Whales, Maidens and Gold: Henry Williams of Hobart Town

By Suzanne Smythe

Henry Williams emigrated to Van Diemen's Land in 1831 with his family at age 5. His father was a boat-builder and his mother died when he was only 10. His brothers were all occupied with the sea whether as boat-builders or sailors, so it came as no surprise when he signed up on a whaler while still a teenager. For the next few years, he sailed the Pacific, hunting sperm, right and fin whales while having adventures in Hawaii and Tahiti. He arrived at the Californian Goldfields in 1849, not as a miner, but as a supplier of provisions to the goldminers.

Fortunately, he recorded his impressions and experiences of the people and events he saw in an era when personal accounts were not common. This is the story of his adventures which come alive with his interest in the people he met and their different lifestyles.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Sep 30, 2019
• ISBN: 9781528966597

Suzanne Smythe

The author's family has a shack (holiday home) on Bruny Island - an island off the southeast coast of Tasmania that is reached by vehicular ferry. They own to the high tide mark on the beach and have spent every major holiday and many weekends there. The author grew up fishing, cray fishing, floundering and shooting - there was no distinction between boys and girls, you were just you. She was an only child for 12½ years and very much her father's shadow. Probably good training as she had two boys herself. She also has always had dogs - still has two black Labradors that go down with her. The land was originally owned by James Kelly, first Harbour Master of Hobart and first native-born Master Mariner and an early participant in bay whaling. She loves to fish and has always spent her life in boats. In the summer she goes out after cray fish and squid as well. Where they set the cray pots is in view of the Iron Pot Lighthouse (which her first book was) and the old Pilot Station (which her second book was based on) is visible from their shack. She is a member of the Bruny Island Historical Society and manages a site called Variety Bay which has the remains of an 1831 pilot station and a convict church. She was a primary school teacher for over 30 years like her mother and grandmother before her. When she wrote her first two books, she was invited to present talks to various groups such as Probus, Historical Societies and University of the 3rd Age - this helped sell books and got her used to public speaking. From this she ended up doing "talks" for ABC Radio on a variety of historical topics. She has been married for over 40 years and has two grandchildren - her granddaughter is also keen on history. She spends the rest of her time in a hillside suburb of Hobart called Mount Stuart and is about five minutes from the bush. She thought she would tell you a little about herself as she may be a little different to some authors you've dealt with.

Book preview

Rose

About the Author

The author’s family has a shack (holiday home) on Bruny Island – an island off the southeast coast of Tasmania that is reached by vehicular ferry. They own to the high tide mark on the beach and have spent every major holiday and many weekends there. The author grew up fishing, cray fishing, floundering and shooting – there was no distinction between boys and girls, you were just you. She was an only child for 12½ years and very much her father’s shadow. Probably good training as she had two boys herself. She also has always had dogs – still has two black Labradors that go down with her. The land was originally owned by James Kelly, first Harbour Master of Hobart and first native-born Master Mariner and an early participant in bay whaling.

She loves to fish and has always spent her life in boats. In the summer she goes out after cray fish and squid as well. Where they set the cray pots is in view of the Iron Pot Lighthouse (which her first book was) and the old Pilot Station (which her second book was based on) is visible from their shack. She is a member of the Bruny Island Historical Society and manages a site called Variety Bay which has the remains of an 1831 pilot station and a convict church.

She was a primary school teacher for over 30 years like her mother and grandmother before her. When she wrote her first two books, she was invited to present talks to various groups such as Probus, Historical Societies and University of the 3rd Age – this helped sell books and got her used to public speaking. From this she ended up doing talks for ABC Radio on a variety of historical topics.

She has been married for over 40 years and has two grandchildren – her granddaughter is also keen on history. She spends the rest of her time in a hillside suburb of Hobart called Mount Stuart and is about five minutes from the bush. She thought she would tell you a little about herself as she may be a little different to some authors you’ve dealt with.

About the Book

Henry Williams emigrated to Van Diemen’s Land in 1831 with his family at age 5. His father was a boat-builder and his mother died when he was only 10. His brothers were all occupied with the sea whether as boat-builders or sailors, so it came as no surprise when he signed up on a whaler while still a teenager. For the next few years, he sailed the Pacific, hunting sperm, right and fin whales while having adventures in Hawaii and Tahiti. He arrived at the Californian Goldfields in 1849, not as a miner, but as a supplier of provisions to the goldminers.

