On 15 December 1852 the Marchioness under Captain Fowler sailed to Adelaide from Table Bay, near Cape Town.

[6] On 5 October 1853 under Captain Fowler while inward bound from the Cape of Good Hope, the Marchioness struck the Point Lonsdale Reef, Port Phillip heads.

On this journey under Captain Kreeft from Melbourne to Nelson the Marchioness sighted and talked to the barque Cordellia, which had its foremast sprung and jib boom gone.

Finding the sea getting rougher and the weather threatening worse Captain Kreef sought shelter in the Marlborough Sounds.

While heading into Queen Charlotte Sound for shelter the ship hit a submerged rock at 7 am and began taking on water.

Kreef beached the ship in the Sounds' northernmost cove on the western side to prevent her from sinking.

Shortly after this, at about 2pm, the Boomerang under Captain O'Rielly, which was also seeking shelter from the storm, found the Marchioness.

[14] On 17 May 1864 under Captain R Smith the Marchioness was wrecked on the Taranaki coast about 25 miles (40 km) south of New Plymouth.

No lives lost, which was made all the more remarkable by the fact that ship had been wrecked off shore from what was hostile territory.

Because the ship was light, having been unable to take a full load on board at New Plymouth, she had been blown closer to land than the crew had anticipated.

The sea was breaking over her, there was blinding rain, and the nearby land was occupied by hostile Māori, who were engaged in a war against the settlers.