[1] During the second half of the nineteenth century the expansion of settlement in north-eastern Australia caused increasing problems with the carriage of freight to and from southern supply centres.
In response to this problem the New South Wales Government, in 1859 (i.e. prior to the separation of Queensland), offered a substantial reward for the discovery of a suitable harbour north of Port Curtis (Gladstone) that could be more easily accessed by northern settlers.
Captain Henry Daniel Sinclair, owner of the 9-ton ketch Santa Barbara, departed Sydney in August 1859 in order to locate such a suitable harbour, undertook this mission.
However, when two of the Aboriginal men returned to the vessel, armed with tomahawks hidden underneath the shirt, Sinclair thought they were intending treachery and wanted to shoot them.
[5][6] The first British settlers began arriving at Port Denison as early as 19 March 1861 with Sinclair transporting a group of these people on board the Santa Barbara.
The township of Bowen quickly grew to support the northern pastoral industry as a strategically placed supply centre and over the course of several decades the town developed into a thriving commercial port.
However, before the vessel was ready to take to sea, Sinclair died aged 50 in a sailing accident in Cleveland Bay (off Townsville) while participating in the St Patrick's Day Regatta.
[1] He was buried in the West End Cemetery in Townsville on St Patrick's Day with the burial service read by an old friend and shipmate, James Gordon.