Fairy Queen

The Fairy Queen was wrecked at North West Cape, Exmouth Gulf on 8 October 1875. The boats were launched and the survivors travelled for two days before reaching the cutter Swan at Mary Ann Patch. To make room for the Fairy Queen survivors, a number of Aboriginals on the Swan were taken to another vessel, the Albert. These Aboriginals were from the Gascoyne region and had been taken aboard to work as divers. It seems that some of the Aboriginals attacked the seamen on the Albert, including some from the Fairy Queen. Two of the Aboriginals, Nirba and Ballemerda were injured and then tied up by the white crew and put into the hold. They died in captivity soon after, early ‘death in custody’ victims, and an inquiry into the incident was carried out. It concluded that the deaths were a result of self defence by the white crew.