A view of the resident magistrate's house on Thursday Island [Waibene]

A photograph of the resident magistrate's house on Thursday Island [Waibene]. The bottom section of a flagpole can be seen with its guy ropes in front of the steps to the house. The two-story house is roughly square with a verandah along the front. A European woman, dressed in a close-fitting dark dress, stands next to a woman of colour in a white dress and cap. The magistrate from 1877 to 1884 was Henry Chester, who had overseen the move of the administrative centre from Somerset Island to Port Kennedy, Thursday Island.

The photograph is captioned: 'Resident Magistrate's house. Thursday Island.'

Dr Coppinger records arriving off Somerset and Albany Island in early June and remained in the Torres Strait area for four months. They left on 1 October for Port Darwin, arriving on 20 October 1881.

Object Details

ID: ALB0167.132
Type: Photographic print
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Frederick North
Date made: June to September 1881
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
Measurements: Overall: 114 mm x 202 mm
Parts: The Cruise of HMS Alert in Patagonian and Polynesian Waters, 1879-1882 (Photograph album)