David Howie

David Howie rescued survivors of the Cataraqui shipwreck on King Island, Bass Strait in 1845.

Howie, a former convict who was on the island to barter animal skins from Aboriginal inhabitants, discovered the survivors after noticing wreckage in the water. He provided shelter and provisions to the survivors, but because his own boat was wrecked he had no means of helping them to leave the island.

Five weeks later, on 7 September, a passing vessel, the Midge, rescued the group and took them to Melbourne.