Sand Dunes

Some areas around Lake Illawarra contained sand hills that were in places up to sixty and seventy feet high. The sand hills would change every month with the winds.

Children used to sand sledge down the hills at the entrance of the lake. Sand sledges were about five feet wide with a little footrest. The front of the ski was bent up and a small seat was placed on the back.

If children couldn't afford a wooden sledge they would use whatever material was available; cardboard or off cuts of masonite from building projects.

Holiday makers would come to the lake for fishing and prawning and to wander the beautiful sand hills.

During windy months sand hills would move dramatically creating new hills and valleys.  The sand could be a nuisance as well. Some roads were blocked off at times due to the movement of the sand hills. Shopkeepers were constantly sweeping sand out of their stores.

Large amounts of the sand were used to build up swamp land at Port Kembla before they built the Tin Plate at the Steelworks. Some of the sand around Lake Illawarra was even shipped to Hawaii.

‘Voices of a Lifetime’, Shellharbour City Libraries, 2009.

 

Children on the sand hills at Warilla Beach.
Shellharbour Images, Shellharbour City Libraries.

 

Moonshine

The following story is taken from ‘Albion Park Saga’, written by local Albion Park identity Bert Weston in 1996 and published by the Tongarra Heritage Society.

‘Around about 1910, a rabbit plague extended from the inland areas to the coast of the Municipality of Shellharbour.

Some residents turned to rabbit trapping as a lucrative way of living off the land. There was a big demand and a good price for skins for the manufacture of felt hats and later came the demand for rabbit meat.

This was the golden age of rabbit dealers, among who numbered Sam Charlesworth, 'Pegleg', Charlie Ransome, Paddy O'Neil and The Yank. 

Some of these rabbit dealers also operated as agents for the delivery of mountain dew from illicit stills around Macquarie Pass. Many a swaying cluster of rabbit carcasses hid a demijohn of firewater as it was driven innocently past the police station.

Eventually the local Illawarra Cooperative Central Dairy Factory (ICCD) entered the illegal trade, installing a freezer chamber from which the crated underground mutton was railed by the ton to the wharves’.

‘Albion Park Saga’, Bert Weston, The Tongarra Heritage Society Inc, 1996.

 

Milk carts at The Illawarra Co-operative Central Dairy, Albion Park.
Shellharbour Images, Shellharbour City Libraries.

 

Hunting party with wallaby catch at Clover Hill.
Shellharbour Images, Shellharbour City Libraries.

 

 

Shipwrecks

Shellharbour has seen many shipwrecks over the years especially around the rough seas of Bass Point. One of the earliest recorded wrecks was the Amphitrite a wooden ketch  under the command of local Captain William Baxter that was wrecked off Shellharbour in May 1851.

The Echo loaded with a cargo of maize and potatoes was wrecked off Bass Point in 1863.

The Rangoon was wrecked off Stack (Rangoon) Island at Minnamurra in 1870 after the Captain mistook the Minnamurra Inlet for Kiama Harbour during rough seas.  All of the crew were rescued . The anchor from the Rangoon is located at the front of the Ocean Beach Hotel at Shellharbour Village, and material from the wreck was used to construct the old McCabe family home in Shellharbour  Village.

The passengers and crew of the Bertha in September 1879 had to be rescued by local Aboriginal people who witnessed the schooner become a complete wreck at Bass Point on its way from Sydney to Kiama.

The Franz, a blue metal carrier was wrecked just north of Lake Illawarra on its was from Sydney to Kiama. The Captain and crew were all saved.

The crew of Our Own a cargo carrier wrecked near Bass Point were not so lucky, with two lives being lost in 1880.

Four men lost their lives in 1901 when the Alexander Berry owned by the Illawarra Steam Navigation Company was wrecked  at Bass Point.

The Comboyne was wrecked in 1920 after striking an object 1 mile off Bass Point.

Kiltobranks carrying a cargo of blue metal was wrecked at Shellharbour in 1924.

Perhaps the most famous wreck is of the American oil tanker Cities Service Boston, which was carrying a supply of fuel during World War Two. The ship ploughed into rocks off Bass Point 16 May 1943 during rough seas. A rescue crew; soldiers from the 6th Australian Machine Gun Battalion (AIF) stationed at Dapto were sent to help the 62 man crew. All of the American crew were saved but four of the Australian rescue team were lost.

In 1995 the Troy D overshot the Bass Point Jetty while loading basalt from the quarry and the ship became grounded on rocks. The blue metal carrier was winched off the rocks the following day.

‘150 Years of Shellharbour’, Dorothy Gillis, The Tongarra Heritage Society Inc, 2009.

The wooden steamer 'Kiltobranks' wrecked at Shellharbour 1924
Shellharbour Images, Shellharbour City Libraries.

 

 

 

 

Convicts in Shellharbour

Convicts played a large part in the development of Shellharbour. Many of the region's most prominent and well respected families have convict ancestry.

These convict men and women either came to the area to work on one of the large estates, ‘Terry’s Meadows’ (Albion Park), ‘Osborne Estate’ (Marshall Mount), or ‘Peterborough Estate’ (Shellharbour), or came to the area after they had received their Ticket-of-Leave.

The convicts stuck together.  Some had been transported to the colony on board the same ship and many of their children married the children of other convicts. These people and their children made a major contribution to Shellharbour.

Convict, Captain William Baxter opened up the shipping trade at the Village. James Couch made large contributions to the dairying industry. Edward Hazelton was an important figure in the Albion Park Township - his descendants opening a local store which still operates to this day in a different location. Edward Killalea became an Alderman of Shellharbour Municipal Council. David Missingham’s son operated a tannery at Albion Park.

Many of Shellharbour’s most well-known families can be traced back to these convict men and women, including the Condon, Couch, Farragher, Geraghty, Foley, Hazelton, Hockey, Killalea, Prior, Rogan, Ross, Swan, Whitfield and Wilson families.

‘Convicts in Shellharbour’, Tongarra Museum Exhibition, 2010.

 

 

Road to Shellharbour waterfront c1890. Shellharbour Images, Shellharbour City Libraries.

Road to Shellharbour waterfront c1890.

Shellharbour Images, Shellharbour City Libraries.