The Auckland Islands are an outlying island group of New Zealand. It consists of six islands and several islets, with Auckland Island as the largest,
rising to about 2,000 feet with a steep east coast which contains Carney Harbour and
Port Ross. Abraham Bristow named the islands in 1806 after William Eden, the 1st baron of Auckland.1
A sealing station was set up on the islands shortly after Bristow's arrival. By 1812, so many seals were killed that the islands lost their draw and became uninhabited.
In the mid 19th century a few different groups attempted to settle on the Auckland
Islands, which included the Maori in 1842, and Charles Enderby's colony in 1849.2 Enderby's established colony at Port Ross, named “Hardwicke,” attracted approximately
200 people to settle. But by the 1850s both the Maori and Enderby abandoned the islands as the climate was too harsh -- making for poor conditions
and an impossibility to survive. Additionally, Enderby's goal of setting up a whaling business was not fulfilled.3
The Auckland Islands were included in the New Zealand boundary in 1863 but remain uninhabited. The islands are now infamously known for the failed settlements
and for being a hub for shipwrecks and castaways.4