Thursday Island

Thursday Island has an area of about {{convert|3.5|km2|sqmi|1|abbr=off}}. The highest point on Thursday Island, standing at {{convert|104|m|ft|0|abbr=off}} above sea level, is Milman Hill, a World War II defence facility.{{Cite web |title=Milman Hill Coastal Battery |url=https://www.anzacsquare.qld.gov.au/historic-places/queensland-wwii-history-map/milman-hill-coastal-battery |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=Anzac Square & Memorial Galleries |language=en}}

While Thursday Island is within the Shire of Torres and is the administrative centre for that shire, it is also the administrative and commercial centre of the local government area of Torres Strait Island Region despite not being part of that local government area.

File:Pearling luggers at Thursday Island, 1939.jpg

The island has been populated for thousands of years by the Torres Strait Islanders, though archeological evidence on Badu, further north in Torres Strait, suggests that the area has been inhabited from before the end of the last Ice Age. The archaeology from Badu, Pulu, Saibai and Mer shows that Melanesian occupation started around 2,600 years ago (see Kalaw Lagaw Ya).{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}

In 1848 a hydrographic survey of the area was conducted by Captain Owen Stanley of the Royal Navy, the commander of HMS Rattlesnake. He named this island Friday Island and another island Thursday Island (presumably reflecting the day of the week on which he named them). However, in June 1855 Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort of the Royal Navy (the Admiralty Hydrographer) decided to switch the names around, likely to preserve the east-west naming sequence with the present-day Friday Island and the nearby Wednesday Island.

The original place of permanent European settlement in Torres Strait was Somerset, south-east of the tip of Cape York Peninsula, established in 1864. However, the channel between Albany Island and Somerset proved to be hazardous for a port and in 1875 it was jointly decided by the Queensland and British governments to transfer the port to the deep anchorage on the south side of Thursday Island. The new port was called Port Kennedy, after Edmund Kennedy, the explorer of Cape York Peninsula, and was established in 1867.{{cite web|url=http://www.queenslandplaces.com.au/thursday-island|title=Thursday Island|publisher=Centre for the Government of Queensland, University of Queensland|work=Queensland Places|access-date=19 March 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170319195930/http://www.queenslandplaces.com.au/thursday-island|archive-date=19 March 2017|df=dmy-all}}{{Cite QPN|27349|Port Kennedy|access-date=19 March 2017}} The town that developed on the island was also called Port Kennedy, but on 1 June 1962 the town was renamed Thursday Island.

In 1877, an administrative centre for the Torres Strait Islands was set up on the island by the Queensland Government and by 1883 over 200 pearling vessels were based on the island.{{cite web|url=http://www.theage.com.au/travel/travel-factsheet/thursday-island--culture-and-history-20081125-6gv4.html|title=Thursday Island - Culture and History|date=25 November 2008 |access-date=5 May 2017|via=Traveller|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140507202312/http://www.theage.com.au/travel/travel-factsheet/thursday-island--culture-and-history-20081125-6gv4.html|archive-date=7 May 2014|df=dmy-all}}

A lucrative pearling industry was founded on the island in 1884, attracting workers from around Asia, including Japan, Malaya and India, seeking their fortune.Anna Shnukal (ed.), Guy Ramsay (ed.), Yuriko Nagata (ed.), 2004: Navigating Boundaries: The Asian Diaspora in Torres Strait. Pandanus Books, Canberra. The Japanese community was in part indentured divers and boat hands who returned to Japan after a period of service and some longer term residents who were active in boat building and in the ownership of luggers for hire—which was illegal but bypassed by leases through third parties back to other Japanese, a practice called "dummying".Regina Ganter (1994). The Pearl-Shellers of Torres Strait: Resource Use, Development and Decline, 1860s-1960s. Melbourne University Press Additionally, many south Pacific Islanders worked in the industry, with some originally imported against their will, in a practice known as blackbirding. While the pearling industry has declined in importance, the mix of cultures is evident to this day. The pearling industry centred on the harvesting of pearl shell, which was used mainly to make shirt buttons. The local pearl oyster is Golden Lip Oyster, Pinctada maxima.{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}

