William Ross

The two-masted schooner Empress was built in Fremantle by Robert Howson in 1889. She made her maiden voyage before she was registered as number 3 of 1890. Her official number was 95366. She measured 37 x 11.3 x 4.9 feet [11.3 x 3.4 x 1.5 metres].

Empress’ owner was Arthur Webster Anderson, the manager of the North West Mercantile Co. There are also some reports of owners being Chi and Co.

The maiden voyage began on 17 December 1889 in Fremantle. Empress was bound for Cossack under command of Captain John Thomas Brown, a reputable reliable master. Her deckhands were William Ross and William Stuart.

The weather was rough, and the voyage was uncomfortable from the start. As a new vessel, Empress sailed in ballast held in place with planking. But on this voyage the planking was not secured well enough. As the schooner was tossed by the weather the ballast shifted, causing the planks to give way.

Empress was almost lost. The shifting weight of the ballast nearly capsized her. It seemed like an eternity and a miracle to her crew when she slowly righted herself. That was the only luck Empress had. The rough and heavy weather made her slow headway north hard won.

William Ross was born in Dundee, Scotland. It appears he was a sea man with some experience. Newspapers report one or two arrests for nuisance offences committed when he was drunk in Fremantle.

William had a troubled soul. He had some mental health issues that were not assuaged by life aboard a boat at sea. According to Captain Brown, he drank heavily on the voyage to Cossack, trying to drink away his troubles.

On 23 December John found William below decks heavily intoxicated trying to cut his throat with a kitchen knife. John took the knife, but there was no reasoning with Wiliam, so he secured him below for his own safety. William was a strong and physically fit man though and he soon made his way back on deck.

John secured him again using rope. He was concerned but had few options to help him at sea. When John went back to the tiller, William freed himself again. He seemed calmer and had stopped talking wildly. John thought he would leave him in peace to rest for a while and returned to the tiller.

William made his way up on deck. John spotted him as he jumped over the stern into the water. John immediately started to turn the schooner, but in the rough water William could not be seen. John and William Stuart searched the area, but eventually John had to make the decision to return to his northern route.

Empress continued with the delivery of Empress to Cossack. It was still slow going, and if anything, the wind was stronger than before.

The men decided to anchor at Carnarvon so that John could report William’s suicide. There was newspaper interest since William was known in the northwest ports and there was some mystery around his decision to jump from the boat.

The maiden voyage of the Empress was filled with further tragedy. (See the stories of Captain John Thomas Brown and William Stuart of the Empress).