Lady Albion Tourist Launch

DESCRIPTION

NameLady Albion Tourist LaunchDescriptionThe Lady Albion tourist launch ferried people all over Lake Illawarra and to the guesthouses located on the lake foreshore.

Albert Orange had great dreams of Oak Flats becoming a holiday haven for tourists, and built an impressive guesthouse which he named Illawarra House, at Oak Flats on the lake foreshore.

Guests travelling to Lake Illawarra by steam train for their holidays would make their way from Albion Park Rail train station, to the Windang Street jetty where they were picked up in Albert’s tourist launch The Lady Albion, ferried across the lake, and dropped off at the jetty that once stood at the foot of the guesthouse.

The Captain of the Lady Albion was William Green of Albion Park Rail. The launch was registered by the Illawarra Ferry Company in 1927 and could carry up to 70 passengers.

With the advent of the Great Depression in the 1930s, a downturn in business caused Mr. Orange to sell his famous guesthouse. Remains of the original jetty can still be seen at The Esplanade, Oak Flats.

Illawarra House was dismantled by Mr. Jack Day after sale in 1936 and transported in pieces to Reddall Parade, Lake South, where it was rebuilt by the Chambers family as the California Guesthouse.
Geolocation^[1] Last edited by: Will Chittick