Castaway on the Auckland Isles: A Narrative of the Wreck of the “Grafton” (1865)

Castaway on the Auckland Isles: a Narrative of the Wreck of the “Grafton,” from the private journals of Capt. Thos. Musgrave, with a map, and some account of the Aucklands (edited by John J. Schillinglaw); 1865; H.T. Dwight, Melbourne

Captain Thomas Musgrave FRGS (10 May 1832 – 7 November 1891) was a British and Australian ship’s captain and lighthouse keeper. Musgrave’s final voyage as a ship’s captain began in 1863 on the “Grafton”, leaving Sydney on 12 November on a prospecting and sealing expedition to Campbell Island and the Auckland Islands south of New Zealand. The ship was wrecked in Carnley Harbour, Auckland Island, at the beginning of January 1864, and the ship’s company of five people were stranded until they were able to refashion the ship’s dinghy, with three of them, including Musgrave, sailing it 400 km to Stewart Island in July 1865 to obtain rescue. He subsequently wrote a book – Castaway on the Auckland Isles – about his experiences.

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