Moreton Island is the largest locality on the island Moreton Island within the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Moreton Island had a population of 180 people.
The locality name of Moreton Island takes its name from the island of the same name, which was named by Lieutenant Matthew Flinders of HM Colonial Sloop Norfolk on 28 July 1799, taking its name from Moreton Bay. The bay was named by Lieutenant James Cook of HMS Endeavour in 1770 after James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton, who was President of the Royal Society and was influential in obtaining the grant that enables Cook's voyage. The misspelling of the name Morton as Moreton occurred in the published records of the voyage.
With increasing amounts of shipping coming into Moreton Bay during the 1840s, the New South Wales Government decided to build a lighthouse on the north-east corner of the island (Cape Moreton). It was designed by architect Edmund Blacket in 1854 and completed in 1857. The Cape Moreton Lighthouse is the oldest lighthouse in Queensland and the only one built prior to the Separation of Queensland and the establishment of the Queensland Government in 1859. It is also the only lighthouse in Queensland built from stone. It is still operational.
Moreton Island State School opened circa 1876, being renamed Bulwer State School in 1878. In 1891, it was downgraded to Bulwer Provisional School, but by 1895 was Bulwer State School again. When the pilot station families were relocated in 1909, the school was closed.
Cape Moreton Provisional School opened on 28 August 1876 but closed in 1884. It reopened on 15 February 1886 and permanently closed in December 1925.
In the 2016 census, Moreton Island had a population of 243 people.
In the 2021 census, Moreton Island had a population of 180 people.
History info courtesy of Wikipedia