 Fortunately, he recorded his impressions and experiences of the people and events he saw in an era when personal accounts were not common. This is the story of his adventures which come alive with his interest in the people he met and their different lifestyles.

Copyright Information ©

Suzanne Smythe (2019)

The right of Suzanne Smythe to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781528966597 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published (2019)

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd

25 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5LQ

This is the story of my great-great-grandfather, Henry William Williams, who led a most interesting life and left records to share some of it, in the form of diaries.

Many pages of Henry Williams’ original journal were stuck together by chewing tobacco. This meant the centre of the first 20 or so pages had a hole through them, thus making them difficult to transcribe.

His first journal begins on page 9, the previous pages appearing to have been ripped out. He was still a teenager at the time he began writing. This journal is in the Tasmanian Archives.

When transcribing, Henry’s original grammar was retained. Misspellings generally remain unless they cause confusion.

Modern-day names or the correct spelling of place names have been added when known.

Henry, like many writers of his time, used capital letters and commas freely and these have generally been retained. Capital letters were one way to stress a word, as was underlining. This can lead to some very long sentences. He often shows apostrophes as commas, which have been corrected for clarity. Proper nouns often had no capital letter on the second word if made up of two parts. Compound words were often still written in their component parts.

Henry made two copies of his Fourth Voyage, to the promised land. One was written during his voyage and the other was a good copy written for a friend. Events are more fully explained in this version but there is little difference between the two journals in the events which occurred. Anything of note from the first journal has been included. At times when he is obviously tired he uses note form and this has been retained.

Henry also fancied himself as a bit of a poet and some of his poems are also included. It was quite the fashion to write them during Henry’s lifetime. At times, such as when he was in Tahiti they add extra knowledge.

The third part of this book concludes with events in Henry’s life after his return from America. Unfortunately for this there have been no diaries found and I have had to rely on newspapers to see what he got up to.

Suzanne Smythe (nee Williams)

Early Life

Henry William Williams was born on January 22 1826. His grandfather William Williams had emigrated from Wales in the late 1700s and built the Spread Eagle Inn at the corner of Limehouse Causeway and Spread Eagle Street in London. It was a three-storied building with porticos in each street. His initials, with the date of the building, faced Limehouse Causeway. The hotel no longer exists having been bombed in World War 2. In 1816 William the younger was declared bankrupt. He eventually took over management of the hotel and was listed as its publican in 1827. Henry was the 5th child and 3rd son of William Williams (boat builder) and Sarah Hawkins (daughter of a shipwright). He was baptised on 17 May 1829 at All Saints, Poplar, Middlesex.

This pewter quart measure is marked with W. Williams’ Spread Eagle Limehouse.

William Williams, (Henry’s father), left London in 1829 to try and find better prospects at the Swan River in Western Australia. He soon moved to Hobart Town, and Sarah and the children arrived on the Medway in1831. He first worked as a boat builder and eventually set himself up as a general dealer.

The family came to own land in Elizabeth Street and Elizabeth Lane, and on the birth of his first daughter in 1857, Henry is listed as a grocer in Elizabeth Street. Henry’s two elder brothers, William and Joseph, both became shipwrights, but he was closest to his brother Joseph. His elder brother William appears to have moved to mainland Australia and lived there until his death in 1903.

Sarah Hawkins produced another three children in VDL: Thomas (shipwright), Sarah and Elizabeth but unfortunately died in 1837. Henry’s father, William, died in 1851 while Henry was in California.

Henry later wrote this poem about his mother:

(Dear Departed Shade)

I sit beneath the aged trees

That gracefully doth wave

Its slender branches o’er my head

While peaceful in the grave.

You rest, my Mother and I pray

To God to call me where

He, in his mercy, took away

Thy Soul with him to share

The heavenly joys, the Heavenly Love,

That pure hearts only know,

For sinners to the world above

In truth will never go.

