Photograph - Cataraqui Shipwreck Site, King Island, 1887

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Scene of the Loss of the Emigrant Ship 'Cataraqui' August 1845 West Coast - Cataraqui Point in the distance

Summary:: This photograph of a seascape shows the site of the Cataraqui shipwreck, one of Australia's worst civil disasters. The ship Cataraqui, carrying migrants from England bound for Melbourne, went aground here with the loss of nearly 400 lives in August 1845. You can see Cataraqui Point headland is in the distance. This image is one of thirty-two black and white photographs in an album [two are loose] taken by A J Campbell during a Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria expedition to King Island in November 1887. The album also includes maps of King Island in the inside front cover and back page and numerous newspaper clippings relating to the expedition. One of the newspaper clippings, written by one of the members of the party, documents the mission of the expedition thus: 'It is our intention, before the introduction of numerous foreign plants and animals rendered it impossible to do so, to ascertain as precisely as we could in the short time at our disposal the fauna and flora indigenous to the island.'
Description:: Black and white photograph
Description Of Content:: Seascape image with land fall point in the distance.
Acquisition Information:: Transfer from Museum Victoria Museum Archive, 2006

Discipline:	Technology
Dimensions:	150 mm (Height), 200 mm (Width)

More information

Tagged with:	natural environment, natural environments, seascapes, shipping, shipwrecks
Themes this item is part of:	The Field Naturalist Trip to King Island, 1887, Field Naturalists Exploration to King Island, 1887, Field Naturalists Explorations Party to King Island, 1889, Archibald James Campbell, Naturalist (1853-1929), A.J. Campbell Collection, Images & Image Making Collection, Leisure Collection, Migration Collection, Sustainable Futures Collection, Transport Collection, Field Naturalists Club of Victoria
Primary Classification:	WATER TRANSPORT
Secondary Classification:	Wind Power - Sailing Vessels
Tertiary Classification:	shipwreck images
Original Caption:	Scene of the Loss of the Emigrant Ship 'Cataraqui' August 1845 West Coast - Cataraqui Point in the distance
Inscriptions:	Handwritten title in black ink on backing board below the photograph: "Scene of the Loss of the Emigrant Ship 'Cataraqui' August 1945 West Coast - Cataraqui Point in the distance.". Handwritten MV catalogue reference in black pencil lower right: "MM 091254".
Organisations Depicted:	Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria
Format:	Photograph: Black & White; 8 in. x 6 in.
Place & Date Depicted:	King Island, Bass Strait, Tasmania, Australia, 1887
Photographer:	Archibald Campbell, Australia, 1887
Organiser of Expedition:	Field Naturalists Club of Victoria, Tasmania, Australia, 1887 Information ascertained from newspaper reports of the day preserved with the photograph in the album.