Barbara Crawford Thompson (1831–1912) was a Scottish woman who, as a teenaged girl, survived a shipwreck in the

Torres Strait Islands The Torres Strait Islands are a group of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait, a waterway separating far northern continental Australia's Cape York Peninsula and the island of New Guinea. They span an area of , but their total land ...

of Australia and spent five years living with the local Kaurareg people. She was possibly the sole survivor of the November 1844 wreck of the cutter ''America'', which ran onto Madjii Reef at Horn Island in

Endeavour Strait The Endeavour Strait is a strait running between the Australian mainland Cape York Peninsula and Prince of Wales Island in the extreme south of the Torres Strait, in northern Queensland, Australia. It was named in 1770 by explorer James Co ...

near Cape York,

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

Early life

She was born Barbara Crawford in Dundee, Scotland. She emigrated with her family to

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

on the immigrant ship '' John Barry'' which reached Sydney on 13 July 1837. The occupation of her father Charles Crawford was given as

tinsmith A tinsmith is a person who makes and repairs things made of tin or other light metals. The profession may sometimes also be known as a tinner, tinker, tinman, or tinplate worker; whitesmith may also refer to this profession, though the same w ...

Shipwreck

At the time of the shipwreck, Barbara Crawford Thompson had lived for twenty months in Brisbane with her lover Captain William Thompson as his ''de facto'' wife. The cutter ''America'' left

Moreton Bay Moreton Bay is a bay located on the eastern coast of Australia from central Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources. The waters of Moreton Bay are a popular destination for recreational anglers and are ...

to salvage

whale oil Whale oil is oil obtained from the blubber of whales. Whale oil from the bowhead whale was sometimes known as train oil, which comes from the Dutch word ''traan'' (" tear" or "drop"). Sperm oil, a special kind of oil obtained from the head ...

from the wreck of a whaler lost on the Bampton Shoal. Thompson is presumed to have died while trying to swim ashore after his cutter wrecked on a reef. Barbara survived and was rescued by

Torres Strait Islanders Torres Strait Islanders () are the Indigenous Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal people of the rest of Australia, they are often groupe ...

. She was taken in by one of the clan leaders (''buwai gizumabaigalai'') of the Kaurareg people who believed that Barbara was the returned spirit (''markai'') of his recently deceased daughter. Barbara lived on Prince of Wales Island (''Muralug'') for five years and was called "Gioma" or "Giom" by her adopted family.

Rescue

On 16 October 1849, Barbara/Gioma managed to make contact with the British survey ship, HMS ''Rattlesnake'', at Evans Bay near Cape York and left with the ship. The ''Rattlesnakes artist,

Oswald Walters Brierly Sir Oswald Walters Brierly (19 May 1817 – 14 December 1894), was an English marine painter from an old Cheshire family and he was born at Chester. Life He was the son of Thomas Brierly, a doctor and amateur artist, who belonged to an old ...

, made detailed notes of her stay with the Kaurareg. ''Rattlesnake'' moored back in Sydney in February 1850, and Thompson was reunited with her family. Little is known about her later life. It is believed she remarried at least once and died in 1912.

Books

The story is fictionalised in the 1947 book '' Isles of Despair'' by

Ion Idriess Ion Llewellyn Idriess (20 September 18896 June 1979) was a prolific and influential Australian author. He wrote more than 50 books over 43 years between 1927 and 1969 – an average of one book every 10 months, and twice published three books i ...

. Raymond J. Warren documents the events in the book ''Wildflower: The Barbara Crawford Thompson Story''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Barbara Shipwreck survivors 20th-century Australian women 1831 births 1916 deaths 19th-century Scottish people History of Queensland Sole survivors 19th-century Scottish women