a cost of £43. The official opening on 1 June 1851 coincided with the twenty-second anniversary of the Colony and the opening of another lighthouse at Arthur Head. The light was visible for and had a characteristic five-second flash followed by a 55-second eclipse. The entire apparatus rotated once every two minutes. It was operated by a clockwork mechanism and the lamps consumed 3 gallons of coconut oil per week. In 1862, colza oil, and later in the century, kerosene were used as fuel. The octagonal lantern was high, and glazed with 160 panes of thick glass. The Argus reported on 31 July 1851: "The light will consist of two groups of three powerful lamps each; the whole revolving once in two minutes, and showing a flash of light of five seconds' duration every minute, with intervals of 55 seconds of darkness. The centre of the light is 197 feet above high water level, and at the height of 18-feet may be seen in clear weather at a distance of 7 leagues." The now demolished lighthouse keeper's quarters and a storeroom were constructed nearby. Thomas Carter succeeded Samuel Thomas as keeper in January 1853. The following year, on hearing that a vacancy for the keeper's position had occurred, John Duffield Senior wrote to the Colonial Secretary on 17 January asking that his son Samuel be considered. Governor Charles Fitzgerald approved Samuel Duffield's appointment as the third Rottnest lighthouse keeper the following day. Duffield, his wife and four children took up residence with an initial pay of £44 per year rising to £88 per year at his retirement in 1879 with a pension of £33 6d 8d. Duffield was the longest-serving lighthouse keeper at Rottnest. The lighthouse keeper lived an isolated existence, being required to be on duty at all hours. This would have been exacerbated by the absence until 1866 of a permanent road between the Thomson Bay settlement and the lighthouse. In 1863 the Admiralty issued its first publication of the west coast of Australia in The Australia Directory Vol. 3. The light was described as revolving and flashing for five seconds in every minute, and that it could be seen for on a clear day at an elevation of . As to signalling, The Directory stated: "On the approach of a vessel by day, the lightkeeper makes a signal to the pilot stationed at the north-east extreme of