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How Sth Stradbroke came to be
The huge change to the future of Stradbroke resulted from two major shipwrecks on the island in the late 19th century and both involved Scotch whisky.
When the Scottish Prince ran aground on the Southport Bar in 1887, a large and helpful crowd gathered to 'assist' in the salvage. Since its cargo was largely made up of whisky, the crowd grew more and more helpful, downright enthusiastic in fact, as the unloading continued into the night. An observer at the time suggested that night in 1887 was when Stradbroke became rich in buried 'treasure'.
When the Cambus Wallace, with a similar cargo, was wrecked near Jumpinpin in 1894, police and customs officers showed up at once to supervise and prevent locals looting this ship as well. They extracted the liquor successfully, but found the bulk of the cargo was dynamite.
To dispose of it safely, the authorities decided to blow up the ship. The explosion formed a large crater in the sandhills. Four years later, the ocean broke through the weakened land form, and Stradbroke became two islands: North and South.
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