In July 1885,
an Australian geographical party from Victoria,
led by Captain Henry Charles Everill and including the botanist William
Bauerlen aboard the Bonito, arrived at Thursday Island on its way to New Guinea. Bauerlen dined several times with Douglas at the residency and considered him “a fine
thorough gentleman.” Douglas
subsequently accompanied them on the trip to New Guinea, travelling in a
separate vessel with Samuel McFarlane in the London Missionary Society yacht, Mary. It was his first trip there and Everill named
a bend in the Strickland River on the New Guinea mainland the Douglas
Bend, in his honour.[1] On 23 July 1885 , Douglas left the group[2]
and returned to Thursday Island on the Queensland
government schooner, the Mavis, but the ship was wrecked on Dungeness
Reef in early August, and Douglas had to be
rescued by another vessel.[3] The loss of the Mavis meant he was
unable to travel about the Torres Strait and henceforth was confined to Thursday Island.
This was a
serious setback to his administration of the islands. Furthermore, Douglas
enjoyed travelling and possessed a curious and enquiring mind. He wanted to acquaint himself personally with
the Torres Strait and its inhabitants; the
grounding of the Mavis denied him this opportunity. Douglas was
always happiest when travelling.
Frequently living or working on the frontier, he was a man of action who
preferred to visit or explore rather than occupy a desk.
On his way to
New Guinea Douglas had called in at Murray
Island to conclude a matter commenced
by Chester. In 1882, the island had been reserved by Queensland government
proclamation for use by Torres Strait Islanders, leading to the subsequent
removal of a number of South Sea Islanders already resident there. Despite this, by 1885, 13 South Sea Islanders
had again taken up residence and the Murray Islander chief asked Chester to remove
them. Chester sought advice from Griffith, who
agreed to their removal from the island.[4] Chester
then drew up a notice giving the South Sea Islanders 30 days notice to remove
themselves.[5] However, it fell to Douglas to implement
this and he arranged for their relocation to Darnley Island.[6] Douglas was impressed with the Murray
Islanders, believing they “deserve and are entitled to all their privileges as Queensland subjects.”[7]
In
line with his liberal beliefs, Douglas also arranged for boats to be presented
to the chiefs of Darnley, Saibai, Stephens and Mabuiag Islands
to allow, in the words of his successor, Hugh Milman, under whose rule the
boats were delivered, “an opportunity or means to work for themselves, and
emulate or copy the white men.”[8]
In
October 1885 Sarah Douglas fell seriously ill, an illness made worse by the
absence of a resident doctor on the island.[9] Dr Arthur Edward Salter was belatedly
appointed as the health officer, and sent to Thursday Island but, as there was
no accommodation available, he had to live with the Douglas
family.[10]
Douglas’s
first six months in the Torres Strait had been
eventful, especially Sarah’s illness. As
he informed his brother Edward, “I have had really hard times of it at home. Much trouble … I have had a deal of worry”[11]
Fortunately,
for him, things were looking
“brighter now, brighter than they have been for some time.” In this letter he scorned the administration
of nearby New Guinea:
New Guinea has been messed over. I could govern New Guinea from here for one half
the £15,000 which the colonies allow to the Colonial Office for mismanaging it.[12]
Unbeknown to
Douglas, he soon had the opportunity to put his theories into practice for, on 2 December 1885 , the
special commissioner for New
Guinea, Sir Peter Scratchley, succumbed to
malaria, dying at sea between Cooktown and Townsville.[13]
This chapter
so far has traced Douglas’s life from the fall of his premiership to his
appointment as government resident on Thursday Island to administer Torres
Strait on behalf of the Queensland government,
his relocation to the island, his first six months there, his travel to several
Torres Strait islands, and the resolution of a complex dispute on Murray Island. His transition from politician to administrator
was complete. Douglas
had gained experience as a journalist, now had four children, and had travelled
back to the country of his birth where he had the pleasure of being reunited
with family and friends. While living on
Thursday Island was not his first choice, his family had joined him, his boys
were attending the newly established Thursday Island school,[14]
his wife’s health appeared to be improving, and the Brisbane
Week newspaper considered that Douglas
was administering the region well: “so
far good has followed the appointment.”[15]
Douglas
was soon to be appointed to a new post, a post he had previously unsuccessfully
sought, that of administrator of New Guinea. However, it was a position that contained
more than its fair share of challenges and privations, and he soon yearned for
his Thursday Island home, a home, an island,
and a people that he had quickly grown to love.[16]
[1] William Bauerlen, p. 7; Wanderer.
