The 117Ha of Conservation Park has been granted to Cathryn Radclyffe for 20years to ensure ongoing maintenance and to protect the unique Cultural Heritage and Nature Conservation values of the island. The Northumberland Group of Islands of which Middle Percy is a member of, was named by Captain Cook in 1770 when he sailed up Australias East Coast. Matthew Flinders was the man responsible for naming the individual islands in the group. He anchored at Middle Percy and restocked with water in 1802. European settlers began to visit the island in the early 1850s. The first lease was granted in 1883 to three men, Smith, Joss and Mason. It was said they initially went to the island to search for gold, but failing to find any they stayed on and made a meagre incoming growing and selling vegetables to passing vessels. The lease was forefited in 1887 and was taken up by Lt.Col. Armitage who established a coffee plantation and built the first Homestead 700 feet above sea level overlooking West Bay. In 1921 the White family (originally from Yorkshire, England) moved from NZ to farm 2,000 sheep here. They rebuilt the Homestead, after replacing the Termite infested stumps of the Queenslander.After 44 years on the island the Whites sold the lease to Andrew Martin (Cathryns’ cousin) whom was visiting Australia from UK, and sailed up the Eastern coast aiming to settle in the Whitsundays. He stopped at the Island and found the Pastoral Lease was for sale in 1964. The island was still being run as a sheep farm but was no longer financially viable. Andy soon realised he could make a living off the ever expanding cruising community.Andy established gardens and orchards and experimented with different cottage industries. Andy became well known amongst the boating community and Percy Island became a popular stopover for boats crusing the Coral Coast. In 1989 Andy was joined by a young family called the Hicklings who lived and worked on the island for 12 years. Andy returned to the UK in 1996 leaving the Hicklings in charge. The island continued to thrive and prosper until sadly Andy was conned out of the Lease in 2001, and the sustainable self sufficent lifestyle was ruined by the conman. The Hicklings left their island home of 12 years, and for the next 7 years all the gardens and orchards and infastructure was ruined. Cathryn (on behalf of Andy) won the right to continue as the Custodian of the famous Island in June 2008, and has been working with friends ever since to restore the successful and sustainable island lifestyle. The original productive garden that was destroyed is now being re-established. The orchard has many mature tropical fruit trees. The world renowned ‘Percy Hilton’ A-frame (built by Andy) at West Bay, houses thousands of boating memorabilia spanning 50 years, and is registered with the Maritime Museum of Sydney. The cruising season sees thousands of visitors to West Bay, with the adventurous enjoy the 3Km walk to the Homestead. The Community wants the Island to remain as it is, being unspoiled by development. There are only 4 of us living here at present and 3 pet dogs and some chickens. We have to cull feral goats, originally introduced in the 1840′s to feed sailors, as well as the Wallabies and Kangaroos (introduced in 1970s), so we eat the goat meat and are learning to tan the skins. Italian bees were established as disease free apiary by Andy Martin, and are harvested to provide a popular island bush honey. To read more about this facinating history Jon and Liz Hickling have written a 427 page book documenting the islands story from 1770 to the present. The Book titled “The History of the Percy Isles” is available by contacting Jon and Liz via their email address rubycharlotte@hotmail.com or visit facebook.com/PercyIslandHistory