Mary+Watson

=Mary Watson, Lizard Island heroine and pioneer= Mary Watson was born in 1860 nearly 150 years ago. She left her home town of Truro, in Cornwall, England (where Miss Hill went to school!) and went to live in Cooktown, Queensland. There she fell in love with George Watson and married him when she was 20 years old. When she was only 21, she died of thirst on No. 5 Island in the Howick Group off Cape Flattery in Far North Queensland in 1881. She is a hero to many people in Queensland.

What happened?
Mary and her husband had a fishing business on Lizard Island. It was named by Captain Cook and is 100 metres north east of Cooktown. They employed Chinese workmen to catch //beche-de-mer//, a kind of sea slug which is good to eat. One day, while Mary's husband was away, Aborigines attacked two of the Chinese workmen. They probably did this because the Watsons were taking food from the Aborigines' fishing grounds, but we do not know for sure.

Mary and her four-month-old baby and a wounded Chinese workman, Ah Sam, were afraid and wanted to escape. They cut down a ship's water tank, (which was used for boiling sea slugs), turned it into a boat, and set off for Queensland.

When Mary's husband came back to Lizard Island, he thought that Mary and the baby had been kidnapped and killed, He did not know she had escaped.

Ah Sam, Mary and her baby voyaged for eight days, and travelled about 65 kilometres but they did not reach safety in Queensland. They died of thirst on No. 5 Island in the Howick Group off Cape Flattery in Far North Queensland.

After a few months the bodies were found. They also found Mary's diary which described what had happened. They had a huge funeral in Cooktown because everyone admired Mary's brave spirit and determination. They built a memorial to her, and she became a symbol of pioneer heroism for many Queenslanders. Source: []

To see Mary's monument, click [|here]. This is the only memorial of an individual woman in Queensland. Notice that it does not include Ah Sam. Why do you think this is?