North Australia

[1] Since 1822, when John Bigge recommended the establishment of a convict settlement at Port Curtis (now the location of Gladstone, Queensland), the idea had been revived several times.

Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby and William Ewart Gladstone, successive secretaries of state for the colonies, fathered the project.

He quickly surveyed the coast in a small steamer, decided that Port Curtis was the most suitable place for a settlement and returned to Sydney.

On 30 January 1847, the (already revoked) colony of North Australia was proclaimed at Settlement Point on Facing Island and Barney was sworn in as Lieutenant Governor.

The settlers spent seven weeks on Facing Island before being rescued by the supply ship Thomas Lowry and delivered to the intended site of settlement, the region now known as Barney Point.