Trochus shell was also gathered using specialized boats. Most shell was exported as the raw material—to a London-based market. Pearls themselves were rare and a bonus for the owner or crew.Farwell, George, Cape York to the Kimberleys, Rigby Limited, Adelaide, 1962, chapter 8 The boats used were very graceful two-masted luggers. In shallow water free diving was used while in deeper water diver's dress, or an abbreviated form of it, with a surface air supply was used. In good times there were three divers to a lugger, a stern diver, one midships, and one diver off the bow. A manual air compressor was used. It looked like a yard-wide cube with two large wheels mounted one on each side.{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}

For part of the fleet that operated further from Thursday Island, larger vessels, typically schooners were used as mother ships to the luggers.{{Cite journal|last=Pixley|first=N. S.|date=1972|title=Pearlers of North Australia: the romantic story of the diving fleets|url=http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/eserv/UQ:209190/s00855804_1971_1972_9_3_9.pdf|journal=Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland|volume=9|issue=3|pages=9–29|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305051315/http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/eserv/UQ:209190/s00855804_1971_1972_9_3_9.pdf|archive-date=5 March 2012|df=dmy-all}} Shell was usually opened on the mother vessels rather than on the luggers, in order to secure any pearls found. The waters of the Straits are murky and visibility was generally very poor. Even though dive depths were not great, except at the Darnley Deep (near Darnley or Erub Island), which was 40 fathoms (240 feet), attacks of the bends were common and deaths frequent.{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}

{{Clear|left}}

The Thursday Island Parish of the Roman Catholic Vicariate Apostolic of Cooktown (now the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns) was established in 1884.

On 25 August 1887, The Paterson (Cape York) Telegraph Station on the West Coast of Cape York was opened. It connected the Cape York Telegraph Line with Thursday Island, via an undersea cable.{{cite web |title=John Richard Bradford's Expedition into the Cape |url=http://penniemanderson.tripod.com/capeyorktelegraphline/id8.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170207113846/http://penniemanderson.tripod.com/capeyorktelegraphline/id8.html |archive-date=7 February 2017 |work=tripod.com |df=dmy-all}}

In the late-19th and early-20th centuries Thursday Island was a regular stop for vessels trading between the east coast of Australia and Southeast Asia. A shipping disaster to a vessel in this service occurred in 1890 when {{RMS|Quetta}} struck an uncharted reef in the Strait and sank in five minutes with the loss of over 130 lives. The Anglican Church on Thursday Island built shortly afterwards was named the Quetta All Souls Memorial Cathedral in memory of the event.Foley, J C H, 1982: Timeless Isle. Torres Strait Historical Society, Thursday Island. Today the church is called All Souls and St Bartholomew Church.{{cite QHR|16989|Quetta Memorial Precinct|602168|access-date=1 August 2014}}

Joshua Slocum (the first person to sail alone around the world) visited Thursday Island on this voyage in 1897 at the time of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. Slocum's memoir describes the Jubilee celebrations (including a corroboree) organised by Government Resident John Douglas.{{Cite book |last=Slocum |first=Joshua |url=https://archive.org/details/sailingalonearou00slocuoft |title=Sailing Alone Around the World |date=1901 |publisher=The Century Co. |location=New York |pages=203-4}}

Cyclone Mahina, which hit Bathurst Bay, southeast of Thursday Island in 1899, wrecked the pearling fleet sheltering there, with huge losses of vessels and lives.

{{Main|Green Hill Fort}}

The fear of Russian invasion as a result of the deterioration of relations between the Russian Empire and the British Empire led to a fort on Battery Point being built in 1892 to protect the island. The fort has not been in operation since 1927, but is today a heritage feature of the island.{{Cite journal|last1=Grimwade|first1=Gordon|last2=Ginn|first2=Geoff|date=2002|title=Strange bedfellows: Green Hill Fort, archaeology, and tourism|url=http://ashadocs.org/aha/20/20_04_Grimwade.pdf|journal=Australian Historical Archaeology|volume=20|pages=83–91|url-status=live|archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20110727120653/http://ashadocs.org/aha/20/20_04_Grimwade.pdf|archive-date=27 July 2011|df=dmy-all}}

File:ThursdayIsland-Customs.jpg

Local pearling declined steadily up to World War II, partly through competition from a Japanese-based fleet which did not use local resources or personnel. In the 1950s plastic buttons imitating pearl supplanted much of the demand for shell. Before the decline, pearl fishing was taken by the island-based fleet to the Aru Islands in what was then the Dutch East Indies.Wood, C.M. 1972 Pearling off the Aru Islands by Captain C.M Cowling as told to his daughter. The Dog Watch 29:47-58.

