Skip to main content
Advanced Search
Narrative of a voyage to the south seas, and the shipwreck of the PRINCESS OF WALES cutter with an account of two years on an uninhabited island
Narrative of a voyage to the south seas, and the shipwreck of the PRINCESS OF WALES cutter with an account of two years on an uninhabited island

Narrative of a voyage to the south seas, and the shipwreck of the PRINCESS OF WALES cutter with an account of two years on an uninhabited island

Maker
Date1852
Object number00019551
NameBook
MediumPaper, ink, card, cotton, gilt
DimensionsOverall: 812 x 115 x 21 mm, 0.25 kg
ClassificationsBooks and journals
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionA book by Charles Medyett Goodridge titled 'Narrative of a voyage to the south seas, and the shipwreck of the PRINCESS OF WALES Cutter with an account of two years on an uninhabited island'. Exeter, England. 1852. Goodridge had signed on to a sealing expedition on the PRINCESS OF WALES and after stopping at Madeira, the Canary Islands, and the Cape Verde Islands, the ship was wrecked on one of the Crozet Islands. The crew that survived lived off the land and attempted to build a boat but were rescued before they finished by the American ship PHILO. After an altercation with the captain, most of the shipwrecked crew asked to be put ashore on St. Paul Island. They were picked up again nearly three months later and taken to Tasmania, where Goodridge lived before he returned to England after 11 years away. HistoryCharles Goodridge first published his 'Narrative of a Voyage in the South Seas' in 1837. It proved popular and several later editions followed. Goodridge was born at Paignton on 22 May, 1796. At the age of thirteen he hired himself as cabin-boy on board the LORD COCHRANE, an armed brig, stationed off Torquay to protect the fishing craft from French cruisers. From that time till 1820 he was continually at sea; in that year, on 1 May, he joined the PRINCESS OF WALES, a cutter, bound for the South Seas after oil, fins, seal-skins, and ambergris. Captain Veale was the commander and there were in addition a first mate, three boys and ten mariners. In mid-March the following year, the PRINCESS OF WALES was collecting seal skins at the Crozets, a group of five islands in the South Pacific Ocean. After a gale blew through, the vessel was wrecked but with no loss of life. The survivors at this early stage were on separate islands but were reunited on the 13 December. Over the next two years the men survived on elephant seals, eggs and a type of boiled native cabbage. Although it took the efforts of all men to survive, they managed to construct a vessel with the aim of launching some of them to sail and find help. Before they could set sail however, the small craft was destroyed and they were left to wait for assistance. After nearly two years, in January 1823, help arrived when crew from a passing American sealer, the PHILO came ashore after noticing the survivors smoke signals. The captain, Perceval, took the survivors aboard and Goodridge, after one year, ten months, and five days marooned, were rescued. As Goodridge's story continues his trials do also, after being treated harshly by Captain Percival, another period of survival on an island follows. From here Goodridge ends up in Tasmania where he remains until 1831 when he finally returns to his village Paignton in England. SignificanceThis story by Charles Goodridge is not just an adventure tale, but highlights many of the hazards of a mariner’s life at this time. The pressure in the sealing industry for quotas and the harsh environments encountered to achieve these.