St Pauls (Moa)
Situated on Moa's north-eastern side at the base of Moa Peak, St Pauls is one of two distinct communities on the island. While Kubin, on the island's southern end, developed as a centre for displaced Torres Strait Islanders, the Queensland government gazetted the 500 acres on Moa's eastern side that subsequently became St Pauls as a reserve for the benefit of South Sea Islander people on 20 May 1908. Hugh Milman, Thursday Island's government resident, suggested that the Anglican Church, which already ran a South Sea Islanders’ Home on Thursday Island, establish a mission specifically for South Sea Islander families on the reserve land at Moa and suggested that the new mission should be named after the cathedral in London.
Earlier, tensions between South Sea Islanders and the Torres Strait Islanders in neighbouring Mabuiag caused two South Sea Islander families—the Wares and the Namok—to leave Mabuiag, move to Moa, and settle in a deserted village (Wug) on the island's eastern side. Other South Sea Islander families from Mabuiag and Saibai joined them there. Although the process had started earlier, the 1908 census reported that around thirty South Sea Islanders previously ‘scattered through the different islands' had 'taken advantage of the reserve and settled there’.
Missing links:
Moa Peak
Hugh Milman
