Wednesday, Thursday and Friday Islands
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (349888)
Rockingham, Australia
April 3, 2025 10:27pm CST
I found out a bit more about Thursday Island and how it got its name. It’s one of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait about 39 kilometres (24 miles) north of Cape York Peninsula in far northern Queensland. It has an area of about 3.5 square kilometres (1.4 square miles) and the highest point is 104 metres (341 feet) above sea level.
In 1848, a Royal Navy captain, Owen Stanley named the island Friday Island and another one Thursday Island. It’s presumed these were the days of the week he was there. In 1855, Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort, also of the Royal Navy, switched the names around, preserving the east-west naming sequence with Wednesday Island and what is now Friday Island.
I wonder if all 274 islands have names.
The photo is of the Kuranda railway in Queensland.
11 people like this
11 responses
@arunima25 (89547)
• Bangalore, India
4 Apr
That's interesting. Names of days and months will not be enough to name 274 islands. It would be interesting to know if they all have names and there is some interesting stories behind them
4 people like this
@JudyEv (349888)
• Rockingham, Australia
23h
Some of them are in danger of going underwater as the sea level rises. I don't think Thursday Island is affected.
@marguicha (225754)
• Chile
4 Apr
When white people came they changed the names that the Natives had given to their places. It happened in America too.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (349888)
• Rockingham, Australia
23h
That's very true. In some places, we're starting to use the indigenous names again.
@RebeccasFarm (93253)
• United States
18h
I wonder too..that is a lot of islands.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (349888)
• Rockingham, Australia
4h
@RebeccasFarm My mother often said she wished she lived on an island. I can understand that now.
@JudyEv (349888)
• Rockingham, Australia
23h
Some are probably very tiny but possibly the locals have names for them.
@DaddyEvil (144869)
• United States
4 Apr
It's interesting that the islands have "native" names as well as the English bestowed names... Especially since place names in Australia often use the native names for them.
2 people like this
@DaddyEvil (144869)
• United States
23h
@JudyEv 
I don't blame them. I'd be upset if someone came to my home and started calling a spoon a fork... or saying there was no name for it.
I don't blame them. I'd be upset if someone came to my home and started calling a spoon a fork... or saying there was no name for it.1 person likes this
@JudyEv (349888)
• Rockingham, Australia
21h
@DaddyEvil 'Whites' can be so arrogant at times. 
1 person likes this
@terri0824 (5095)
• United States
18h
Interesting how it came about that these islands were named.
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (187098)
• United States
15h
Hmm, sounds like most of the days of the week are covered.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (349888)
• Rockingham, Australia
4h
I suppose now i'll have to go down the rabbit hole and see if the other days ARE covered.
@Beestring (15131)
• Hong Kong
4 Apr
That is an interesting way to name an island.
1 person likes this