The Thursday Island Customs House opened in 1938 at 2 Victoria Parade ({{coord|-10.5848|142.2209|region:AU-QLD_type:landmark|name=Thursday Island Customs House (1938)}}).{{cite QHR|16290|Thursday Island Customs House|601527|accessdate=1 August 2014}}

During World War II, Thursday Island became the military headquarters for the Torres Strait and was a base for Australian and United States forces. January 1942 saw the evacuation of civilians from the island. Residents of Japanese origin or descent were interned. The residents did not return until after the end of the war and many ethnic Japanese were forcibly repatriated. The island was spared from bombing in World War II, due, it was thought, to it being the burial place of many Japanese pearl shell divers, or possibly the Japanese thinking there were still Japanese residents on the island. However, neighbouring Horn Island was extensively bombed. There was an airbase there, used by the Allies to attack parts of New Guinea. At the end of the war, the island tradition of a no-footwear policy was reinstated out of respect for the ancient spirits believed to reside on the island. After the war, an airline service was set up by Ansett Airlines from Cairns to TI twice a week, using de Havilland Dragon Rapides and later DC3s.{{Citation needed|date=December 2008}} Passengers disembarked on Horn Island and caught a ferry-boat over to TI, as they still do. The island was also served by a ship, the Elsana, which made the journey once a month. For a short period after the war Okinawan divers were used on the luggers but this was not a great success. {{Citation needed|date=February 2014}}

In the 1950s, the CSIRO attempted to establish cultured pearl farms, but many were devastated by disease in the 1970s. The trigger is considered by some to be the use of dispersants on the 1970 oil spill from the tanker Oceanic Grandeur.{{Cite web|title=Major Oil Spills in Australia: Oceanic Grandeur, Torres Strait, 3 March 1970|url=http://www.amsa.gov.au/marine_environment_protection/major_oil_spills_in_australia/Oceanic_Grandeur/index.asp|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328060733/http://www.amsa.gov.au/Marine_Environment_Protection/Major_Oil_Spills_in_Australia/Oceanic_Grandeur/index.asp|archive-date=28 March 2012|access-date=26 December 2021|website=Australian Maritime Safety Authority}} This industry still exists around the island today. In the 1970s, there was also an attempt to farm green turtles.

The Melanesian background of the Thursday Islanders became an issue in the 1970s, when Papua New Guinea sought to include some of the Torres Strait Islands within its borders. The Torres Strait Islanders insisted that they were Australians, however, and after considerable diplomatic discussion and political disputation between the Queensland and the Federal Governments, all of the Torres Strait islands, including Thursday Island, remained part of Australia.{{Cite web|url=http://www.mabonativetitle.com/info/border.htm|title=Mabo/The Border Problem|website=www.mabonativetitle.com|access-date=5 May 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160211164627/http://www.mabonativetitle.com/info/border.htm|archive-date=11 February 2016|df=dmy-all}}

From 1900 to 1996 the Quetta Memorial Church on the island was the cathedral church of the large Diocese of Carpentaria which included North Queensland, the Islands of the Torres Strait and, to 1968, Northern Territory.{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}

In the {{CensusAU|2021}}, the locality of Thursday Island had a population of 2,805 people.{{Census 2021 AUS|id=SAL32823|name=Thursday Island (SAL)|access-date=28 February 2023|quick=on}}

In the {{CensusAU|2016}}, the locality of Thursday Island had a population of 2,938 people.{{Census 2016 AUS|id=SSC32851|name=Thursday Island (SSC)|access-date=20 October 2018|quick=on}}

