Cape Wickham Lighthouse

The Cape Wickham Lighthouse is located on King Island, Tasmania. At 48 metres (157 ft) tall, it is Australia’s tallest lighthouse. It opened in 1861 in response to Australia’s largest maritime disaster, the wrecking of the ‘Cataraqui’ in 1845, when 402 people lost their lives at sea.

This image comes from the Australian News and Information Bureau collection, now held in the National Archives. This vast archival resource is the legacy of nearly half a century’s work by Bureau photographers who captured hundreds of thousands of photographs of Australians at work and play.