21[Cairns, Lynne and Henderson, Graeme, Nedlands, WA, Unfinished Voyages: Western Australian Shipwrecks 1881-1900, 1995, pages 89-95, University of Western Australia Press]

Annie Taylor, Charity, Cocoa Nut, Dairy Maid, Dart, Dawn, Derby, Edith, Eloise, Ethel, Faith, Florence, Harriet, John S. Lane, Le Grand, Lord Loftus, Maggie, Mary Ann, Mavis, Myra, Osprey, Pearl, Ranger, Rose, Rover, Sree Pas Sair, Telephone, Theresa, Two Unidentified Luggers, 'Japanese Boat', Uno, Victoria and Zela

In April 1887, the pearling fleet operating off the north-west coast of Western Australia was struck by one of the most damaging cyclones on record. The majority of the pearling craft were working in the vicinity of Eighty Mile Beach, about 290 kilometres east of Cossack, when the area was lashed by strong easterly gales on Friday 22 April.[1] The fleet was devastated, with at least twenty vessels being lost and some fourteen others suffering damage.

The scattering of the fleet made it very difficult to assess what damage had been done, and an early report, published on 30 April in the Victorian Express, describes the disaster as a 'catastrophe which threatens to surpass in every respect any other similar event in Australian annals'. Though the article goes on to explain the impossibility of estimating the loss of life and property, estimates of 400 to 5OO lives and over thirty vessels lost are promptly supplied.[2] There was, however, a great amount of confusion, which cannot be blamed on the press, and it was probably exacerbated by the fact that luggers appear not to have always been referred to locally by their correct names. In any case, these could easily be distorted by telegraphic errors. There was also some confusion over the ownership of craft, particularly in the case of partnerships, and some transactions were not officially recorded. A number of vessels reported missing or lost were later found to be safe, and the extent of damage was in several cases exaggerated. The Annie Taylor, for instance, which was actually only dismasted and knocked about[3], was reported to have gone to pieces.[4] Several other vessels reported to be safe were also slightly damaged, some being dismasted. To avoid confusion, these have not been listed here.

The first report of the disaster appears to have been brought to Cossack by the SS Australind, which had arrived at Cape Gourdon on 25 April, to find forty-eight of the pearling fleet there, many of them in a damaged state. On the way to Cossack, the steamer encountered the Eloise, which had lost its foremast, and took in tow the schooner Sree Pas Sair, which had been dismasted and was attempting to reach the port under jury masts. The Sree Pas Sair had previously encountered several distressed luggers to which supplies had been given[5], and the schooner's master, Captain J. J. Haynes, appears to have been the source of the somewhat exaggerated early reports, declaring that eleven schooners and twenty-six luggers had been sunk. Some exaggeration is perhaps understandable in the circumstances. The experience must have been extremely alarming for those on board the surviving vessels, and with no reliable information available, the spread of rumour and unfounded conjecture was inevitable. Haynes had apparently seen the drowning of Captain French of the Dairy Maid and the bodies of many other drowned men floating in the water. He also mentioned a hearsay, and apparently incorrect, report that Captain Mayne of the Eloise had been struck by lightning and was critically injured.[6]

Though fears were held for a number of vessels including Dawn, Expert, Gipsy, Harriet, Herald, Jessie, Mavis and Myra, all of these had either survived the ordeal and limped back to port or were located elsewhere, though a number were in a damaged condition. Another twenty-four or more vessels were less fortunate. These included the schooners Dairy Maid, Florence, Lord Loftus, Osprey and Rover, and the luggers Cocoa Nut, Edith, Le Grand, Maggie, Mary Ann, Pearl, Ranger, Rose, Theresa, Uno, Victoria and Zela, plus two unidentified luggers owned by Reddell[7], and an unidentified `Japanese boat' from the deck of which all but one of the crew were swept away.[8]

The remains of most of these vessels do not appear to have been found, except for the Dairy Maid, part of which was located on the beach in Roebuck Bay[9], and the Osprey, discovered lying in 15.5 metres of water 9.6 kilometres west of the pearling ground.[10] Neither were the bodies of the 136 or more victims found. Of these, sixteen whites were identified by name, but the number of those who were members of other races could only be estimated, from the average number employed on each missing vessel.