In the {{CensusAU|2011}}, the locality of Thursday Island had a population of 2,610 people.{{Census 2011 AUS|id=SSC31631|name=Thursday Island (State Suburb)|accessdate=26 July 2013|quick=on}}

File:Thursday-island-our-lady-of-the-sacred-heart-church.JPG

Thursday Island has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

• Green Hill Fort, Chester Street{{cite AHD|105419|Green Hill Fort|fn=4/06/271/0002|access-date=15 May 2019}}
• Quetta Memorial Precinct, Douglas Street{{cite QHR|16989|Quetta Memorial Precinct|602168|access-date=16 July 2013}}
• Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church, 120 Douglas Street{{cite QHR|16050|Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church|601287|access-date=16 July 2013}}
• Thursday Island Cemetery (incorporating the Japanese Cemetery and the Grave of the Hon. John Douglas), Summers Street{{cite QHR|15650|Thursday Island Cemetery (incorporating the Japanese Cemetery & the Grave of the Hon. John Douglas)|600875|access-date=16 July 2013}}
• Thursday Island Customs House, 2 Victoria Parade{{cite QHR|16290|Thursday Island Customs House|601527|access-date=16 July 2013}}

The Gab Titui Cultural Centre (2004) on Thursday Island showcases both heritage and contemporary Islander artworks.see {{cite web |url=http://www.gabtitui.com.au/ |title=Gab Titui - Gab Titui Cultural Centre – Torres Strait Culture and Art, Thursday Island |access-date=2014-02-14 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140216090631/http://www.gabtitui.com.au/ |archive-date=16 February 2014 |df=dmy-all }} Accessed 15 February 2014

Ports North operates two wharf areas in the Torres Strait, one on Thursday Island and the other on nearby Horn Island (which also has an airport). These islands serve as transport hubs to other islands in the Torres Strait.{{Cite web |title=Thursday Island |url=https://www.portsnorth.com.au/thursday-island/ |access-date=2025-06-29 |website=Ports North |language=en}}

The Island is one of the two bases for the Torres Straits Pilots, a cooperative owned and run by qualified Master Mariners who pilot ships through the Straits and down to Cairns. This is a necessary service because navigation through the area is tricky due to the extensive reef systems.{{cite web|last=Craik|first=Wendy|title=Protecting The Great Barrier Reef From an Oil Spill|url=http://www.iosc.org/papers_posters/01751.pdf|page=4|publisher=1995 Oil Spill Conference|access-date=8 October 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004213955/http://www.iosc.org/papers_posters/01751.pdf|archive-date=4 October 2013|df=dmy-all}}

The island has the area hospital and courts, is the regional centre for higher education, a centre for some research organisations and is the administrative base for the local, state and federal governments.

Banking and phones are available.{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}

Thursday Island is only in part self-sufficient for water, some being piped from the adjacent island. It has two wind turbines which generate some of its electricity requirement.{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}

The economy of the island is dependent on its role as an administrative centre and is supported by pearling and fishing, as well as a fast-developing tourism industry, with perhaps the most famous tourists being novelist Somerset Maugham and Banjo Paterson, and the most numerous being day-trippers from the cruise ships that call into the island each year.Search under "Ports visited" on http://www.cruising.com.au {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140212164816/http://www.cruising.com.au/ |date=12 February 2014 }} to see cruise ships which call at Thursday Island.

Climate data for Thursday Island was sourced from Horn Island, which is 8.7 km ENE of Thursday Island. Thursday Island has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen: Aw), with a wet season from December to April and a dry season from May to November. Temperatures remain hot year-round, with average maxima ranging from {{convert|29.0|C}} in July to {{convert|32.1|C}} in November. Average annual rainfall is {{convert|1781.2|mm|in|abbr=on}}, with a late summer maximum. Extreme temperatures have ranged from {{convert|37.9|C}} on 8 December 2002 to {{convert|15.1|C}} on 8 September 2019.{{cite web |url = https://www.farmonlineweather.com.au/climate/station.jsp?lt=site&lc=27058 |title = Horn Island Climate (1995-2024) |publisher = FarmOnline Weather |access-date = July 16, 2024 |archive-date = 16 July 2024 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240716105222/https://www.farmonlineweather.com.au/climate/station.jsp?lt=site&lc=27058 |url-status = live }}