Thus do I pray, My Mother dear

Because my heart in whispers says,

My Mother lives,

Her soul in Heaven,

Tho on this Earth,

To me she is dead. (September 1851)

Henry’s mother was born Sarah Ann Hawkins in Poplar, London. She had married at St Mary’s Whitechapel on February 18 1816. She bore her husband William 10 children. She died on December 4 1837 at Kangaroo Point and was buried at Clarence Plains by the Reverend Knopwood. The family were living at Kangaroo Bay at the time where William was employed building boats (including the yacht Matchless) for John Petchey. Sarah was just 42 years old. There were more than six deaths recorded for February from Kangaroo Bay. This unusually high number suggests some sort of infectious disease. Causes of death were not recorded. Henry would have been 10 years old when she died.

Kangaroo Bay

TAHO PH 1-1-36

In April 1838 William Williams of Kangaroo Point, boat builder was declared insolvent. Benjamin Johnson of Kangaroo Point was appointed the provisional assignee of the estate and the 2nd of May at the Hobart Courthouse was the appointed day for creditors to present their proof of debts. (One wonders if this is the same Johnson family that Henry was such friends with in later years.) William later moved to Battery Point and the Colonial Times reported in 1841 that Matchless, built by Mr W Williams, had won the first class sailing boat race in the Regatta and that two other boats he’d built, the Swansea and the Merit were also in the race¹.

In January 1851, William brought a charge of assault against Solomon Cook, boat-builder of Battery Point, committed against him on December 19th. He swore that Cook, without provocation, had struck him in the face and that his hand was torn by Cook’s dog. Sometime previously Williams claimed a small amount of money alleged to be due for wages whilst in the defendant’s employ and called at Cook’s home inquiring for him. He had called at Cook’s several times before he caught up with him and asked to be paid. Not being satisfied with the defendant’s answer, he called him a _______ villain and the two ends of a rogue upon which Cook ordered him to leave the house and a scuffle ensued. Mrs Cook eventually persuaded Williams to leave the house.

The case was dismissed but Cook was made to pay Williams 1/- of the 2/- he claimed was due to him.

Henry was living in the family property on Macquarie Street

when he died, he was only 57.

New Wharf and Battery Point @ 1856 (unknown artist) LINC LTas.AUTAS001144580552

---

Colonial Times December 7 1841↩

Chapter One

Arched Island off the coast of Bruny Island

…of seal which rests there at times. The rock is about one-half mile round, with an arch or tunnel right through it. We landed on it, each man with his handspike eager for sport, when all of a sudden we were roused by the cry of a sailor who had climbed to the top of the rock… who were plying their handspikes in fine style among the rocks. So up we went to… the deaths, but instead of a seal, we found they had been killing about thirty penguins, one of the seamen seeing something move in the hole, had never waited to look what it was but roused his mates then set to work to kill the supposed seal. We only saw one which made his escape before we could get between him and the water. After having a look around, we returned on board and a breeze springing up enabled us to come to anchor in Sullivan’s Cove the night following. Thus ended my first voyage since my arrival from England.

My Second Voyage¹

My first voyage being so pleasant it induced me to take a second and on the 11th of March 1845, I sailed in the Joanna Brig on an ultra-long trip. After taking in some …spare supplies, we bid adieu… Shores in search of the monsters of the deep.²

For four or five days the weather was fine, and we sailed along merrily for the Shores of New Zealand but when we got in the latitude of the Snares the weather changed for the worst, and on the night of the 18th, it blew a hard gale from the South West. It came upon us so unexpected that it threw us nearly on our beam ends. Every sail was taken in or lowered down before our ship righted. After the worst of it was over we set to land, reefed our topsails and made everything snug for the night, but never shall I forget that night as long as I live. When the gale came upon us, I was in a sound sleep dreaming of times gone by when the hoarse voice of a sailor came roaring down the companions, All hands on deck!

Position of the Snares, subantarctic islands

I started up with nothing on but my shirt, and when I got up on deck, all was confusion and dismay. We got the sails of the vessel and then started up to reef sails, and we were upon the yard for three-quarters of an hour. It was raining hard all the time and so cold that we had hard work to get down, we were so benumbed with the cold. It was then that I wished myself home again by the blazing fire, but on the 19th the weather cleared up, and all my wishes changed. On the 21st we made land, a little to the southward of Otago; then stood off,