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150th Anniversary of the Landing of 99th RegimentPrint Page 
The plaque commemorates the 150th anniversary of the landing of Lieutenant de Winton and a further contingent of the 99th Regiment who arrived near the site on the 15th March 1847 to help establish the penal settlement.
In 1822 John Bigge had recommended the establishment of a convict settlement at Port Curtis on the east coast of Queensland. The project had been revived several times, and as some difficulty was being experienced in finding work for time-expired convicts in Tasmania, it was now decided to try the experiment of sending them to a new area and giving them land and a certain amount of government help. Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby and William Ewart Gladstone, successive secretaries of state for the colonies, had fathered the project.
Location
| Address: | Prince Regent Esplanade, Barney Point Beach, Gladstone, 4680 |
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| State: | QLD |
| Area: | AUS |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -23.846023 Long: 151.272764 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Plaque |
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| Monument Theme: | Landscape |
| Sub-Theme: | Settlement |
| Actual Event Start Date: | 15-March-1847 |
| Actual Event End Date: | 15-March-1997 |
Dedication
| Actual Monument Dedication Date: | Sunday 26th January, 1997 |
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Near this place on the 15th March 1847 Lieut. de Winton and a contingent of the 99th Regiment had arrived on the ship "Thomas Lowry" to begin preparations to establish a permanent penal settlement to house convicts transported from Sydney.
Lieut. Governor George Barney, in charge of the new separated Colony of North Australia. ordered De Winto to dig wells at today`s Barney Point as the main party marooned om Facing ISland were in a desperate situation due to a lack of fresh water.
De Winton set his men to work near today`s coal stockpiles, but their effforts were unsuccessful. The colony officially ended on the 15th April, 1847 with the arrival of the P. S. "Kangaroo" telling Governor Barney that the British Government had changed , and that the colony was to be abandoned.
The ship "Thomas Lowry" sailed for Sydney on the 27th April 1847 taking with it all the remaining settlers. The damaged ship "Lord Auckland" was towed up the harbour by the "Sea Nymph" and beached at today`s Auckland Creek for repairs.
George Barney and his son climbed Mt. Larcom to view the western hinterland. They departed Port Curtis late in June 1847 on the "Lord Auckland" and never to return.
Erected to celebrate the 150th anniversary by the Gladstone Maritime History Society Inc. with support from the Gladstone City Council.
26th January 1997
