Known to Aborigines as Warruwi, Goulburn Island is off the northern coast. It was P.P. King who discovered it in 1818 whilst he was continuing the work of Matthew Flinders in mapping the northern coastline. Finders had ceased with this task in 1803.

It was surveyed earlier this century and the Methodists decided to set up a mission there. It was established in 1916 by the Reverend James Watson and Mr. A.E. Lawrence. Well before their arrival it had been a spot which the Macassans had visited in search of trepang. Later, a European, McPherson, used the island as a base for his trepang trade. He died prior to the arrival of the missionaries.

A school and some mission houses were built before Watson left the island due to ill health, just one year after he had arrived.

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