{{Weather box

|location = Horn Island (10º34'48"S, 142º17'24"E, 4 m AMSL) (1995–2024 normals and extremes, humidity only to 2010)

|metric first = Yes

|single line = Yes

|collapsed = Yes

|Jan record high C = 36.7

|Feb record high C = 35.4

|Mar record high C = 34.8

|Apr record high C = 33.9

|May record high C = 32.2

|Jun record high C = 32.4

|Jul record high C = 31.8

|Aug record high C = 31.8

|Sep record high C = 35.8

|Oct record high C = 35.2

|Nov record high C = 35.1

|Dec record high C = 37.9

|Jan high C = 30.9

|Feb high C = 30.6

|Mar high C = 30.5

|Apr high C = 30.6

|May high C = 30.1

|Jun high C = 29.5

|Jul high C = 29.0

|Aug high C = 29.2

|Sep high C = 30.2

|Oct high C = 31.2

|Nov high C = 32.1

|Dec high C = 32.0

|Jan low C = 25.2

|Feb low C = 25.1

|Mar low C = 25.1

|Apr low C = 25.4

|May low C = 24.9

|Jun low C = 24.1

|Jul low C = 23.3

|Aug low C = 23.2

|Sep low C = 24.0

|Oct low C = 24.9

|Nov low C = 25.8

|Dec low C = 25.9

|Jan record low C = 21.5

|Feb record low C = 21.1

|Mar record low C = 21.1

|Apr record low C = 21.1

|May record low C = 17.7

|Jun record low C = 18.1

|Jul record low C = 16.0

|Aug record low C = 15.3

|Sep record low C = 15.1

|Oct record low C = 18.4

|Nov record low C = 19.9

|Dec record low C = 20.3

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 425.3

|Feb precipitation mm = 423.3

|Mar precipitation mm = 360.2

|Apr precipitation mm = 236.5

|May precipitation mm = 64.1

|Jun precipitation mm = 14.3

|Jul precipitation mm = 10.2

|Aug precipitation mm = 6.8

|Sep precipitation mm = 5.1

|Oct precipitation mm = 12.6

|Nov precipitation mm = 41.3

|Dec precipitation mm = 186.6

|year precipitation mm = 1781.2

|unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm

|Jan precipitation days = 18.5

|Feb precipitation days = 17.7

|Mar precipitation days = 17.0

|Apr precipitation days = 11.6

|May precipitation days = 6.7

|Jun precipitation days = 3.8

|Jul precipitation days = 3.3

|Aug precipitation days = 1.9

|Sep precipitation days = 0.9

|Oct precipitation days = 1.9

|Nov precipitation days = 3.1

|Dec precipitation days = 10.1

|Jan afthumidity = 75

|Feb afthumidity = 78

|Mar afthumidity = 76

|Apr afthumidity = 74

|May afthumidity = 70

|Jun afthumidity = 69

|Jul afthumidity = 65

|Aug afthumidity = 64

|Sep afthumidity = 64

|Oct afthumidity = 64

|Nov afthumidity = 66

|Dec afthumidity = 71

|Jan dew point C = 24.4

|Feb dew point C = 24.6

|Mar dew point C = 24.3

|Apr dew point C = 23.8

|May dew point C = 22.6

|Jun dew point C = 21.7

|Jul dew point C = 20.4

|Aug dew point C = 20.1

|Sep dew point C = 20.8

|Oct dew point C = 21.7

|Nov dew point C = 23.0

|Dec dew point C = 24.1

|source 1 = Bureau of Meteorology (1995–2024 normals and extremes, humidity only to 2010){{cite web

|url = http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_027058_All.shtml

|title = Horn Island Climate Statistics (1995–2024)

|publisher = Bureau of Meteorology

|access-date = July 16, 2024

|archive-date = 27 July 2019

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190727115109/http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_027058_All.shtml

