Booby Island Light
Booby Island Lighthouse and one of the deteriorated cottages
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| Location |
Booby Island Queensland Australia |
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| Coordinates | 10°36′20″S 141°54′33″E / 10.60556°S 141.90917°ECoordinates: 10°36′20″S 141°54′33″E / 10.60556°S 141.90917°E |
| Year first constructed | 1890 |
| Automated | 1992 |
| Construction | timber frame clad with galvanised iron |
| Tower shape | conical frustum tower with balcony and lantern |
| Markings / pattern | white tower and red dome |
| Height | 59 feet (18 m) |
| Focal height | 121 feet (37 m) |
| Range | 20 nautical miles (37 km; 23 mi) |
| Characteristic | Fl W 10s. |
| Admiralty number | K3274 |
| NGA number | 111-9620 |
| ARLHS number | AUS-011 |
Booby Island Light is an active heritage-listed lighthouse located on Booby Island in the Shire of Torres, near the tip of Cape York Peninsula, west of Prince of Wales Island, within the Endeavour Strait, Queensland, Australia. It marks the western entrance to the navigation channel through the Torres Strait. It was the last of the major lights to be constructed along the Queensland coast.
The colony of Queensland was formed in 1859. In 1862, the Queensland government appointed the first Portmaster, Commander George Poynter Heath. During the following years, several committees were held, but none of them recommended the erection of a lighthouse on Booby Island. It was Heath who first recommended the construction of such a lighthouse, at the Intercolonial Conference of Marine Departments in 1873, where a first order light was finally recommended by the delegates. However, this recommendation was not followed through, and it was only in August 1885 that Heath referred to the lighthouse again, as trade through the Torres Strait increased, and a traffic channel west of the Prince of Wales Island was established. Formal approval took four more years, and tenders for the lighthouse were called in April 1899. The accepted tender of £3329 was by the brothers John and Jacob Rooney of Maryborough, which also constructed Sandy Cape Light, Cape Bowling Green Light, Cowan Cowan Point Light, Cape Capricorn Light and Lady Elliot Island Light. The light was first exhibited on 24 June 1890, and the total cost of construction was £6,500. Residences for the lighthouse keepers were also constructed in 1890.
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