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Captain J. W. Robinson's narrative of a sealing voyage to Heard Island, 1858–60*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2009

W. E. L. H. Crowther
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Extract

[Captain James W. Robinson was born in April 1824, the son of George William Robinson, a member of the crew of the US whaler General Gates that touched at Hobartown van Diemens Land in 1819, and who left the ship and remained to settle in the colony. He began his schooling in Hobart but, in 1836, was sent to continue his education among.relatives in Providence, Rhode Island. On return to Hobart, he took up whaling and soon became one of the outstanding seamen of the port. He (and after him his son, Alfred) commanded ships of my grandfather's fleet of whalers, which included Offley. In 1858–59, Captain Robinson joined in the rush of sealing voyages to Heard Island that followed first news of the great herds there of Elephant Seal Mirounga leonina, the oil of which then commanded a high price. Robinson's voyage was difficult and dangerous; it ended in tragedy, financial loss and litigation.

Type
Articles
Information
Polar Record , Volume 15 , Issue 96 , September 1970 , pp. 301 - 316
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1970

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References

CROWTHER, W. E. L. H. 1943. A surgeon as whaleship owner. Medical Journal of Australia. Vol 1, No 25, p 549–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, J. W. [nd] [Reminiscences of Captain J. W. Robinson, 1824–1906.] 174p, typescript. [SPRI MS 882.]Google Scholar