Ever since 1836 when the ill-fated Stirling Castle was lost there has been considerable argument as to what happened to the survivors of the wreck. Was Captain Fraser killed by natives or was he the accidental victim of a plot to murder another man? Was the convict John Graham or the convict David Bracefell responsible for the rescue of Mrs Fraser? Who killed the First Mate—natives or mutinous crew members? There was absolute evidence of cannibalism, but was it perpetrated by natives or by mutineers? Was Mrs Fraser a respectable middle-class woman or was she a hot blooded beauty given to far from discreet peccadilloes with such disparate partners as a naval officer and an escaped convict? Was she an outrageous liar making capital out of her misfortunes or was she the courageous victim of almost unbelievable circumstances?
All these questions and indeed many more have been raised in the various books and reports written about the Stirling Castle and Mrs Fraser, but to date there has been no real consensus and the most meticulous historian, on the evidence, could not arrive at a position which he could honestly say was beyond dispute.
The present version represents a major advance on any previous work because of one vitally important piece of evidence: a series of handwritten statements by a man who actually took part in the incident. The statements are by David Bracefell, the runaway convict who figures in various forms in many of the previous accounts of these events. As will be seen from the narrative Bracefell and Mrs Fraser were living in New Zealand as Captain and Mrs Green. The statements were sent to me by Mrs Jennifer Hawk-Green of Auckland New Zealand and I would like here to publicly acknowledge my indebtedness to Mrs Hawk-Green.
I have made some changes in the style of the statements; Bracefell tells his story in a robust and lively fashion but the literary forms of the time make tedious reading to modern minds and I felt it necessary to edit a little. However, I have meticulously adhered to Bracefell’s version of the events and preserved as best I could his curiously personal manner of expression.
I suggest that personal evidence of this sort by someone intimately concerned with the events must be accepted as totally reliable.
Historians will point out that a lot of this narrative is obviously derived from hearsay. With this I must agree, but from the clippings and references, and Bracefell’s comments on them, which accompanied the statements, it is obvious that Bracefell in fact did a great deal of efficient research on the subject.
I have checked all the documents quoted in the appendix with the aid of the indefatigable staff of The Mitchell Library in Sydney and there is no doubt of the validity of them all, including the two poems about which Bracefell is so scathing.
There is, of course, no doubt that Mrs Fraser did marry a Captain Alexander Green and settle with him in New Zealand. Mrs Hawk-Green informs me that the statements have been in the possession of her husband’s family since about 1860.
Kenneth Cook
Bracefell’s statements in effect begin with the poster which is reproduced here: