 In 1877 this house burnt down with much of the Jardines' personal possessions.Fortunately for them, the government in that same year had decided to move its base of Torres Strait operations from Somerset to Thursday Island and approached Frank Jardine with the offer to purchase the old site at Cape York.He accepted and the Premier of Queensland, John Douglas, noted that Jardine would also be able to protect British interests in the area from the remnant Yadhaigana people who still offered resistance to colonisation.