John Graham and Fraser Island

There is a map of Fraser Island on the wall in the Maryborough Library local history room. On the label it says it was donated by Don Matheson, who is a well-respected local surveyor and a nonagenarian.

On first view the map appears drawn in free hand and is fairly roughly drawn. For those who are familiar with Fraser Island, however, it is an amazingly accurate map of the Island particularly as it was drawn by someone who had no formal surveying training. That someone was John Graham.  John Graham was a convict who was sent to Australia from Ireland for stealing hemp string. 

Robert Gibbings has written a fascinating tale about John Graham.  The historical narrative called John Graham, Convict, 1824 can be found in our local history collection. In this novel which has been pieced together “from documents in the Mitchell Library, Sydney; the Public Record Office, London, as well as from Parliamentary Reports and contemporary news-papers” according to Gibbings (1957). Gibbings (1957) asserts “no event …has been mentioned without authentic evidence, and if there is any error in the story it is that of understatement”.

The narrative details John Graham’s time on Fraser Island and his interactions with Eliza Fraser after the ship she was travelling on The Stirling Castle struck a half-submerged coral islet. Other information on this event can be found here   and here. John Graham also had a lot to do with the Aborigines on Fraser Island and who called him Moilow. This name can be found on the map.

This map is one of four that were hand drawn by John Graham. They are all slightly different.  The intricate knowledge this man has of the landscape of the island belies the difficult life he had as a convict. The historical narrative is an easy and fascinating read.

Do you have any more information about John Graham and Eliza Fraser?

Tags #FraserIsland #JohnGraham #surveying #Elizafraser #StirlingCastle #Maryboroughlibrary #maps