James Clark was an English gentleman, and had no fear of hard work, or love of bureaucracy. When he made a place for himself and his family, in 1902, behind the beach which now bears his name, he spent a dollar wisely and procured a Miners Right. He presented his wife with a wedding band of gold he mined from the beach, and this precious heirloom has been passed down the generations.

When the newly-formed Council wanted James Clark, his family and his neighbours moved, he refused to go, and the Council took him to Court, in 1914. The judge listened to Council’s representatives, then asked Mr Clark what he had to say. He drew from his pocket the Miners Right, with a “Just this Your Honour”. The judge looked at it and said, the place is yours, go home. He was entitled by the Right to settle a quarter acre of unoccupied Crown Land, and there was nothing Council could do about it. The Miners Right remained in force until 1975.