|url-status = live

}}

}}

Torres Strait Creole is the dominant language spoken on Thursday Island by the Islanders, followed by Kalaw Lagaw Ya, commonly called Mabuiag (pronounced Mobyag) by many, although English is also spoken.{{cite book|url=http://www.multiculturalaustralia.edu.au/doc/shnukal_torres_strait.pdf|title=Multicultural Queensland 2001: 100 years, 100 communities, A century of contributions|year=2001|location=Brisbane|pages=6|author=Shnukal, Anna|editor=Brändle, M|access-date=8 October 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021121014/http://www.multiculturalaustralia.edu.au/doc/shnukal_torres_strait.pdf|archive-date=21 October 2012|df=dmy-all}}{{cite book|last=Beckett|first=Jeremy|title=Torres Strait Islanders : custom and colonialism|year=1987|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge [Cambridgeshire]|isbn=052133361X|edition=1. paperback}} The indigenous language is Kaiwaligau Ya, another dialect of Kalaw Lagaw Ya, otherwise known as Kowrareg, (or more correctly Kauraraigau Ya, the name used by the people in the mid to late 1800s).{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}

Thursday Island has number of services open to the community, including a sporting complex, gym, public library as well as ANZAC park and Ken Brown Oval.{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}

There is a community pharmacy, general store, butcher, bank and many other essential services.{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}

The Shire of Torres operates Ngulaig Meta Municipal public library at 121 Douglas Street.{{Cite web|url=http://plconnect.slq.qld.gov.au/networking/directory-of-public-libraries/branches/torres_shire/torres_shire_library|title=Torres Shire Library|date=13 November 2017|website=Public Libraries Connect|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129195111/http://plconnect.slq.qld.gov.au/networking/directory-of-public-libraries/branches/torres_shire/torres_shire_library|archive-date=29 January 2018|url-status=live|access-date=29 January 2018|df=dmy-all}} The current library facility opened in 2015.{{Cite web|url=http://www.plconnect.slq.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/388497/SLQ_StatsBulletin1617_20171109.pdf|title=Queensland Public Library Statistical Bulletin|date=November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180130022546/http://www.plconnect.slq.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/388497/SLQ_StatsBulletin1617_20171109.pdf|archive-date=30 January 2018|url-status=live|access-date=29 January 2018|df=dmy-all}}

Sacred Heart Catholic Church is in Douglas Street. It is within the Thursday Island Parish of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns.{{Cite web|title=Thursday Island Parish|url=http://www.cairns.catholic.org.au/parishes/thursdayisland.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201118111701/http://www.cairns.catholic.org.au/parishes/thursdayisland.html|archive-date=2020-11-18|access-date=2020-11-18|website=Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns}}

Tagai State College is a government primary and secondary (Early Childhood to Year 12) school for boys and girls that operates 17 campuses throughout the Torres Strait, including two on Thursday Island. The Thursday Island primary school campus (Early Childhood to Year 6) is at 31 Hargrave Street ({{coord|-10.5817|142.2212|type:edu_region:AU-QLD|name=Tagai State College - Thursday Island Primary Campus}}). The Thursday Island secondary school campus (7-12) is at 21 Aplin Road ({{coord|-10.5774|142.2138|type:edu_region:AU-QLD|name=Tagai State College - Thursday Island Secondary}}).{{cite web|url=https://data.qld.gov.au/dataset/state-and-non-state-school-details/resource/5b39065c-df32-415c-994c-5ff12f8de997|title=State and non-state school details|publisher=Queensland Government|date=9 July 2018|access-date=21 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121065959/https://data.qld.gov.au/dataset/state-and-non-state-school-details/resource/5b39065c-df32-415c-994c-5ff12f8de997|archive-date=21 November 2018|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.tagaisc.eq.edu.au|title=Tagai State College|access-date=21 November 2018|archive-date=30 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120830205025/http://tagaisc.eq.edu.au/|url-status=live}} In 2017, the school across all locations had a total enrolment of 1,554 students with 168 teachers (165 full-time equivalent) and 198 non-teaching staff (142 full-time equivalent). The school includes a special education program at Summers Street ({{coord|-10.5800|142.2222|type:edu_region:AU-QLD|name=Tagai State College - Special Education Program}}).

