The Cape Jaffa Lighthouse Cape Jaffa Lighthouse has a remarkable story. It was erected under water on the Margaret Brock Reef. The King brothers, both engineers erected the lighthouse 8 kms out to sea on the reef. It took nearly three years as construction was only possible for 4 months of the year at low tide in good weather when the reef was only knee deep under water. Thirteen legs of the platform were attached and the lighthouse was finally completed. The light shone brightly for 100 years, warning of treacherous reefs keeping ships safe. This was in response to ships being lost along the coast. In the 1800s Kingston was a thriving port; ships were the road trains of today. In 1852 the Margaret Brock barque was sailing from Adelaide to Melbourne with cargo, passengers and crew when she came to a shuddering halt in darkness, having collided with the rocky reef. Captain McMeckan tried to back the ship off, but to no avail, then crew and passengers threw cargo overboard, lightening the load. By daylight it was seen the ship was rapidly taking on water and they abandoned ship. The weather was deteriorating. Through pounding surf, crowded long boats carried people to shore. There wasn’t enough room and seven volunteers remained. The 20
SOUTHERN OCEAN ROAD
captain and a few crew returned to the ship and rescued them in appalling conditions – the rolling ship collapsed shorty after. This heroic effort saved all lives. The survivors then walked 300 kms back to Adelaide. More disasters occurred. A lighthouse was commissioned in Birmingham, England to build a grouphole lighthouse which would screw into the rocks. It was built, then dismantled and shipped to Australia. Cape Jaffa Lighthouse shone its first light in January, 1872. At the time, the Overland Telegraph Line was being completed between Adelaide and Darwin, connecting Australia with the world, just ten years after the first epic crossing of Australia. It was 14 years before the statue of Liberty was built. Two keepers and their families shared the eight rooms of the lighthouse, with a third keeper based on shore. Each keeper worked for half a night at the helm. Hourly, he turned the crank 88 times keeping the light tower revolving. The huge light has 1,728 prisms and shone for over 40 kms. The light worked like a grandfather clock with a set of weights weighing some 66 kilos, which took 4 minutes to wind to the top and keepers wound every hour to keep the light burning. Each keeper worked two weeks on, then one week on shore. They signalled with
