History of lighthouses with demands, and to the loss of a number of ships, most notably the Dutch merchant ship Vreede in 1800 with the loss of 380 lives. After the reforms of the Lighthouse Act 1836, owners still managed to collect large dues, of which the largest were for the Smalls Lighthouse which collected £23,000 in 1852 and Trinity House was forced to spend over £1m in buying back leases, including £444,000 for the Skerries Lighthouse. The modern era of lighthouses began at the turn of the 18th century, as lighthouse construction boomed in lockstep with burgeoning levels of transatlantic commerce. Advances
Woody Island Lighthouses important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. Constructed in 1866, while not forming part of the major lighthouses constructed along the Queensland coast from the late 1860s to 1890, the Woody Island Lighthouses are significant in demonstrating Queensland's history, occupying an integral part in understanding the establishment of maritime navigational aids along the Queensland coast, and reflects the growth and development of Queensland after its separation from New South Wales. The site survives as an important illustration of the early industrial development of Queensland, and of the settlement of the Maryborough/Hervey Bay in particular, and the geographical