History of Lord Howe

Lord Howe Island was first discovered by Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball, commander of the First Fleet ship, Supply, in 1788, while en route between Sydney Cove and the penal settlement of Norfolk Island. Ball named the uninhabited island after British Admiral Richard Howe and the sea stack to the south he named Balls Pyramid, after himself.

The island was first settled in 1834, when three couples arrived from New Zealand. In the ensuing years, Lord Howe acted as a provision station for ships travelling between Sydney and Norfolk Island and for whaling ships.

During this time, whalers would often come in search of food and fresh water. The native fauna – which hitherto had no fear of man – was easy to catch. Most of the island’s endemic birds were driven to extinction during this period.

By the 1870s, whaling was on the wane and the islanders turned to the collection and export of Kentia palm seeds to the European indoor plant market as the mainstay of the local economy. The Board of Control that was set up to manage the industry has evolved into the Lord Howe Island Board, which is still responsible for the local government of the island today.

Tourists first came to the island around the turn of the 20th century by ship and visitation boomed post World War II with the advent of the flying boats, which operated out of Rose Bay in Sydney. However, the Catalinas and Sandringhams were unserviceable by 1974, when the new airstrip was opened and twin-engined planes (currently the Dash 8 turbo-prop aircraft of QantasLink) began flying to the island.

The magnificent natural heritage of Lord Howe had long been recognised, but remained unprotected – and at risk from feral animals such as goats, pigs and rats – until the Lord Howe Island Act of 1981 established a Permanent Park Preserve over approximately 70 per cent of the Island. This placed the island under the NSW Planning and Environment Act and included a Plan of Management for the future sustainable development of the island.

On December 14, 1982, The Lord Howe Island Group was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list – only one of four island groups to be listed to date.

For more Lord Howe Island history, visit our online library »