Establishing ownership of the different vessels is made difficult by the conflicting information available, but some fleet owners suffered very heavily, while others were more fortunate, their vessels escaping unhurt or with relatively minor damage. Clark's fleet was the most severely depleted, with the schooner Florence and the luggers Cocoa Nut, Edith, Victoria and Zela all listed as lost.[11]

As an example of the confusing reports, when the lugger Maggie (Official Number 89385) disappeared, a W. Bruce was listed as missing in the lugger. Then, in a later report, the vessel was said to be safe, the owner's name again being given as Bruce. In the final police report, however, the vessel is listed as lost and the owner is given as E. Bird. An Elias Bruce is also reported to have been lost, together with several Malays, with an unidentified lugger.[12] The name of Maggie's owner was Elisha Bruce. He was aboard at the time and was drowned.[13]

The owner, John Brennan, and several others were lost when the 16-ton lugger Mary Ann (Official Number 89258) foundered. It was probably Brennan's only boat, but he might have been in partnership with Sullivan, who was lost with the Le Grand (Official Number 89284). Sullivan's name does not appear in the register, but he is named in the reports as the Le Grand's owner.[14] There was also some uncertainty about his name. Making inquiries later in the year, Colonel Angelo, the Roebourne Government Resident, could only ascertain that the drowned man's initial was J. Different earlier reports, however, had referred to the loss of both a John and a Frank Sullivan. In the register for the lugger Maggie, its master's name is given as Daniel Sullivan. Elisha Bruce, who owned the vessel, was in charge when it was lost, so Daniel Sullivan, or a relation named John or Frank, might have been aboard the Le Grand.[15]

The schooners Lord Loftus and Osprey were both lost, together with their respective masters, Dennis and Graves, the Malay crews of both ships, Graves's son and a Captain Murray.[16] The two vessels were said to be owned by Brown.[17] This appears to be correct in the case of the Lord Loftus, but in earlier reports the respective ownership had been allotted to Reddell for Lord Loftus, and to Scott and Henderson for Osprey.[18] This information does not agree with the vessels' registers. The confusion probably resulted from informal arrangements involving partnerships or absentee owners, or from recent unpublicized sales of the vessels.

Findlay and Baynes lost their lugger Uno (Official Number 78165), but their schooner Sree Pas Sair and the lugger Telephone survived dismasted. Captain Larkham was reported to have lost the Ranger (Official Number 89295) and the Rover[19], but the registered owner of these two 12-ton luggers was Frederick John Gibbins. John Larkham was named as the master of the Ranger.

Captain Reddell recorded the second heaviest losses, with the wreck of the schooner Dairy Maid, the lugger Rose and two other unidentified luggers. Captain French, master of the Dairy Maid, was lost in the wreck, together with a man identified as Hodgson and several unidentified Malays.[20]

George Smith's schooner Harriet escaped with dismasting, but he lost the Theresa.

There are confusing accounts concerning the Pearl. In an early report, a vessel of that name, which should have been at Port Hedland at the time of the disaster, is referred to as being the property of Findlay and Baynes.[21] This would have been their schooner (Official Number 89265), and in a later report, dated 9 June, the schooner Pearl is said to have been safe at Lagrange Bay during the cyclone. In the same account, however, a man named Archie Walton is reported lost, with five others, in the lugger Ethel.[22] Walton's name is incorrectly spelt as Watson, but is corrected in a later edition.[23] There is no further mention of the Ethel in the lists of casualties, but a lugger Pearl, owner Walton, appears in the final police report.[24] If the earlier report of the schooner Pearl being safe is correct, two possibilities arise. There may have been two Pearls in the area, a schooner owned by Findlay and Baynes and a lugger belonging to Walton, the latter being lost. Alternatively, the name Pearl in the final list may have been caused by a telegraphic error, and the lugger owned by Walton was actually the Ethel, in which the owner, or one of his relations, died. As Walton was the owner of six luggers plus the brig Lady Denison[25], it seems unlikely that he would have been aboard one of the luggers, and both the Ethel and the Pearl may have been Walton luggers which were lost.

