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

Torres Strait Islands The Torres Strait Islands are an archipelago 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 tot ...

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 near Cape York,

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Early life

She was born Barbara Crawford in

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

, Scotland. She emigrated with her family to

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

on the immigrant ship '' John Barry'' which reached

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

on 13 July 1837. The occupation of her father Charles Crawford was given as

tinsmith A tinsmith is a historical term for a skilled craftsperson who makes and repairs things made of tin or other light metals. The profession was also known as a tinner, tinker, tinman, or tinplate worker; whitesmith may also refer to this profe ...

Shipwreck

At the time of the shipwreck, Barbara Crawford Thompson had lived for twenty months in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

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. Oil from the bowhead whale was sometimes known as train-oil, which comes from the Dutch word ''traan'' ("tear drop"). Sperm oil, a special kind of oil used in the cavities of sperm whales, ...

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 Melanesians, Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal peoples of the res ...

. 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 A survey vessel is any type of ship or boat that is used for underwater surveys, usually to collect data for mapping or planning underwater construction or mineral extraction. It is a type of research vessel, and may be designed for the pu ...

HMS ''Rattlesnake'' at Evans Bay near Cape York, and left with the ship. The ''Rattlesnake'' 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 medical doctor and amateur artist, who belonged to ...

, 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

Thompson's 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 1830s births 1916 deaths Colony of New South Wales people 19th-century Scottish people History of Queensland Sole survivors 19th-century Scottish women