Fraser, Eliza
Date 2006/2/26 10:24:54 | Topic: Scottish
| Eliza Fraser, a Scottish woman whose ship was shipwrecked on the Queensland, Australia, coast on May 22, 1836, and who was captured by Aborigines. Fraser Island is named after her.
She was the wife of Captain James Fraser, the captain of the ship Stirling Castle. There were 18 people aboard the ship. They struck a reef which was hundreds of kilometres north of Fraser Island. They then launched a boat and landed at Waddy Point on Fraser Island. She was captured by Aborigines and her husband was killed (either from starvation or was killed by an aboriginal because he was unable to carry wood). They were stripped of their clothing.
She was found by John Graham, an escaped convict who had lived for six years with the Aborigines, and is said to have gone naked to get the confidence of the Aborigines. Eliza later married another sea captain and went back to England. A sensationalised account of the incident was sold in London.
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