Beacons of Hope by Donald Walker

Published by Neptune Press, 1981

Donald Walker appears to leave no historical stone unturned is his history of the Cape Otway and King Island lighthouses. Part lighthouse, part maritime, part social, and part political history, Beacons of Hope provides a detailed analysis of why and how these two significant lighthouses were planned, built and lit in 1848 (Cape Otway) and 1861 (Cape Wickham, King Island).

Their significance partly lies in their locations.  Cape Otway on the Victorian mainland, and King Island, a small island under Tasmanian jurisdiction, mark the entry to Bass Strait, the narrow ‘eye of the needle’ through which ships reaching Australia in the nineteenth century passed if they wanted to take a week’s sailing time off their journey.

Beacons of Hope weaves together the story of southern Australia navigation in the late eighteenth- and nineteenth-century, shipwrecks, and the bureaucratic wrangling between the governors of the day and their distant British masters. It provides a detailed chronology of the Cape Otway and Cape Wickham lighthouse development, and also highlights the commitment and achievements of early lightkeepers. The book may inspire you to visit the State Library of Victoria to read the lighthouse log kept by Henry Bales Ford, first Head Lightkeeper at Cape Otway, who kept the light burning there for thirty years.

Early navigation charts, drawings and black and white photographs help make this an interesting, informative lighthouse narrative.