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 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 on 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 of Content
Seascape image with land fall point in the distance.
Physical Description
Black and white photograph.
More Information
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Collection Names
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Collecting Areas
Historical Archaeology, Images & Image Making, Leisure, Migration & Cultural Diversity, Sustainable Futures, Transport
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Acquisition Information
Transfer from Museum Archive, Museum Victoria, 13 Dec 2006
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Place & Date Depicted
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Photographer
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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. -
Format
Photograph, 8 in. x 6 in., Black & White
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Language
English
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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.".
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Classification
Water transport, Wind power - sailing vessels, Shipwreck images
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Category
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Discipline
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Type of item
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Image Dimensions - Photograph
200 mm (Width), 150 mm (Height)
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Keywords
Natural Environment, Natural Environments, Seascapes, Shipping, Shipwrecks