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'Little of Eliza Fraser’s life was spent in Australia, but her name has become part of its colonised landscape. So, too, has her story. Shipwrecked off the coast of Australia in 1836, she lived for several weeks with local Aboriginal people, the Butchulla, traditional custodians and owners of the island that now bears her name. Her husband perished but Eliza survived, enduring – by her own account – abuse and drudgery before being rescued and restored to civilised society. Sensational accounts of her ordeal ensured her story a lasting place in colonial mythology, reinforced and reinvented in the twentieth century when her ‘captivity’ was made the theme of paintings by Sidney Nolan, a novel by Patrick White, and a memorable 1970s film.' (Introduction)
