Early European History:

Dirk Hartog has a unique place within Australia's European history, as it is the site of the first recorded European landing on Australian soil.

Captain Dirk Hartog arrived on the "Eendracht" on October the 25th 1616 and announced his arrival by nailing an inscribed pewter plate to a wooden post at the site now known as Cape Inscription.
The plate, when translated, read:

"1616. On the 25th October the ship Eendracht of Amsterdam arrived here. Upper merchant Gilles Miebais of Luick (Liege); skipper Dirck Hatichs (Dirk Hartog) of Amsterdam. On the 27th ditto we sail for Bantum. Under merchant Jan Stins; upper steerman Pieter Doores of Bil (Brielle). In the year 1616."

In 1697 Flemish Captain William de Vlamingh landed at Cape Inscription and found Dirk Hartog's plate, though the plate was badly weathered and the post had almost rotted away. Vlamingh copied the record on to another plate, added his own record and nailed the plate to a new post that he erected.

Vlamingh's plate contained Hartog's original text then his own added text, which when translated read;

"1697 The 4th February is here arrived the ship The Geelvinck for Amsterdam. The Commodore and Skipper William De Vlamingh of Vlielandt, Assistant Joannes Bremer of Copenhagen Upper Steersman Michil Bloem of The Bishopric of Bremen The Hooker The Nyptangh Skipper Gerrit Colaart of Amsterdam Assit Theodoris Heirmans Ditto Upper Steersman Gerrit Geritson of Bremen The Galliot The Weeseltie Commander Cornelis De Vlamingh of Vlielandt Steerman Coert Gerritsenof Bremen Sailed from Here with our fleet the also The Southland Further to Explore and Bound for Batavia."

In August 1699 Captain William Dampier anchored and surveyed the northern end of Dirk Hartog Island. He spent 9 days in the Shark Bay area before sailing north around North West Cape.

In 1801 Captain Hamelin on the Naturalist, a ship from a French expedition, entered Shark Bay and a party was sent ashore. By chance the party found the memorial of Dirk Hartog's previous visit, though the plate was almost buried in the sand. When the party returned the plate to the ship, Hamelin ordered it to be returned, considering it somewhat sacrilegious to have removed it. One of Hamelin's officers, Louis de Freycinet, felt that this action was inappropriate and that such a trophy should be taken and returned to Europe.

commemorative plate located at Dampier's Landing

In 1818 Freycinet returned to Shark Bay, in command of his own vessel, and was able to find the plate still in place at Cape Inscription. He removed the plate and returned it to Europe where it was presented to the French Academy in Paris.

The Vlamingh plate then disappeared for more than a century until it was rediscovered in 1940 on the bottom shelf of a small room mixed up with old copper engraving plates.

In March 1772 French captain Alesne de St Allouran landed on the Island and unlike his predecessors he laid claim to the Island in the name of the French king. As proof of his presence he buried a parchment and two French coins nearby which lay undiscovered until 1998 when an expedition headed by Philip Goddard rediscovered one of the coins at the top of the cliffs overlooking Turtle Bay at the Island's north. Pieces of glass were also found and are believed to be part of the wine bottle in which the coin was originally inserted. The second coin and the parchment have not yet been found.

Recent History:

In the early 1800's the island's most significant industries were guano mining and pearling.
Guano, bird excrement, is a substance rich in phosphate and was able to make crops grow in previously barren fields. There was an enormous demand for fertilizers in both Europe and Australia and the remains of several sites on the Island are worthy of heritage or historic listing. These remains include stone ruins of both accommodation and landing facilities.
Pearling came to the Shark bay region in the 1800's and the Island's coast supported several pearling camps including one at Notch Point, on the Island's east coast and at Homestead Bay.

In 1908 construction began on the Cape Inscription lighthouse, two quarters for the lighthouse keepers, a storehouse, oil store and stables with construction being completed in 1910.

A jetty and tramway were also subsequently built in order to facilitate the delivery of goods to the lighthouse. The freight was hauled up the cliffs on the tramway by a horse-operated winch.

The Cape Inscription lighthouse is still functional and the remains of the lighthouse keepers quarters can also be seen.

Pastoral History:

In 1867 one Von Bibra applied for a pastoral lease on the island to farm sheep and in early 1869 the lease was granted and the first sheep were transported to Dirk Hartog Island.

A homestead was built in 1869, along with a 5 stand shearing shed and 5 bedroom shearing quarters. By mid 1920's the Island's sheep numbers had increased to approx 26,000 and the island was shipping over 450 bails of wool direct to England.

In 1968 the government decided to sell the island to the highest bidder and Sir Thomas Wardle suggested that the Court government should purchase the Island for its history and natural beauty. This suggestion was rejected and Sir Thomas decided to purchase                                                                                                         the island's pastoral lease for himself.

Dirk Hartog Island became a private retreat for Sir Thomas and Lady Wardle. They rebuilt the Shearer's kitchen and spent much of Western Australia's winter months on the Island. The number of sheep on the Island was reduced to 6,000 and the top half of the island was shut down.
In the early 1990's the price of wool declined dramatically and in 1994 Dirk Hartog Island took its first steps into tourism.

Tourism History:

In 1993 Kieran Wardle, the grandson of Sir Thomas Wardle, took over the island and began a new page in the Island's history - tourism.
Dirk Hartog Island has always been known for its amazing scenery and fishing locations but until Kieran took over, few people had had the opportunity to experience the Island first hand.

Over the years Kieran, with the help of partner Tory, has managed to turn Dirk Hartog Island into one of Australia's premier eco tourism destinations.

In April of 2003 Kieran and Tory welcomed their first-born child, William Thomas to theisland. Three years later, inMay 2006,   their second son, Oliver Richard was born. Kieran and Tory stay on the island from March to October and enjoy seeing their kids grow up n such a stunning environment.

In the following years Dirk Hartog Island will be involved in the governmental program and will become a natural reserve. The government is planning to relocate native animals and plants to transform the island to its original status.

Who is Dirk Hartog?

Not much is know about the man who gives his name to Dirk Hartog Island but what is known is that he was born in 1580 to a Dutch sea faring family and probably went to sea at an early age. In 1610 he commanded his first ship and in 1611 he bought his own vessel and over the following 5 years made numerous successful trading voyages to Baltic and Mediterranean ports.

Hartog joined the United East India Company (V.O.C) in 1615 and was appointed master of the Eendracht for a voyage to Java. The Eendracht left the port of Texel in January 1616 with several other V.O.C ships but arrived at the Cape of Good Hope alone after becoming separated from the other ships during a storm. Hartog sailed on following the south east route set out by V.O.C picking up the 'roaring forties' and was most surprised when on the 25th October 1616 he sighted land at approx 26 degrees south latitude.

After leaving the island that now carries his name, which he considered to hold nothing of significant value or interest, the Eendracht sailed northwards accurately charting the coastline of Western Australia to 22 degrees south. Hartog then continued to Bantam arriving in December 1616 - five months after he was scheduled to arrive.

Upon his return to Amsterdam in 1617 Hartog resigned from the V.O.C and returned to private trading, making numerous successful voyages to the Baltic.

Dirk Hartog died in 1621 aged 41 years.