 About 1895 Fearnley secured the Adelaide Steamship Company's new Cairns agency.Initially he rented wharf facilities, but erected a substantial new wharf and offices past the terminus of Wharf Street at Lake Street, on Special Lease No.546.By 1905, JG Fearnley was one of the four principal wharf owners in Cairns, the others being Burns, Philp & Co., Walsh & Co., and Howard Smith Co. Ltd.