13 November 1838                Parsee wreck

On Tuesday 13 November 1835 the sailing ship Parsee was wrecked on Troubridge Shoal, but owing to the remoteness of habitation the news did not reach Adelaide for five days. Two passengers had managed to cross the gulf in an open boat to seek help. The ship was en route from Hobart with 60 passengers and cargo and had run aground in fair weather being some 70 miles off the proper course. All the passengers were able to get ashore to a small, sandy island, but there was no shelter as it was only covered by low scrub. The only fatality was one woman who was seriously ill and died before help reached them. Governor Gawler sent the Rapid with a doctor on board to rescue the castaways but due to headwinds it did not reach the island until a week after the disaster. This ship was only one of a number which came to grief on the reef at Troubridge before a lighthouse was installed there in 1856.

James Hawker, Early Experiences in South Australia, Facsimile edition, 1975, p.34.