Lt Phillip Gidley King named this beautiful bay in 1788 after George Anson, Member of Parliament and nephew of one of the Royal Navy’s most celebrated officers, Admiral of the Fleet Lord George Anson, former First Lord of the Admiralty. George Anson’s wife was the Archbishop of York’s sister and a Duke of Norfolk descendant.
In 1902, the Anson Bay cable station became a vital link in the new laid undersea telegraph cable between Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Canada and Great Britain. Strategically important in World War I and World II, the Anson Bay connection was superseded by satellite link in 2003.
The reserve's coast forest contains part of the last remaining natural stand of the endangered Norfolk Island endemic Broad-leaved Meryta (Meryta latifolia); White Terns nest on the horizontal branches of the pines and other forest trees; wedge-tailed shearwaters next in burrows along the cliffs. You might even see a green turtle in the Bay.