Campbell Macquarie

The Campbell Macquarie was a ship wrecked near Macquarie Island in 1812.

The Campbell Macquarie was a ship of 248 tons, built at Calcutta, India and owned by Alexander & Co of Calcutta. On 22 March 1812 the ship, under the command of Richard Siddons left Sydney and arrived at Kangaroo Island, South Australia on 29 April 1812. There it took on board 1,650 seal skins and 33 tons of salt. On 21 May it left Kangaroo Island for Macquarie Island. At midnight on 10 June rocks were spotted. Tacking was not possible and so an anchor was dropped. The Campbell Macquarie struck the rocks at 1.30am and by 2am her stern post broke and water poured in. The pumps were unable to cope with the inflow and at daylight the crew began unloading the cargo, sails and rigging. Much of it was saved, only to be destroyed weeks later in a storm. On 28 June the ship was fired to salvage its ironwork.

The crew consisted of 12 Europeans and 30 Lascars, four of them who died whilst waiting for rescue. On 20 October 1812, twelve of the crew were rescued by the Perseverence that had called at the island to take on board another sealing party. The remainder were rescued some months later.