{{Short description|Tropical cyclone in Australia's Northern Territory}} {{Use Australian English|date=June 2020}} {{infobox weather event | image = | caption = | formed = | dissipated = }}{{infobox weather event/Effects | year = 1897 | fatalities = >28 | damage = 150000 | currency = AUD | areas = Northern Territory | refs = }}{{infobox weather event/Footer | season = }} thumb|Three men among the debris of a collapsed building after the 1897 cyclone

The '''1897 Darwin cyclone''' was a tropical cyclone that destroyed the city of Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is considered the worst cyclone to strike the Northern Territory of Australia prior to Cyclone Tracy in 1974. Prior to contemporary naming conventions, the storm became known as the "'''Great Hurricane'''".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Murphy|first1=Kevin|title=Big blow up north: A history of tropical cyclones in Australia's Northern Territory|date=1984|publisher=NT University Planning Authority|isbn=0724506608}}</ref>

==Damage== [[File:Vic Hotel 1897 cyclone damaged.jpg|thumb|right|The Victoria Hotel after the 1897 cyclone]] The cyclone hit Darwin in the evening of the 6 January 1897, peaking between 3.30am and 4.30am on 7 January. It dumped {{convert|292|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} of rain on Darwin, then known as Palmerston.<ref name="disaster">{{cite web |title=Cyclone - Darwin 1897 |url=https://www.emknowledge.org.au/resource/421/1897/cyclone---darwin-1897 |website=Australian Disaster Resilience: Knowledge Hub |date=6 January 2017 |publisher=Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience |accessdate=16 February 2019 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170106010649/https://www.emknowledge.org.au/resource/421/1897/cyclone---darwin-1897 |archivedate=6 January 2017}}</ref> It uplifted roofs, uprooted trees and telegraph poles destroying almost all of the buildings.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Price Collection |date=8 February 1897 |title=China Town |url=https://hdl.handle.net/10070/25940 |access-date=26 May 2023 |website=Territory Stories |publisher=Northern Territory Library|hdl=10070/25940 }}</ref> The only remaining structures include the historic Victoria Hotel, doctors residence, BAT House, the Commercial and E. S. & A. Banks and the Court House. These remaining structures housed scores of homeless residents after the cyclone.<ref name=terriblehurricane>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4164538 |title=Terrible Hurricane at Fort Darwin. |newspaper=Northern Territory Times and Gazette |volume=XXII |issue=1210 |location=Northern Territory, Australia |date=5 February 1897 |accessdate=4 January 2017 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

There were 28 fatalities, mostly Chinese and Aboriginal people.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article34570102 |title=The Advertiser. SATURDAY, JANUARY 9, 1897. |newspaper=The Advertiser |volume=XXXIX |issue=11928 |location=South Australia |date=9 January 1897 |accessdate=4 January 2017 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131206185 |title=Darwin's Cyclone of 40 Years Ago: Family Reunion |newspaper=The News |volume=XXVIII |issue=4,255 |location=South Australia |date=12 March 1937 |accessdate=4 January 2017 |page=10 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> One family was reported to have run from three different houses as they were destroyed around them, surviving without injury. Illness spread throughout the predominantly homeless population after the cyclone.<ref name="terriblehurricane" /> While little is known about the Aboriginal loss of life, the deaths of a couple of women who sought refuge in the Roman Catholic Church before its collapse were documented.<ref name=silentpearl>{{cite book|last1=Lamb|first1=John|title=Silent Pearl: old Japanese graves in Darwin and the history of pearling|date=2015|publisher=Self-published|isbn=9780994457301}}</ref>

The other major loss of life occurred on Darwin Harbour, with the deaths of many "coloured persons" working in the pearling industry. Of 29 vessels in the harbour at the time, 18 were wrecked, mostly pearling luggers such as the ''Flowerdale'', ''Maggie'', ''Roebuck'', ''Cleopatra'', ''Olive'', ''Florence'', ''Revenge'', ''Jack'', ''Black Jack'', ''Brisbane'' and ''Galatea''. The government steam launch and three sampans were also damaged. Many crews donated to the rebuilding efforts. The pearling fleet was quickly restored and expanded and by 1898, 55 vessels were operational.<ref name="silentpearl" />

Another building that suffered significant damage was the Darwin Public School, and the home of its schoolmistress Catherine Pett, which were largely destroyed.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=James |first1=Barbara |url=https://hdl.handle.net/10070/492231 |title=Northern Territory Dictionary of Biography |publisher=Charles Darwin University Press |year=2008 |isbn=9780980457810 |edition=Rev |location=Darwin |pages=462–464 |chapter=Catherine Petter nee Cooper (1864-1926) |hdl=10070/492231 |access-date=2025-06-12}}{{dead link|date=April 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=15 January 1897 |title=The Port Darwin Cyclone |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article207887372 |accessdate=12 June 2025 |newspaper=Evening Journal |location=South Australia |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia |volume=XXIX |issue=8167}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=15 January 1897 |title=The Port Darwin Cyclone |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article54489156 |accessdate=12 June 2025 |newspaper=South Australian Register |location=South Australia |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia |volume=LXII |issue=15,655}}</ref>

One of the people to loose their home was businesswoman Amelia Kilian and parts of her house was reported to have "blown into the sea" and her survival, alongside her children, was considered miraculous.<ref>{{cite news |date=25 January 1897 |title=Terrible Hurricane at Port Darwin. |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4164459 |accessdate=29 April 2025 |newspaper=Northern Territory Times And Gazette |location=Northern Territory, Australia |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia |volume=XXII |issue=1209}}</ref><ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last1=James |first1=Barbara |url=https://territorystories.nt.gov.au/10070/492231 |title=Northern Territory Dictionary of Biography |publisher=Charles Darwin University Press |year=2008 |isbn=9780980457810 |edition=Rev |location=Darwin |pages=320–321 |chapter=Amelia Albertina Kilian nee Gunther (1849-1927)}}</ref>

The damage is estimated to have cost over £150,000 in 1897 values.<ref name="disaster" />

==See also== * Cyclone Tracy * Cyclone Marcus

==References== {{reflist|30em}}

Category:Meteorological events in 1897 Category:1897 natural disasters Category:Tropical cyclones in the Northern Territory Category:January 1897 in Oceania Category:1897 in Australia Category:January 1897 in Australia