Tribute to Elizabeth Farr 1794 - 1810

The ghosting of a wreck 

a glimpse of a figurehead kissing the wind

losing oneself to the sea.

The life of a little nobody.

Elizabeth Farr of Irish descent was born in Port Jackson (Later to become Sydney) 1794 - and died Campbell Island 1810. At age 2 she was shipped along with other convict orphans to Norfolk Island’s notoriously cruel penal colony. Elizabeth spent her childhood in the orphanage until she was taken as a ‘Ship Girl’ for ‘comfort’ by Captain Frederic Hasselburg who sailed to the Sub Antarctic Islands on the Perseverance  in search of sealing and whaling prospects. Hasselburg made the European discovery of Motu Ihupuku / Campbell Island in 1810. 

A recent trip to the Sub Antarctic Island has ignited an interest in the historical stories of early explorers, sealers, and whalers to the area. Particularly the experiences of women who went down there. The ship wreck era and the early navigation of the Sub Antarctic islands is full of adventure and woe. 

Figureheads adorned the bow of sailing ships of the time, thought to guide safe passage across the sea. 

Elizabeth's short life is a reminder for us to learn from the wrongs of the past, in particular for women and girls. I think upon the paths of sailors and migration and ponder how much has changed and if humanity has evolved. I think of slavery today and the millions who seek refuge, finding themselves trapped. 

Migration and the free paths of birds unrestricted by boundary. 

Imagine young Elizabeth on that ship in her dresses, at the mercy of her surroundings in a lonely wild and male world. Of flowing fabric from sails and skirts and the wind whipping upon the sea, and about drowning, once known as ‘the New Zealand death’ for its prevalence. 

Elizabeth drowned aged 16 along with Captain Hasselburg and a young sailor George Allwright aged 12 or 13 in Perseverance Harbour, Campbell Island when their Jollyboat was caught in a williwar - a sudden gust of violent wind blowing across the sea. Elizabeth’s was the only body to be recovered from the water and she is buried on the Island, her body perhaps the southernmost burial. 

A romanticized story “The Lady of the Heather” by Will Lawson (1945) rumored a young woman abandoned on Campbell Island. Thought to be the illegitimate daughter of Bonnie Prince Charlie and his mistress Clementina Willeinshaw. The lassie was supposedly exiled to the ends of the earth because she was a Jacobite spy. The fictionalization of this history is more widely known than the real story of Elizabeth Farr’s life. 

Remember a little nobody and those who have no choice in the path they take.