A person who lives on the Bass Strait Islands, in particular a seal-hunter of the 19th century.
Captain Stokes quotes as his authority for the statement the straitsmen living on the islands
Example sentencesExamples
An old Straitsman who had for years been wandering all about them, hunting seals and mutton birds.
The direct descendants of Straitsmen and their aboriginal wives now practise the harvest of short-tailed shearwater chicks.
Bass Strait is obstructed by a great number of islands, now partly inhabited by the strange population of straitsmen, former convicts, or criminals, who subsist by fishing, seal hunting, and the capture of birds' eggs.
Mystery surrounds the death of a straitsman, as well as his family connections and descendants, who are interested in the treasure.
In his report to the lieutenant-governor, Power commented favourably on the character of the Straitsmen and their society.
Were the Straitsmen the discoverers of Kangaroo Island?
One straitsman, Thompson, went so far as to visit the native camp and warn them of Tucker's mood.
For 30 years after his visit, the island was left to the Straitsmen, a renegade band of sealers and whalers who took aboriginal wives.