After doing a great deal of pioneer church work in the Victorian Mallee, Reverend W.H. Macfarlane joined the Torres Strait Mission, whose headquarters were located on Thursday Island. For seventeen years he travelled among the islands of that region, sailing a twenty-ton mission ketch which relied solely on wind-power. His work took him into the Gulf of Carpentaria and along the east coast of Cape York Peninsula. At times on these journeys, he would be accompanied by distinguished passengers such as Captain Frank Hurley , a well-known cameraman, and the writers Ion Idress, Jack McLaren and Dora Birtles . (Source: 'In Passing', The Australian Journal, November 1948; p. 756)