“Thursday Island.” Brisbane
Courier, 31 July 1885 ,
p. 3; John Douglas to Chief Secretary, 3 August 1885 . Queensland State Archives, COL/A434/6069. For information on this expedition, see
“Special Record of the Arrangements for the Exploration of New Guinea.” Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal
Geographical Society of Australasia. New
South Wales Branch. Vols. 3-4, 1885-86, pp. 105-64 and
“Exploration of New Guinea. Capt. Everill’s Report.” Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal
Geographical Society of Australasia. New
South Wales Branch. Vols. 3-4, 1885-86, pp. 170-87
[2] It was feared that Bauerlen and his party had been massacred, but
after four months incommunicado, they steamed back to Thursday
Island. (John Douglas to
Edward Douglas 10 December
1885 . Douglas
Papers. John Oxley Library, State Library
of Queensland, OM
89-3/B/4/2; “Report of Special General Meeting Held on Friday, 20th November, 1885 .” Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal
Geographical Society of Australasia, Victorian Branch, vol 3, 1885, pp.
89-101.) Douglas landed in New Guinea
for the first time on 17
July 1885 . (John
Douglas. “Islands
in Torres Straits.” Queensland Votes
and Proceedings, vol 2, 1885, p. 1047)
[3] Queensland State Archives, Col A/443 no’s 5740 (6 August 1885 ) and 6121 (21 August 1885 )
[4] Henry Chester to Colonial Secretary, 12 March 1885 .
Queensland State Archives, COL/A417; C. Pennefather to Colonial
Secretary in-letter 3261 of 1882, Queensland State Archives, COL/A339
[5] John Douglas to Colonial Secretary, 6 August 1885 .
Queensland
State Archives, COL/A434
[6] Ibid.; John Douglas. Report
of Mr. Douglas on a Visit to Murray
Island. Queensland Votes and Proceedings, vol 2,
1885, pp. 1083-85. Douglas arrived at Murray Island
on 28 July 1885
and gave his reasons for removing the Pacific Islanders as “My duty was to
evict the intruders in virtue of the notice and to sustain the authority of the
superior government.”
[7] Douglas (1885A), p. 1083
[8] Hugh Milman. “Annual Report
of the Acting Government Resident at Thursday Island.” Queensland Votes and Proceedings, vol
1, 1886, p. 494
[9] John Douglas to Chief Secretary, 30 October 1885 . Col A/443 no
8826, Queensland
State Archives.
[10] Ibid.; Douglas (1885), p. 4.
The residency comprised four bedrooms, a dining room, drawing room,
veranda, front and back hallways, a kitchen and pantry, a bathroom and a
servant’s room. (Queensland State
Archives, QS 788/1)
[11] John Douglas to Chief Secretary, 30 October 1885 . Col A/443 no
8826, Queensland
State Archives; John
Douglas to Edward Douglas, 10
December 1885 . Douglas
Papers, John Oxley Library, Queensland
State Library,
OM 89-3/B/4/2
[12] John Douglas to Edward Douglas, 10 December 1885 . Douglas Papers, John Oxley Library,
Queensland State
Library, OM
89-3/B/4/2
[13] “Poor New Guinea.” Week, 5 December 1885 , p. 541; Joyce (1976), p. 99
[14] Douglas had chosen the site of the
school during his 1877 visit. (Douglas
(1900A), p. 11.) The school itself
opened on 13 July 1885
with an enrolment of 23 children, 12 boys and 11 girls. (Tenth Report of the Secretary for Public
Instruction for the Year 1885. Queensland
Votes and Proceedings, vol 2, 1886, pp. 790-91)
[15] “The Year 1885.” The Week,
2 January 1886 , p.
13
[16] “The Ministerial Northern Tour.”
Queenslander, 22
May 1886 , pp. 806-7