At Derby, the Adelaide Steamship Company's ketch Derby (Official Number 75320), which had been purchased with the assistance of a government subsidy of £150 and was stationed at the port as a lighter in 188526, was also supposed to be irreparably damaged. In June 1887, her master, Thomas Donahue, was to write that the lighter was 'now . . . a condemnable wreck through the late storm on the night of the 22nd', but the vessel survived.[27] The 46-ton sailing lighter was built at the Canning River in 1878, and was finally lost in 1894.

Price and Hassell's John S. Lane (Official Number 51586), though reported safe, appears also to have been wrecked, as the loss was later recorded in the vessel's register.[28]

Two other luggers, Charity and Faith, do not appear in the local accounts, but disappeared with all hands after leaving Port Darwin for the Western Australian pearling grounds before 22 April. Though it is not certain that they met their end within Western Australian waters, it seems probable that they were in the area affected by the cyclone.

Owned by Turnbull, Paine and Affleck, of New South Wales, the 9.7-ton Charity and the 9.9-ton Faith were sister ships. Both were built in New South Wales and had only been launched in January 1887. The Faith (Official Number 93544) measured 11.2 metres by 3.3 metres by 1.5 metres, with one deck, two masts and an elliptic stern, and the Charity (Official Number 93545), which was commanded by Captain John Turnbull, was almost identical.

The 15-ton lugger Dart (Official Number 93498), which appears in the Board of Trade Wreck Register as having foundered on the date of the cyclone, actually survived until the 1940s, when it was purchased by the Commonwealth Government. Registered at Sydney, the vessel had been built at Berrys Bay, New South Wales, in 1886 and was owned by James Burns.

The Edith was a 10-ton lugger (Official Number 83750) built at Berrys Bay, New South Wales, and registered at Sydney in 1883. Owned by Captain Stephen Clark of Sydney, the carvel-built wooden vessel had one deck, two masts, an elliptic stern and a billet head. It measured 11.2 metres by 3.2 metres by 1.4 metres.

The Ethel may have been the 14-ton schooner (Official Number 61099) built at Perth in 1870. After having received no news of this vessel from the time of its original registration, attempts by the registrar to contact the owner in 1908 proved unsuccessful.

The Florence (Official Number 75286) was a 24-ton fore-and-aft schooner built at Perth in 1876 and first registered at Fremantle in the same year. The last registered owners were Woolhouse and Stewart, who had bought it from James Tuckey in 1880, but it seems subsequently to have been obtained by Clark. Clark's lugger Cocoa Nut appears to have been unregistered, so no information about the vessel is available.

The 82-ton wooden schooner John S. Lane was built at Clarencetown, New South Wales, in 1872. It was registered at Fremantle in early 1887, when it was bought by Matthew Price and Frank Hassell. The carvel-built vessel measured 24.7 metres by 5.5 metres by 2.6 metres, with one deck, two masts, a round stern and a scroll head.

The Le Grand was a 12-ton carvel-built lugger which had been built at Balmain, New South Wales, in 1884. The vessel had one deck, two masts, a round stern and billet head and was registered at Sydney in the name of William Robinson. It was supposed to have been transferred to the Fremantle register in February 1887, but no entry appears to have been made and the loss is recorded in the Sydney register.

The Lord Loftus was a 22-ton schooner (Official Number 75045) registered in the name of Thomas Stubbs Brown of Sydney. Built at Berrys Bay, New South Wales, and first registered at Sydney in 1879, this vessel's dimensions were 13.4 metres by 4.14 metres by 2 metres.

Elisha Bruce's 15-ton lugger Maggie was built at Berrys Bay, New South Wales, in 1885 and measured 12.3 metres by 3.6 metres by 1.6 metres.

The Mary Ann was built at Berrys Bay, New South Wales, in 1883. The carvel-built wooden vessel measured 13.2 metres by 3.7 metres by 1.7 metres, with one deck, two masts, an elliptic stern and a billet head.

