lens on display at Narooma (Source: AMSA, 2011)

Early Australian lighthouses were originally fuelled by whale oil and burned in Argand lamps, and multiple wicks were required in order to create a large flame that could be observed from sea. By the 1850s, whale oil had been replaced by