A brief inquiry in the South Coast Register led to the unearthing of the story of Alexander Carbis, possibly the first white settler at Currarong in the late 19th century.
The son of Edwin and Frances Carbis, Alex was born in the Sydney suburb of Dawes Point in 1870.
He was in his 20s when he settled at Currarong, and was perhaps the last person in the district to work as a gumgetter, harvesting sap from the grass trees that once grew in abundance.
His shack was said to have been built from remnants of the steamship Plutus that ran aground at Warrain Beach in December 1882.
He regularly travelled between Currarong and Greenwell Point, rowing in an 8-ft 6-in boat.
In the early 20th century Carbis planted a Moreton Bay Fig and it has survived to the present day, near the Summerhouse (rotunda).
He was mentioned in the Abraham's Bosom Times, a daily journal written by Frank Young who was one of a group of Wollongong men who camped in the area for a decade on either side of World War I.
When they arrived for their fortnight's holiday each Easter, Carbis was always there to greet them.
He had great rapport with the visitors, and the April 1921 journal suggested:
"To any small party which desires a decent holiday at Currarong, we would say, write to Alex Carbis c/o Moroney Bros., Nowra [bus proprietors], and you will be put up and guaranteed a good time. Alex's little house at Currarong is a haven to 'wet' fishermen."
Carbis worked on occasions at the Point Perpendicular Lighthouse, the remuneration being a princely 8/6 per day.
This may have led to him being involved in the dramatic rescue of a daughter of the resident lighthouse keeper who had fallen from the cliffs, the hero being former steeplejack Tom Shallcross.
After his shack was destroyed by fire in 1925, Carbis moved to Terara to work on Dick Solway's market garden.
There he met and married Rose Solway, and before the end of the '20s their sons John Alexander and Walter Frederick were born at Nowra.
The family then moved to Comerong Island where Alex was ferry master until 1935, and he then went to nearby Appletree Orchard Island to grow oysters and hire fishing boats.
His sons who both worked for the ambulance service in the Shoalhaven for a number of years, now live in retirement, Jack at Tuncurry and Walter at Wollongbar.
Authors of A Little Currarong History, Max and Robyn Uren decided to place a plaque on the old Moreton Bay Fig, acknowledging it as the Alexander Carbis Tree.
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