After Bruce's swim to Dunk, we received some interesting info on other intrepid island swimmers. Back in the day, marine charts referred to Bedarra island as Richards Island then Allason Island after the first European settler, Captain Henry Allason. Early in the 20th century author E.J. Banfield who lived as a beachcomber on Dunk Island began using the name Bedarra, a misspelling of the Aboriginal term Biagurra which roughly translates to "the place of endless water".
Captain Henry Allason, inspired by Banfields book ‘Confessions of A Beachcomber’, purchased Bedarra from the Queensland Lands Department in 1913 for the paltry sum of 20 pounds (he also bought Timana Island at the same time). He and his wife settled on the sandspit corner of Bedarra near the spring, until he was forced to return to Europe when World War 1 broke out. By owning both islands he could swim the strait between them on occasion. In France in 1914 Allason was gassed and spent the remainder of his life recovering in a nursing home in Nice. In 1934 he sold the property to the Harris syndicate of London. This blog is getting very educational...
Captain Henry Allason, inspired by Banfields book ‘Confessions of A Beachcomber’, purchased Bedarra from the Queensland Lands Department in 1913 for the paltry sum of 20 pounds (he also bought Timana Island at the same time). He and his wife settled on the sandspit corner of Bedarra near the spring, until he was forced to return to Europe when World War 1 broke out. By owning both islands he could swim the strait between them on occasion. In France in 1914 Allason was gassed and spent the remainder of his life recovering in a nursing home in Nice. In 1934 he sold the property to the Harris syndicate of London. This blog is getting very educational...
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