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School is a Catholic primary (Prep–6) school for boys and girls at Normanby Street ({{coord|-10.5830|142.2157|type:edu_region:AU-QLD|name=Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School}}).{{cite web|url=https://www.olsh.qld.edu.au/|title=Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School|access-date=21 November 2018|archive-date=14 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190314003152/http://www.olsh.qld.edu.au/|url-status=live}} In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 103 students with 12 teachers (9 full-time equivalent) and 13 non-teaching staff (9 full-time equivalent).{{cite web|url=http://www.acara.edu.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/school-profile-20172c7b12404c94637ead88ff00003e0139.xlsx?sfvrsn=0|title=ACARA School Profile 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122010027/http://www.acara.edu.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/school-profile-20172c7b12404c94637ead88ff00003e0139.xlsx?sfvrsn=0|archive-date=22 November 2018|url-status=live|access-date=22 November 2018}}

The Torres Strait Campus of the Tropical North Queensland TAFE Institute is located on the island next to the Tagai State College.{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}

The island was the location of the films Lovers and Luggers (1937){{cite magazine|date=4 July 2025|access-date=4 July 2025|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|magazine=Filmink|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-australian-films-lovers-and-luggers/|title=Forgotten Australian Films: Lovers and Luggers}} and King of the Coral Sea (1954).{{cite magazine|access-date=5 June 2025|date=5 June 2025|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|magazine=Filmink|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/the-lee-robinson-chips-rafferty-story-part-two-king-of-the-coral-sea/|title=The Lee Robinson-Chips Rafferty Story Part Two: King of the Coral Sea}}

Notable residents of Thursday Island include:

• Henry Gibson "Seaman" Dan, award-winning Torres Strait Islander musician.
• John Douglas, Premier of Queensland (1877–79) and Government Resident on Thursday Island (1885-1904).
• Matthew Elliott, Australian professional rugby league football coach and former player{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}
• Tiarna Ernst, professional AFLW and Western Bulldogs Premiership Player.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/the-western-bulldogs-player-who-delivers-four-babies-in-one-night-20170125-gtyjw6.html|title=The Western Bulldogs player who delivers four babies in one night|publisher=The Age|last=Lane|first=Samantha|date=28 January 2017|access-date=26 September 2019|archive-date=11 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190211162926/https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/the-western-bulldogs-player-who-delivers-four-babies-in-one-night-20170125-gtyjw6.html|url-status=live}}
• Tommy Fujii, mother-of-pearl shell diver as a boy, later businessman[http://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/people/industry/display/100071-tommy-fujii Tommy Fujii monument] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516031854/http://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/people/industry/display/100071-tommy-fujii |date=16 May 2018 }} Retrieved 6 May 2017
• Scott Harding, AFL player and American Footballer[https://web.archive.org/web/20080726185432/http://www.aflcapeyork.com.au/media.php?month=08&month_name=August&year=2007 Media releases for AFL Cape York Kickstart Pacific Toyota Crusaders]{{Fails verification|date=December 2024}}
• Elma Gada Kris, dancer, choreographer, actor, NAIDOC award winner (2019) artist of the year.{{cite web |last1=Nimmo |first1=Julie |title=NAIDOC 2019: Elma Gada Kris is the Artist of the Year |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2019/07/03/naidoc-2019-elma-gada-kris-artist-year |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190709032700/https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2019/07/03/naidoc-2019-elma-gada-kris-artist-year |archive-date=9 July 2019 |access-date=9 July 2019 |website=NITV |language=en}}
• The Mills Sisters, a group of three musical sisters, Rita and twins Cessa and Ina, who performed all over the Pacific and in Europe between the 1950 and late 1990s.{{cite news|work=The Australian|date=8 September 2001|title=Northern Delights|author=Pryor, Cathy}}
• Danny Morseu, professional basketball player{{cite web |title=Australian Olympic Committee: Danny Morseu |url=http://corporate.olympics.com.au/athlete/danny-morseu |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523064200/http://corporate.olympics.com.au/athlete/danny-morseu |archive-date=23 May 2013 |access-date=5 May 2017 |website=corporate.olympics.com.au |df=dmy-all}}
• Bernard Namok, designer of the Torres Strait Islander flag.{{Cite web |date=2015-06-03 |title=Bernard Namok |url=https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/articles/bernard-namok |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417024804/https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/articles/bernard-namok |archive-date=17 April 2019 |access-date=2019-04-17 |website=Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies |language=en |df=dmy-all}}
• Peter Ware, WAFL premiership winning footballer with Swan Districts and AFL Queensland Hall of Famer.{{Cite web |title=2023 Queensland Football Hall of Fame – Peter Ware {{!}} AFL Queensland |url=https://www.aflq.com.au/2023-queensland-football-hall-of-fame-peter-ware/ |access-date=2024-12-01 |language=en-AU |archive-date=15 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240715030649/https://www.aflq.com.au/2023-queensland-football-hall-of-fame-peter-ware/ |url-status=live }}
• Jesse Williams, born on Thursday Island in 1990, the first indigenous Australian to receive a scholarship to play American football for the Alabama Crimson Tide.{{Cite news |last=Staples |first=Andy |date=5 January 2012 |title=For BCS title game participants LSU and Alabama, two Aussies rule |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/andy_staples/01/05/lsu-alabama-aussies-rule/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111001826/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/andy_staples/01/05/lsu-alabama-aussies-rule/index.html |archive-date=11 January 2012 |access-date=31 August 2012 |publisher=SI.com}}{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/indigenous/stories/s2638596.htm|title=ABC Online Indigenous - Local Heroes - Jesse Williams|website=www.abc.net.au|access-date=5 May 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170512132721/http://www.abc.net.au/indigenous/stories/s2638596.htm|archive-date=12 May 2017|df=dmy-all}}
• Ethel May Eliza Zahel (1877–1951), teacher and public servant.{{cite web |url=http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/zahel-ethel-may-eliza-9225 |title=Zahel, Ethel May Eliza (1877–1951) |work=Australian Dictionary of Biography |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |date=1990 |first=Margaret |last=Lawrie |access-date=22 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181222173652/http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/zahel-ethel-may-eliza-9225 |archive-date=22 December 2018 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}

