Western Australia

Cossack is an historic ghost town at the mouth of the Harding River. A thriving port in the 1870s, it was a sleepy ghost town by the 1910s and by the 1970s it was nothing more than a few buildings on the edge of Butchers Inlet - a place which today attracts anglers and curious travellers and lots of fly’s.
It is an interesting collection of buildings , you only have to look at the structure of these buildings to understand they have withstood the violence of the cyclones and stood silently on this lonely shoreline.

Galbraith Store -
Galbraith's Store (c.1891) was the first building erected from local bluestone. Galbraith's had started in Scotland. It is a comment on their intentions about establishing stores around the world, and the status of the port at the time, that they chose Cossack as a suitable place to open a store.

Courthouse -
The two-storey courthouse, built in 1895, was designed by George Temple Poole, an Italian born, British architect who was, at the time, the WA Superintendant of Public Works. Built of stone from the ballast of ships, its wide veranda and heavy rusticated pillars make it the most prominent building in the town. It is also a monument to Poole's understanding of the heat in the area. It is designed to keep the interior cool. Today the Court House is a free museum with a genuinely fascinating collection which includes an intact old court room complete with benches and the elevated place for the local magistrate or judge. A history of the Asian population in Cossack and a personal history of William Shakespeare Hall, a pioneer explorer and early settler.

European & Asian Cemetery

Located along Perserverance Road, the cemetery offers a unique insight into the life of Cossack in the 1870s. At that time the port was the winter home for the Asian pearl divers. It was divided into 'Chinatown', 'Japtown' and 'Malaytown' and there is evidence that the separate areas had stores, tailors, bath houses and even brothels.
The two cemeteries (the European and Japanese) are located on the sand dunes beyond the edge of town. The Japanese cemetery - a total of nine grave sites - is the resting place for Japanese pearl divers who either were lost at sea or drowned while diving.
The European cemetery is the resting place of William Shakespeare Hall, one of the members of F.W. Gregory's party, and of 10-year-old Laura Peirl, the daughter of the local policeman, who died of tetanus after treading on a nail: a stark reminder of the hardships of isolated life.
Let’s hope the amount of fly’s that attack you whilst visiting doesn’t put you a plot right next to them.

Readers Head Look Out

Reader Head is recorded as early as 1863 when Government Surveyor, C.C. Hunt, included it in a map of Tien Tsin Harbour. It is located at the northern end of Butcher's Inlet. The first light beacon for Cossack was a oil or kerosene light which was hung from Reader Head. This predated the lighthouse on Jarman Island. The Head has extensive views up and down the coast including the mouth of the Harding River, the towns of Roebourne, Point Samson and Cape Lambert and the Perserverance Rocks.

Jarman Island Lighthouse
The Jarman Island lighthouse is not accessible unless you have a boat. For many years it has been on the endangered list but there is a new level of commitment from both local residents and the local mining companies.

"The Jarman Island Lighthouse is a segmented cast iron sea lights which used a newly developed pre-fabricated cast iron tower imported from England.
"Cast iron towers were established as a viable way of getting lights to remote areas. The new design technique was innovative and represented a new era in lighthouse construction. As they were pre-fabricated, they could be constructed in remote areas with much more ease than one of stone. The lighthouse industry had reached the point in 1887 where a complete lighthouse could be packed and shipped from England for erection in Australia. The lighthouse at Jarman was complete except for the lens which seems to have been sent separately. The tower body of the Jarman Island lighthouse is composed of cast iron plated a little more than one inch (28 mm) thick, flanged and bolted on the inside presenting a smooth face to the exterior. This type of construction was developed so that salt laden spray would not cause corrosion at the joints. The lighthouse came complete from England with the tools for its construction and the paint to protect it.
"The Resident Engineer for the North West, W L Owen and Chief Government Architect George Temple Poole were responsible for the design and construction of the new light station.
"The labour for the construction were prisoners from Malaysia, the Philippines, China and Arabian countries, the majority of which were from the pearling fleet which was at that time laid up in Cossack during the cyclone season.
"The rubble and concrete duplex keepers quarters were also erected in 1888 and is typical of other buildings around Roebourne of that era. Pre-cast concrete blocks were used for corners, doors and windows. The unique feature of the 1888 dwelling is the curved concrete shell roof. Unfortunately this did not suit the climate and in 1895 the whole structure was given a new roof and a verandah all around.
"The original light was a flashing second order lantern with a four wick Douglas burner. The fuel was kerosene or paraffin oil. The lamp was replaced in 1910 by a 55 mm incandescent lamp using a vaporised kerosene mantle."
"Between 1922 and 1941, the island was leased to J & T Muramats who are said to have used the place for holidays. In the 1950s the quarters and adjacent buildings were stripped of useful material and abandoned. The lighthouse was turned of for the last time in 1985 when the Cape Lambert lighthouse became operational.
"The size of the island is approximately 16 ha. The lighthouse is painted red and white. Steel ladders and landings provide internal access to the lantern room."
Recently the Shire of Roebourne was awarded $75,000 to conserve and restore the lighthouse.Read more