St Helena Island is a heritage-listed island in Queensland, Australia, 21 kilometres (13 mi) east of Brisbane and 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) east of the mouth of the Brisbane River in Moreton Bay. Originally used as a prison, it is now a national park.
Local Australian Aboriginals called the island Noogoon but it was renamed St Helena after an Aboriginal man named Napoleon was exiled there in 1827. The island is visible from the mainland, particularly the suburbs of Wynnum, Manly and Lota. It has its own permanent water supply, a spring in the centre of the island. Many migratory birds use the island as a watering hole; it forms part of the Moreton Bay and Pumicestone Passage Important Bird Area, so identified by BirdLife International because it supports large numbers of migratory waders, or shorebirds.
History
In the 19th century St Helena Island was a quarantine station which became one of the most profitable prisons in Queensland history. The island was used to house prisoners and staff for 65 years. Many of those involved in the 1891 Australian shearers' strike were imprisoned there along with murderers and bushrangers.
Heritage listing
St Helena Island was added to the Queensland Heritage Register in 1992.
Further reading
True Tales of Old St Helena, More True Tales of Old St Helena, The Wild Men of St Helena, The Escapes from St Helena, The St Helena Island Prison. Jarvis Finger, Boolarong Publications, Brisbane.
Part of the Glory, Julian Stuart.
St Helena Island Moreton Bay: An Historical Account, ISBN 978-0-9807003-4-3, 229 pages including index, Lauren Penny.
The St Helena Story: An Illustrated History of Colonial Queensland's Island Prison, ISBN 978-1-921555-44-2, 300 pages, full colour, references, index. by Jarvis Finger, Fernfawn/Boolarong Publications, Brisbane, 2010.
Brady, Tony James (2016), “Raw, free”, and “almost rude”: Educating warders’ children on St Helena Penal Establishment, Emerald Group Publishing LImited, archived from the original on 21 May 2020