Francis Spaight was a transport ship in the 19th century, owned by and named after a merchant based in Limerick, Ireland.
She was built in 1835 in Sunderland, UK, by G W Hall & Bros.[2] On 3 December 1835, the ship broached to off the coast of Canada in a snow storm, washing away all the provisions and fouling the water stores.
The surviving crewmen cannibalised O'Brien for three days until the 20th, when an adult crewman, Michael Behane, and another cabin boy, George Burns, became deranged from dehydration and hunger.
Francis Spaight was initially abandoned, but subsequently recovered and towed to England, where it was refitted during 1837, and reregistered on 7 January 1838.
Under Captain N. Sayers, she entered Hokianga Harbour from Sydney via the Bay of Islands prior to 28 November 1839 and departed for England about 10 January 1840.
[11] Francis Spaight broke from her anchor during a gale, and driven ashore, in Table Bay, near the Cape Of Good Hope, on 7 January 1846.