[1] The first Christian missionary, representing the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG), arrived at the newly established settlement of Somerset, Cape York Peninsula, on 15 March 1867.

[1] They were represented by two Englishmen, Revs S. Macfarlane and Archibald Wright Murray,[6][7] and eight Lifu (Loyalty Islander) evangelists: Tapeso, Elia, Mataika, Guchong, Kerisidui, Wauaded, Sevine and Josaia, and their wives.

The inscription reads "In loving memory of Dabad 1871: A man who denied his tribal laws and accepted the good news of salvation".

[1] Thorngreen, a European man, was living on Erub and accompanied Darnley Islanders on board Surprise the following day.

[1] The London Missionary Society (LMS) established temporary headquarters at Somerset, from where they could expand their operations into other Torres Strait Islands and the mainland of New Guinea.

They reported weekly services were being held at Erub (Darnley), and were conducted in a pidgin form of the local language, Kala Lagaw Ya.

Annexation also gave the government control over the increasingly lucrative beche-de-mer and pearl shelling economies and, in particular, regulating the use of Torres Strait and South Sea Islander labour in these industries.

But the lack of government resources, such as a regular patrol boat, meant that effectively administration of the islands was conducted by the London Missionary Society.

[1] Soon after this transfer, the Anglican Church instituted annual "Coming of the Light" celebrations, as a tribute to the London Missionary Society and perhaps as a way of ensuring continuity of worship.

That event is memorialised by a Coming of the Light monument, consisting of a 3.5-metre (11 ft) high white cross standing in a ship named Surprise as its base.

[1] Coming of the Light, an episode in the 2013 documentary television series Desperate Measures, features the annual event.

[10] In 1919 the All Saints Church was constructed at the former site of the original London Missionary Society mission house and school.

In 1976 a stone sea wall was constructed approximately 15 metres (49 ft) from the building in an effort to protect it from erosion from the strong tides.

[1] All Saints Church is a mass concrete structure with a timber framed red corrugated asbestos cement and galvanized steel roof, located 5–15 metres (16–49 ft) from Badog Beach on the south west side of Erub (Darnley) Island in the Torres Straits.

[1] The area of the building is about 250 square metres (2,700 sq ft), featuring a central nave with side wings.

[1] The facade of the building, facing east, is decorated with a niche, projecting columns and beams, frieze and other architectural features.

All Saints Church, Erub (Darnley) Island, survives as important evidence of the development of missionary activity in the Torres Straits and serves as a focus for the annual July 1 "Coming of the Light" festival that celebrates the arrival of the London Missionary Society in the Torres Straits in 1871.

The substantial building, constructed in 1919 mainly of locally acquired materials including burnt coral and basalt, forms a prominent landmark in the architecture of Erub (Darnley) Island.