The Osprey was a 23-ton schooner (Official Number 83723) with one deck, two masts, an elliptic stern and a figurehead representing an osprey. Built at Balmain, New South Wales, in 1882 and registered at Sydney, the vessel measured 15.6 metres by 4.4 metres by 1.8 metres. The registered owner was New South Wales merchant Thomas Littlejohn who had purchased the vessel in 1886.

The Ranger was a 12-ton lugger measuring 10.8 metres by 3.7 metres by 1.6 metres. The Rover's dimensions were 11.5 metres by 3.8 metres by 1.6 metres, but otherwise the two carvel-built wooden vessels were almost identical, with one deck, two masts, a round stern and a billet head. Both built at Balmain, New South Wales, in 1884, they were registered at Sydney during that year as owned by Frederick John Gibbins.

The Rose was apparently an unregistered vessel, but the Dairy Maid may have been the 31ton vessel (Official Number 38851) built in New South Wales in 1867. In 1881, this vessel had been owned by James Merriman.

George Smith's Theresa is described as a lugger, so it would not have been the 37-ton schooner of that name (Official Number 75307), which had been built at Perth in 1879. This vessel, which was owned at the time by Seeligson and others, survived into the twentieth century.

The 7.5-ton lugger Uno was a Sydney registered vessel which had been built at Prince of Wales Island, Torres Strait, in 1877. The carvel-built wooden vessel, which had one deck, two masts and an elliptic stern, measured 10.8 metres by 3.2 metres by 1.2 metres.

The Victoria may have been a 12-ton ketch (Official Number 40484) built at Perth in 1858. The latest entry in the register shows this vessel to have been bought in 1873 by R. and D. McKay and J. Tuckey. When no further information had been received by 1908, the register was closed.[29] The Zela does not appear to have been registered.

NOTES

1. West Australian, 29 April 1887, pp. 2f, 3a,b.

2. Victorian Express, 30 April 1887, p. 4f.

3. Inquirer, 4 May 1887, pp. 2a, Sd.

4. Victorian Express, 30 April 1887, p. 4f.

5. Inquirer, 4 May 1887, pp. 2a, Sd.

6. Inquirer, 18 May 1887, p. 2b.

7. Inquirer, 3 August 1887, p. 2g.

8. Inquirer, 18 May 1887, p. 2b.

9. Inquirer, 1 June 1887, p. 3g.

10. Inquirer, 20 July 1887, p. Sc.

11. Report, Sgt Payne, Roebourne, to Commissioner of Police, 10 July 1887, CSO 3841/1887.

12. Inquirer, 4 May 1887, pp. 2a, Sd, 3 August 1887, p. 2g, and 10 June 1887, p. 3a.

13. Register of British Ships, Sydney.

14. ibid.; see also Inquirer, 10 June 1887, p. 3a.

15. Telegram, Govt Res., Roebourne, to Col. Sec., 7 November 1887, CSO 3841/1887; see also Register of British Ships, Sydney.

16. Inquirer, 10 June 1887, p. 3a.

17. Report, Sgt Payne, Roebourne, to Commissioner of Police, 10 July 1887, CSO 38411887. 18. Inquirer, 4 May 1887, pp. 2a, 3h.

19. Inquirer, 4 May 1887, p. 2a.

20. Report, Sgt Payne, Roebourne, to Commissioner of Police, 10 July 1887, CSO 3841/1887. 21. Inquirer, 4 May 1887, p. 2a.

22. inquirer, 10 June 1887, p. 3a.

23. West Australian, 14 June 1887, p. 3c.

24. Report, Sgt Payne, Roebourne, to Commissioner of Police, 10 July 1887, CSO 3841/1887. 25. Inquirer, 4 May 1887, pp. 2a, Sd.

26. Inquirer, 10 June 1885, p. Sd.

27. Thomas Donahue to J. H. Lovegrove, 29 April 1887, CSO 2740/1886.

28. Telegram, Colonel Angelo to Col. Sec., 3 May 1887, CSO 3841/1887.

29. Register of British Ships, Fremantie and Sydney; see also Board of Trade Wreck Register, 1887.