Not Mary Watson’s cottage: A reassessment of the ruined stone building, Jiigurru (Lizard Island Group), northern Great Barrier Reef

Wed, 01 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +1000

The remains of a nineteenth century stone building at Watson’s Bay, Lizard Island, Jiigurru (Lizard Island Group), are referred to today as ‘Mary Watson’s Cottage’. As such, the ruin provides a tangible link to the young woman who fled Lizard Island in 1881 with her infant son and Chinese employee, only to die of thirst on nearby Howick No. 5 Island. The association of the extant stone structure and the historic personage of Mary Watson has become a powerful, seemingly unbreakable, association. However, an historical archaeological reassessment of the evidence provides an enriched history of the stone building that counters the current narrative. The stone building was built in 1860 by members of the Paddon and Co. bêche-de-mer station (1860-1861) during their 15 month stay on the island. Nearly two decades later, in a state of disrepair, it was rebuilt by Robert Watson and Percy Fuller of the Watson and Fuller bêche-de-mer station (1879-1881). The likelihood is that it was never the home of the Watsons. Instead, it fulfilled its original purpose as a storeroom and bêche-de-mer curing house. Yet, since the twentieth century, emotive forces have enmeshed the Mary Watson story with the visible ruin on Lizard Island as the ‘home’ she fought to defend against attack. It is time to acknowledge the building’s true past, and time to acknowledge Paddon and Co.’s stone building. By doing so, the ruin’s narrative is extended and its role in the nineteenth century bêche-de-mer industry is elevated, while continuing to honour the building’s symbolic association with Mary Watson.

Queensland Archaeological Research

Not Mary Watson’s cottage: A reassessment of the ruined stone building, Jiigurru (Lizard Island Group), northern Great Barrier Reef