Thomas Chaseland (c.1803 – 5 June 1869) was a New Zealand sealer, whaler and pilot. He was born in Australia on c.1803.

In Australia

His father, Thomas Chaseland senior, was a Londoner who arrived in Australia as a convict in 1792. Chaseland senior married fellow prisoner Margaret McMahon and the couple had six children. Chaseland fathered another child with an Aboriginal woman in around 1803. The infant was named Thomas and was born the year before Chaseland senior married and he was raised in the family home with his other children at Windsor. Thomas Chaseland junior went to work as a teenager at the shipyards on the nearby Hawkesbury River. In August 1815, he joined the crew of the ''Jupiter'' on a sealing voyage to the islands of

Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The strait provides the most direct waterwa ...

. He next served on the ''King George'' on a cruise to the

Marquesas Islands The Marquesas Islands (; french: Îles Marquises or ' or '; Marquesan: ' ( North Marquesan) and ' ( South Marquesan), both meaning "the land of men") are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in th ...

for a cargo of pork and

sandalwood Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus ''Santalum''. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods for us ...

in 1818.Russell, p.53. He is next recorded aboard the ''Governor Macquarie'' in 1819 bound for New Zealand and Tahiti for seal skins and sandalwood. The vessel later spent time at Kangaroo Island taking aboard a cargo of kangaroo and seal skins.

References

1803 births 1869 deaths New Zealand people in whaling Australian emigrants to New Zealand Sealers Australian expatriates in New Zealand Australian people in whaling {{NewZealand-bio-stub