{{stack|{{Portal|Queensland|Islands}}}}

• List of Torres Strait Islands
• HMAS Carpentaria

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book|author=Foley, Captain John C. H.|title=Timeless Isle - An Illustrated History of Thursday Island|edition=4th|publisher=Torres Strait Historical Society|date=2003|isbn=0959266003}}

{{Sister project links | wikt=no | commons=Category:Thursday Island | b=no | n=no | q=no | s=no | v=no | voy=Thursday Island | species=no | d=no | mw=no | display=Thursday Island}}

• {{cite web |url=https://www.qld.gov.au/firstnations/cultural-awareness-heritage-arts/community-histories/community-histories-s-t/community-histories-thursday-island |title=Community history: Thursday Island (Waiben) |date=20 April 2018 |publisher=Queensland Government|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250506094730/https://www.qld.gov.au/firstnations/cultural-awareness-heritage-arts/community-histories/community-histories-s-t/community-histories-thursday-island | archive-date=2025-05-06|url-status=live}}
• [http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an4336227 Glover's 1879 watercolour of Thursday Island]
• {{cite web|url=http://queenslandplaces.com.au/thursday-island|title=Thursday Island|website=Queensland Places|publisher=Centre for the Government of Queensland, University of Queensland}}
• [https://gisservices.information.qld.gov.au/arcgis/rest/directories/historicalscans/cad_scans/cad-map-town-thursday-island-1982.jpg Town map of Thursday Island, 1982]
• [https://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/permalink/61SLQ_INST/dls06p/alma99183900521302061 Thursday Island and North Queensland photograph album], State Library of Queensland. Digitised photograph album, with photos dated between 1800 and 1900
• [https://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/permalink/61SLQ_INST/tqqf2h/alma99184075880802061 Brian Cassey Life in the Torres Strait photographs], State Library of Queensland

{{Shire of Torres}}

{{Torres Strait |state=autocollapse}}

{{Far North Queensland}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Torres Strait Islands

Category:Towns in Queensland

Category:Torres Strait Islands communities

Category:Islands of Far North Queensland

Category:Aboriginal communities in Queensland

Category:Queensland in World War II

Category:Populated places in Far North Queensland

Category:Shire of Torres

Category:Localities in Queensland