Grafton (ship)

Grafton was a 56-ton schooner sailing out of Sydney during the 1860s. She was wrecked in the north arm of Carnley Harbour, Auckland Island on 3 January 1864.

Grafton was hired by a business consortium of Francois Edouard Raynal, Captain Thomas Musgrave, Charles Sarpy and Musgrave's uncle for a voyage to Campbell Island and the Auckland Islands to investigate mining and sealing opportunities.

Raynal had spent 6 years at sea and then 11 years in the Australian goldfields before a mining collapse had caused him to move to Sydney to recover. He had decided to return to France when he was approached by a friend who had good grounds for believing that a mine of argentiferous tin existed in Campbell Island. The friend, a draper known as Charles Sarpy, and his business partner suggested that Raynal could survey this island and discover the mine. Even if no mine were discovered it was suggested that Raynal could take advantage of the large number of seals and hunt them for skins and oil. Raynal agreed to the proposition but on the understanding that he would not undertake the command of the vessel. Mr Sarpy's partner suggested his nephew for the command and Mr Thomas Musgrave was offered the command of the ship.

The ship left Sydney for the Campbell Islands on 12 November 1863 with a crew of five. The crew were Captain Thomas Musgrave, an English-Australian; Mr Francois Edouard Raynal from France acting as mate; Alexander McLaren (known as Alick), a Norwegian seaman who was around 28 years old; George Harris, an Englishman seaman of around 20 years old; and Henry Forgés from Portugal who was 23 and had signed on as cook.

After reaching the Auckland Islands Raynal fell very ill and was unable to complete his survey for the tin. Musgrave carried on with the search but was unable to find any trace of tin. With limited numbers of seals and an unsuccessful search for tin at Campbell Island the crew headed to Auckland Islands to hunt seals.

Grafton entered one of the sounds of the Auckland Islands on 31 December 1863. A heavy gale came on 1 January 1864 which continued into midnight of 2 January when the anchor chains parted, and the vessel struck a rocky beach and foundered.

The crew were able to get ashore and managed to salvage food, tools, navigation equipment, Raynal's gun, powder and shot and canvas as well as other material from the wreck. Despite only being provisioned for two months they survived for a year and a half on seal meat, birds, fish and water. They originally made a tent from portions of the spars and sails of the wreck before building a permanent cabin from wreck timber and stone. Raynal had experience in building huts from his time in the goldfields and guided the crew in building a solid cabin with a stone chimney, furnished with stretchers, a dining table and writing desk. However it took some time to build as the only available tools were an axe, an adze, a hammer and a gimlet. The men named the cabin "Epigwaitt" which was suggested by Musgrave as an American Indian word meaning "a dwelling by the water".

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