Heimdall Settlement Print Page

The plaque commemorates the site of Heimdall, the first settlement on this side of Sussex Inlet, which was established by the Ellmoos Family. The plaque was unveiled during the centenary celebrations in 1980.

Jacob Ellmoos, who was born in Denmark, became a seaman and in 1878 he left his ship in Port Adelaide, South Australia, and decided to travel north. He walked over 1,000 miles and eventually established himself at the South Head Signal Station, near Watsons Bay, in Sydney, which was then a fishing village.

Acquiring a seaworthy boat he sailed south, fishing the coastal waters and finally made his base at Cape St George lighthouse on the southern headland of Jervis Bay.

On a fishing trip in November 1880, he crossed the bar at the entrance of Sussex Inlet and thus began the Ellmoos family association with Sussex Inlet. He found rich fishing grounds and unspoilt beauty and soon sought and was granted a selection of 1200 acres of land on the northern bank of the inlet.

In 1915 the Commonwealth took over the Inlet and part of the land bordering St Georges Basin as a part of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The Ellmoos freehold was swapped for Federal leaseholds and Jacob, the only survivor of the original selectors, was eventually compensated for the loss of his the freehold, (not willingly on the Governments part - there were many,many letters between Jacob's solicitor and the Minister's Department before anything resembling a fair compensation was offered - they seemed to believe they could take away his land and business on the basis that he was merely "a foreigner" ).

He bought a large tract of land on the southern bank of the Inlet which was still a part of NSW and on which the existing town of Sussex Inlet slowly developed. On a part of this site, Jacob established another famous guest house Heimdall which he and his family controlled until the site was purchased by the Sussex Inlet RSL Club.

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