History
Evidence has been found of Polynesian settlement in the 13th and 14th centuries. This was at Sandy Bay, in a sheltered and relatively less inhospitable location, accessible to seal colonies.
On 20 March 1887, the Derry Castle, an iron barque registered in Boston, Massachusetts, ran aground off of Enderby Island nine days into its journey. The ship was en route from Geelong, Victoria to Falmouth, Cornwall and was manned by a crew of twenty-three. It carried one passenger and a cargo of wheat. The Derry Castle was owned by P. Richardson & Co. and was under the command of Captain J. Goffe. The surviving members of the Derry Castle crew found a castaway depot at Sandy Bay on Enderby Island. They proceeded to construct some further crude shelters around this depot. On a cliff overlooking the water, they buried the bodies of their fellow crew members that had washed ashore. The grave was marked with the ship's figurehead.
After 192 days the Derry Castle was officially posted as missing by Lloyd's of London. On 21 September 1887, a 45 ton steamer, the Awarua, arrived in Hobson's Bay, Victoria, returning from an illegal sealing expedition in the Auckland Islands. On board the Awarua were the remaining eight survivors from the Derry Castle.
The Derry Castle grave site was maintained for many years by the New Zealand government until it sank into the ground. However, during World War II, the figurehead was resurrected by coastwatchers stationed on the islands in the Cape Expedition programme. The figurehead can now be viewed (along with other items from the wreck) at the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch. In its place, a tombstone now marks the site of the sailors' graves.
Read more about this topic: Enderby Island
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