Eleanor Johnstone
A bark-carrying schooner from the Genoa River that went ashore at Gabo Island in a westerly gale. She had stranded twice before.
The story
The Eleanor Johnstone was carrying bark from the Genoa River to Melbourne under Captain Dawson, owned by Captain Henry Francis.
She missed stays while trying to anchor and went ashore in a westerly gale, becoming a total wreck according to the lighthouse keeper’s report. All the crew were saved.
The record says she had stranded twice before, in April 1874 and March 1879, and was refloated both times. The master was censured by the Steam Navigation Board.
Archive photographs for this wreck are being gathered and will be added here.
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More wrecks on this coast
Matilda
A Tasmanian schooner sent to Gabo Island for guano in 1848. Reports agree she was blown ashore but disagree on whether it happened at Gabo or on Babel Island.
1852Mary Wilson
A wine-laden brig from Portugal to Sydney that sheltered at Gabo Island and was driven ashore, one of the earliest recorded losses at the island.
1856Phoebe
A schooner damaged in a storm that sheltered in Gabo Harbour in 1856 and was blown ashore by a northerly gale. Everyone aboard survived.
16 December 1859Margaret Nicol
A coal schooner damaged in a gale and lost at Gabo Island in 1859. The crew spent two days on the island before the steamer Wonga Wonga took them off.