The Water Rats – the Southern Hemisphere's oldest surf lifesaving club?

Out on A Swim

‘Out on a swim’ is a coral reef blog that tells the stories of the characters who live under the waves and what has caught my eye when ‘out on a swim’ in the lagoons of Norfolk Island. It is also a record of the difficulties Norfolk Island’s reef faces, like many others around the world, as a result of the poor water quality that has been allowed to flow onto it.

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While not strictly about Norfolk Island’s reef life, this interesting tale from history is still worthy of a blog post on this website.

1886, Frederic Schell, *Australia Illustrated*

Can Norfolk Island claim the Southern Hemisphere’s oldest surf lifesaving club? Read on to find out more!

In 1842, a young Private Joshua Hamlet Gregory, just 20 years old and sent to serve in the penal colony of Norfolk Island, wrote a diary. (It can be seen at the Norfolk Island Museums.[i]) From it we can learn a great deal about life in the settlement, but one particular snippet fascinates me. Transcribed from page 45 of his handwritten account is the following:

‘One day we were all surprised at seeing a large vessel come booming down on the settlement. She was flying Yankee colours and appeared too large for a whaler, and too slovenly for a man of war, but be what she would, on she came with her wide spreading sails, until within a quarter of a mile of the beach when she hove to and lowered a boat which pulled for the shore.

‘The bar at the time was rolling mountains high and impossible for any boat to cross it in safety, We signaled to them to keep off, but they paid no attention to us. As she came nearer we saw, sitting in her stern a lady and a gentleman. In vain we tried to make them sensible of their danger, but it was no use.

‘In a moment the Water Rats were at their post: These water Rats as we called them, were convicts that stood on the rock ready to plunge into the waves in case a boat upset. If they had the good luck to rescue anyone, they were sure to get a part of their sentence struck off. They were certainly the best swimmers I ever saw in my life. As I said before, there they stood, six in number like statues with their arms folded across their chests, with nothing on but a pair of thin drawers, a smile of satisfaction sat upon the visage of each reckless and daring exile.’

From Gregory’s description, you can imagine these convicts, with nothing to lose and everything to gain – simultaneously brave and foolhardy – waiting for their moment to shine. Gregory continues:

‘On came the gallant little boat, jumping from wave to wavelike a thing of life. When they had got within fifty yards of the bar they could see their danger, but it was too late to retreat, for she was then in the midst of heavy swells and it was as safe to go one way as the other. The crew showed both strength and skill, but it was all to no purpose for the swells were too much for them. Sometimes she was completely covered with the spray and drenched to the skin the people that were in her.

‘She neared the point and I could see the lady was in great alarm. She looked towards the shore in a most pitiful manner, but when her eyes fell apon the Water Rats, she seemed to eye them with something like satisfaction for she doubtlessly understood their business.’

We know that three convicts, at least, managed to have their sentences reduced because of their service as ‘Water Rats’. These were:

George Davenport: he was Charles Sturt’s convict cook. He saved the life of Captain Rennoldson of the Queen Charlotte, who unfortunately died soon after from gunshot wounds.
William Archer: Archer was a recidivist who was transported to Norfolk Island for stealing cattle. When a boat from the Arthur Phillip was overturned at the bar in 1840, three Water Rats went to the rescue. Convicts Best and McLean drowned, but Archer saved a man and was returned to the mainland and freed. Archer became a cattle baron and the third Mayor of Grafton.
James Porter: Porter saved some officers who had been fishing at Cascade.[ii] [iii]

I do wonder if these Water Rats, who were organised especially for the purpose of saving lives from the surf, could lay claim to being members of the oldest surf lifesaving club in the Southern Hemisphere (which according to the National Museum of Australia began in around 1905 in Australia). Hmmm.

Kingston Pier, Norfolk Island, completed in 1847

[i] Norfolk Island Museums, NIM20360

[ii] William Water Rats, (downloadable document from a now defunct blog) http://www.findtex.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/William-Water-Rats.docx

[iii] Brian, Don and Sue 2018, ‘The Water Rats of Norfolk Island, Australia’s First Surf Lifesavers?’ Signals, viewed 20 November 2023, https://issuu.com/anmmuseum/docs/signals120_ipad

October 28, 2026

When storms rearrange the reef

Sometimes the sea rearranges a reef in a matter of hours! In the third article of my six-part photographic series, I revisit corals broken, overturned or swept away by powerful swells and storm surges. Some disappeared altogether, while others found surprising ways to survive. Five photographic sequences reveal just how dramatically Norfolk Island's reef can change.

October 26, 2026

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October 24, 2026

The neighbours – six years of watching the same reef

When I began photographing Norfolk Island's reef in 2020, I simply recorded whatever caught my eye. Six years later, those photographs have become a record of individual corals and their changing fortunes – growth, competition, survival and loss. This is the first of six articles looking back at what I've seen, and sometimes what I wish I hadn't.

October 10, 2026

Pulling the rugosity from out of the reef

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September 27, 2026

How does a sea slug smell?

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September 19, 2026

The Elite Fleet sails in

Nearly six years ago, my very first blog post was about the strange blue and violet creatures that live at the ocean’s surface – a group I christened Norfolk Island’s ‘Elite Fleet’. Since then I’ve seen plenty of bluebottles and the occasional violet sea snail, but never a by-the-wind sailor. Until this morning. Velella velella is not a true jellyfish, but a colonial hydrozoan with a transparent sail that lets the wind help carry it across the ocean. So what exactly is this extraordinary little creature, how does it ‘sail’, and what connects it to the rest of the fleet?

September 18, 2026

In a nutshell – where I stand on the proposed Norfolk Island Marine Park

I support the proposed expansion of Norfolk Marine Park and its renaming as Norfolk Island Marine Park. There is much to welcome – strong offshore protection, no mining, and recognition of the importance of sustainable local fishing. But I also have some reservations. Why does Cascade need to be removed from the Marine Park at all? How will more than 430,000 km² actually be monitored and enforced? How do we make sure Norfolk people have a genuine role in management? And, above all, how do we ensure that the enormous new park does not draw attention away from the small, stressed reef immediately beside us?

September 13, 2026

No seagrass, but plenty of turtles

Norfolk Island does not have seagrass, although one of our most conspicuous green algae is often mistaken for it. Feather and grape Caulerpa can both form striking patches across the lagoon. I take a closer look at what Caulerpa actually is, why it is so easily confused with seagrass, and where our green turtles fit into the story.

September 6, 2026

Watching El Niño from Norfolk Island

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September 2, 2026

What the world’s reefs are telling Norfolk Island

Two major new coral reef reports carry a clear message for Norfolk Island: reefs can recover when pressures ease, but the time available for recovery is shrinking. Norfolk Islanders were raising concerns about water quality, runoff and the health of Emily and Slaughter Bays nearly forty years ago. Today we have much better science, a changing climate and a far clearer understanding of how closely the catchment and reef are connected. This article looks at what that means for water quality, long-term monitoring, dredging and how we manage Kingston from land to sea.